These days, social media is one of the best ways that small business owners can reach current and potential customers alike, but one thing they may not consider is the ways in which different types of people use each platform. For this reason, it might be wise to target certain demographics with postings on each of these sites.
It should come as no surprise that different types of people have their own goals and ideas about the social media sites they use, and understanding these potentially major demographic shifts can make all the difference for small businesses attempting to connect with people in their communities and beyond, according to a report from the Jacksonville Business Journal. For instance, Facebook may be the largest social network in the world, and have users of all ages and backgrounds, but in general, it is used primarily by people between the ages of 18 and 55 years old, and a little more heavily by women.
Meanwhile, Twitter, which has been gaining in popularity in recent years, mainly has users who skew much younger, the report said. It is used mostly by people between the ages of 18 and 29 years old, and very few are more than 50 years old. Moreover, those who use it are primarily associated with media, or are early adopters. It is particularly popular among urban residents, as well as African-Americans.
On the other hand, LinkedIn and Google Plus are typically used by males, though with somewhat different backgrounds, respectively, the report said. For instance, LinkedIn users tend to range anywhere in age from 23 to 70, and include senior-level executives, business owners, decision-makers, and people earning more than $75,000 per year. Most tend to be college educated. Google Plus users, meanwhile, tend to be males 18 to 34 with backgrounds in technology.
Finally, Pinterest users are well outside most of these above groups, the report said. They tend to be white women, under the age of 50, with at least some amount of college education.
Small business owners should, as a consequence of these vast differences in the types of people using each site, try to tailor their messages on them as they attempt to grow their enterprises. However, as companies grow, owners may have to worry about increasing costs for small business insurance policies including those for general liability insurance, and how they will affect their bottom lines going forward.
