Social Media remains a critical component to any businesses digital marketing strategy. As always with digital marketing it is important to use current data to indicate what trends to look out for in the near future. The main social media platforms in North America and Europe (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and Twitter) had different performances across this year. 

So, How many active users have these social media platforms? What are users looking for on each social media platform? What is the best way to reach these social media users? This blog looks to answer these questions!

Meta Platforms Inc., owns 4 of the most used social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger). Facebook remains the world’s most widely used social media platform, with almost 3 billion monthly active users and it claims that this number is “only one out of every five people on Earth.” Apart from Facebook, Zuckerberg owns Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger which had more than 1 billion active users last month.

Aside from Whatsapp and YouTube, which had more than 2 billion active users, Instagram has kept growing last year and had almost 1.5 billion users in October. Tik Tok has sharply risen compared to Twitter with almost double the number of users.

These are the four main reasons for using social media between the users. According to a study by Data Reportal, 47%  of the social media users proclaim that their main reason to use these kinds of platforms is for keeping in touch with their friends and family. Secondly, the reason is to fill spare time, 35,4% of social media users saying that they use social media primarily for this purpose. This is followed closely by 34.6 % of respondents who use social media to read new stories and keeping up to date with the latest trends. The remaining 30% of the social media users say that they use  social media for finding content such as articles or videos.

Facebook is still the favourite social media platform (apart from Whatsapp), Instagram is in a close third place with almost the same percentage of users as Facebook. 

Tiktok has 60% more “favourite” users than Twitter. The study has revealed a few other interesting facts: Women below 35 prefer Instagram and the women above 35 prefer Facebook. If we analyse men, most of them prefer Facebook except for young men. Women in general prefer Instagram and Tiktok more than men. On the other hand, a bit more men prefer Twitter than women.

TikTok is a popular social media platform, especially among millennials, and while they still have plenty of room to improve it’s clear that the app has been successful so far. While it’s the newest social media platform, TikTok has the best engagement with audiences, 6.73% in October 2022, and it still records an ascending trend. As an experienced brand, you’ll want to start thinking about what content will work on the platform. Over time, the platform will become a go-to digital marketing tool for brands to reach and engage with their target audience.

While in 2022, Instagram registered an average reach rate of 13.51%, Facebook’s average reach rate goes only up to 8.60%. Although there has been a decrease in the average reach rates across multiple social media channels, Instagram has the most notable downgrades. It certainly looks like the rate at which Instagram dominates Facebook is now decreasing over time, even though it’s still up considerably. Theoretically, this could be due to a number of factors: For one thing, Facebook’s algorithm has been tweaked in recent years to make sure that posts are seen by more people; they also drive their top posts through the news feed. As a result, fewer people are hitting the site and subsequently posting on Instagram directly.

According to organic traffic, Facebook is in first position and had been growing until October. In the second position is Twitter with an average 2 billion visits per month, its position has been stable since May but in November is starting to lose traffic. The next platform is Instagram which has been growing since March and is getting closer to Twitter. The last position is for TikTok, the newest social media platform of all these. It had a steady growth all this year until the last month.

• Facebook is still leading the social media platforms as the favourite and also as the most used. Instagram is getting closer though, also it has a better reach rate.
• Twitter is still in a good position but the latest news[1] about Elon Musk performing as the new owner and the troubles that are happening inside the company will probably lead to serious problems for Twitter.
• Tiktok is showing good numbers of the youngest users and its branding is working well. It has the best engagement rate of all so it’s a good opportunity for companies. Last month’s traffic had decreased for the first time this year, so we’ll have to pay attention to it. 

If you would like assistance with your digital marketing in 2023, our team is here to talk about your requirements. Our marketing service is bespoke to your business and tailored to your online performance requirements. Get in touch today[2] to learn how we can assist your business going forward.