Top Social Media Platforms Where Businesses Can Find Most Customers in 2024

Social media platforms continue to shape the way we interact and consume information. Embracing the power of social media platforms is not just a trend. It’s a fundamental aspect of modern business marketing in the interconnected digital world.

Social media marketing is not going anywhere. Today, the social media landscape is dominated by Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Pinterest, TikTok, and Twitter. The list goes on. 

So, whether you are a new or established brand, you must know which social media site (s) will help you grow. 

One of the first things to consider while promoting your brand on any of these social media platforms is popularity. Then you should find out the demographics that align with your offerings, followed by the content you should focus on. 

Social Media Platforms Meaning

Social media platforms enable users to create, share, and exchange various forms of media through the online audience following and community building. These platforms are deeply interconnected to technological advancements and the widespread adoption of the internet and smartphones on a global scale. 

Social media technology today, as adopted by the platforms and users, is constantly paving new ways of social interaction and marketing in the mobile-first world. You can think of the metaverse, where interaction is in augmented reality (AR). Even if you don’t go this far, you can think of the AR filters on Snapchat and Instagram. Or LinkedIn using artificial intelligence for job recommendations.

In this vein, businesses should leverage the social media users’ desire for deeper personalisation from brand communications and better online peer-to-peer connection. They must learn what social media platforms are there to help them gain visibility and engage their target audience more deeply without worrying about geographical or technological barriers. 

While the core concept of all social media platforms is to build connections digitally, each has a unique set of advantages to what kind of business model, social media strategy, or marketing mix you have. Some are great for sharing short videos, others for live-streaming. 

And luckily, it does not end with these two options when it comes to content creation. You have endless possibilities. 

So you should be able to reach different demographics and find more chances of engaging your segmented customers with the top sites we are listing below. 

Best Social Media Platforms for Every Size of Business

Here is a list of all the names of social media platforms with different advantages. 

Before that, you may want to sink in some global stats below from Smart Insights about the users of the top social media apps. 

Facebook (Meta)

The most popular social media site since 2004, Facebook (now Meta) has 2.9 billion users. You can find all kinds of demographics here, which makes it a number 1 priority for any business to start with social media marketing efforts. 

Importance of Facebook for Businesses

• 2 in 3 Facebook users visit a local business page or event per week (Facebook)
• 10 million active advertisers are present on this most-used platform in the globe (Social Pilot). 
• 1.98 billion people, on average, log into Facebook every day (Social Pilot)
• B2B and B2C businesses can leverage Facebook. 65% of B2B businesses use Facebook ads (KO marketing).
• The instant messaging app makes it easier for brands to connect with their audience in real-time. Forty million businesses use Facebook Messenger every month (MarketSplash). 

Facebook Demographic

According to Statista, the major Facebook (Meta) demographic comprises men of ages between 25 and 34 years of age. India has the largest Facebook audience size. 

What Kind of Posts/ Ad Formats Work on Facebook?

• Facebook provides ad formats like image, video, carousel, Instant Experience, and Collection. All of these become more beneficial when businesses opt for social media advertising. 
• User-generated photos or videos through stories are popular. According to Social Pilot, 57% of the brands believe that Facebook stories can help promote their products more effectively.
• Live videos on Facebook are more popular than any other platform. According to a New York Magazine survey, 66% of respondents prefer Facebook for live videos. 

YouTube

Touted as the second-largest search engine after Google, this social media site has much to offer for businesses. 

Importance of YouTube for Businesses

• 62% of businesses use YouTube (Oberlo). 
• According to Google, 70% of viewers buy from a brand after watching its video on YouTube. 
• 90% of people (surveryed by Google) find brands on YouTube. 

YouTube Demographic

• According to Brian Dean, India has about 225 million active YouTube users, which is more than any other country. 
• Datareportal mentions that YouTube Ads cater to 36.9% of the global age group of 18 years and above. 

What Kind of Posts/Ad Formats Work on YouTube?

• Intent-based ads are the best way to drive conversions, according to Google. Social media marketers can leverage in-feed video ads, skippable and non-skippable video ads, display ads, and much more. 
• In-depth product reviews, explainer videos, live-streaming, do-it-yourself videos, vlogs, etc., are the most popular types of social media content on YouTube. 

Related Reads for Buddying Content Creators and Businesses on YouTube

How to Create a YouTube Channel?

How to Grow YouTube Channel – 10 Proven Steps for Continued Success

Instagram

Now owned by Meta, this photo and video sharing app has modified how people communicate. ‘Instagramming’ is the new lingo, and for very good reasons. 

Importance of Instagram for Businesses

• 70% of consumers look for purchase inspiration on Instagram, which makes it easier for brands to quickly sell their products with the right strategies. 
• According to a recent Sprout Social survey, it is the 2nd most important social media app for customer service for US consumers, after Facebook. 
• Influencer marketing is more successful on Instagram than any other social networking site. It brings the highest ROI based on research from Influencer Marketing Hub. Based on that, 68% of marketers feel the social media platform is important for this type of digital marketing.  

Instagram Demographic

Based on data from Statista

• About 31 percent of users on Instagram are aged between 18 and 24 years of age in 2023. 
• This photo-sharing app is popular in India (201 million) and the USA (157 million). 

What Kind of Posts/Ad Formats Work on Instagram?

• Reels are the user-favourite formats for all users. According to Social Pilot, Instagram Reels engagement rates for accounts with fewer than 5,000 followers.
• According to Embed Social, in-feed videos have more engagement in terms of likes and comments. They receive 18% more engagement than photo posts. 
• Regarding content types and ideas, Instagram is most popular for funny video content, followed by creative and informative. 

WhatsApp 

WhatsApp is a free messaging app that Meta now owns. Originally, it was founded by two employees of Yahoo in 2009. By 2014, Facebook acquired it. By 2018, the WhatsApp Business was launched. Today, it offers a range of options for B2C businesses to stay connected with customers. 

Importance of WhatsApp for Businesses

• It is ideal for small business owners and it is available in 180 countries in more than 20 different languages.  
• As of today, there are 200 million active businesses on this social media platform, according to Technext. 
• According to Sanuker, 64% of WhatsApp users prefer this app for building personal connections with businesses. 
• The WhatsApp API is relatively cheaper and much useful for businesses to connect with customers and earn high ROIs. With the API, a brand can send messages to 1,00,000 users in one click. This API can also help a business provide 24×7 customer support with Chatbot Integration as well as live human chat support.  

WhatsApp Demographic

India has the highest number of WhatsApp users – 390.1 million monthly. This is a statistic from eMarketer. Also, the recent adoption rate of WhatsApp downloads has been higher in Russia than India, according to stats from Meetanshi. 

There are more than 10 million WhatsApp businesses in India alone. Here is a screenshot from AiSensy showing the number of Indian businesses on WhatsApp compared to global ones. 

AiSensy also mentions WhatsApp is most popular among the age group of 26 to 35 years. 

What Kind of Posts/Ad Formats Work on WhatsApp?

• Businesses can create automated messages for customer queries and support. 
• Businesses can provide QR codes to showcase product catalogues. 

Snapchat

Snapchat has around 750 million users in 2023, based on the Datareportal survey. It has gained many marketers’ attention since its inception in 2011. Over the years, it has also lost some steam to Instagram and TikTok, but still remains the top choice for youngsters. This app’s USP is that it promotes friendship and fun with scores algorithmically changing based on messaging frequency. 

This is why it makes for a great choice for businesses to utilise its unique features of temporary photo and video sharing. Let’s find out some of the more important reasons to use for a business. 

Importance of Snapchat for Businesses

• As mentioned above this app is for making friends, Snapchat users’ friends wield 4 times more influence on their buying choices than celebrities or influencers. This is a stat from Social Pilot.
• There are about 101 product features – from Snap Games, Spotlight, personalised maps, etc. 

Snapchat Demographic

India has the largest user base of Snapchat in the world, reaching to 182.35 million people in 2023. 

90% of the age group active Snapchat is between 13 and 24 years. 

What Kind of Posts/Ad-Formats Work on Snapchat?

Snapchat offers unique ways to connect to your target audience. 

• Stories on Snapchat are the most popular form to stay connected. There are partnered story content or creator stories for businesses.

• Businesses looking for experimenting with AR marketing can choose Snapchat. More than 250 million users use AR lenses every day. 
• Users can create sponsored geofilters. They allow businesses to send Snaps from specific locations. These are specifically helpful for businesses that have multiple locations and Snapchat provides different geofilters for each.
• Snapchat provides different types of ads, ranging from dynamic to story ads. Snap ads are popular where users can provide 10-second audiovisual clips.