Social Media launched as a way for family and friends to connect online but businesses, non-profits and government agencies are seeing the advantages that social media can bring in terms of marketing, advertising, public care and feedback. Not only does social media connect you to your long lost cousin across the world, but it now opened the doors to connect with organizations on a personal level. The above info-graphic displays what social media platforms work best for businesses, non-profits and for government agencies.
The first graph presents users of different age groups and what social platform they are on. I found it super interesting to see that those over the age of 65 are actively engaging online, more so on Facebook. That broke my stereotype! It shows you what age groups are more attracted to a certain platform. For example, the majority of Instagram’s users are between the ages of 18 to 29. If a business wants to target an audience between those ages, they know they can use Instagram to attract their customers. I also found it pretty cool that Facebook shifted from a social platform that mainly consisted of College/University students to users including your parents, grand-parents, etc. I guess they wanted to connect with old friends and thats exactly what Facebook does!
The second visual shows what social media platforms would work best for you – whether you are in a business, non-profit or government agency. It is evident that Facebook came up number one. Every one is using Facebook and because of that, all three organizations should have a presence on it as well. Its no surprise that businesses turn to LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, and businesses would obviously want professionals. Non-Profits turn to Twitter to connect with their audience as hashtags make it easier to find them. Its weird how Governments do not have a presence on Google+. Maybe thats due to the fact that Google+ is still on the rise and governments are okay with using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Sources
http://www.pinterest.com/gabriellenyc/social-business-infographics-social-media/
9 comments
Dinorah Flores
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 2:19 amIt is very useful the info that you are providing. Definitely it helps to understand how social media impact people, and how important as a business we need to understand our audience and how to engage with them through different platforms.
Well done!
admin
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:13 amThanks Dinorah! I feel like visuals are easier to understand and help us understand more how organizations should use the various social media platforms. Looking forward to your post!
Kurt Budiarto
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:00 amKayla, I love your infographic. It’s so easy to read and understand. Also, I can attest to the fact the older generation is more involved in social media now that it is maturing. My mother is 66 yrs old and she is/has been very active ever since I purchased her a tablet two years ago. She is constantly reading about politics and joining online discussions on Facebook while talking to her friends constantly. Now that my father is retired, he is also getting on the bandwagon. It is to no surprise to me since it is more convenient to them to talk to their friends and also voice their opinions.
admin
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:18 amThanks Kurt! I completely agree! My mother is obsessed with Facebook. I think its safe to say that she is officially addicted to it. Every thing I post, or anything that I’m ever tagged in, you can count on her for being the first person to like it. She’s so engaged with it and even though she can be a nuisance sometimes, it’s really cool to see how older generations are engaged in social media!
Claudia Cheung
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:18 amI never would have thought people 65+ would be so active on the inter-web as well, but once again it goes to show that stereotypes are not always right and social media is only growing stronger and stronger! I think it’s great that you pinpointed which age group uses what platforms the most and how organizations should use those platforms accordingly to which age group they want to target. Great post Kayla! 🙂
admin
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:42 amThanks Claud! Its so cool to look at that – the ages of users on specific platforms. Never did I think that Pinterest or Facebook contained a high number of users between the ages of 30-50. So interesting that even those generations are engaging on social medias!
Raheela
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:34 amThanks for your post, Kayla.
I completely agree about the changes in the use of social media from ‘social’ to corporate. I think that businesses (including non-profits) needed to see how people were using it before they decided to engage.
I still question how effective the use of social media is for organizations. As we don’t know their strategy, I wonder how effective it is for them against what they are aiming to achieve. All we can do, as you and I have done, is to look at the various portals available (e.g. Facebook etc) and think about what we would do if we were in the shoes of the decision makers in the organizations.
Thanks again, Kayla.
admin
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 3:49 amI think its a good tool to use when starting out. If an individual would like to open up, lets say, a bake shop. They can figure out what age groups they want to target and once they’ve figured that out they can research the social media platforms of that specific age group and target their audience.
Thanks so much Raheela!
Siyuan
Posted on October 9, 2014 at 5:05 amVery informative post and impressive infographic.I really like the information that you present in this article,and I also aggree with your opinion that government should make a good use of google+.Maybe one possible reason of why nowadays governments are unlikely to put them on google+ is because people will feel more comfortable to interact with each other on Facebook ot Twitter?
Anyway,this is a great post~