Social media
has become a global phenomenon, with social networking platforms used by all
sectors of modern society, whether it’s for personal or business use. In order
for businesses to best target their online marketing efforts, Waseem Saddique
Marketing Services investigates which social media solution sits at the summit
of the social networking world.
Waseem
Saddique comments: “Ask a Facebook representative, they’ll say Facebook, ask a
Twitter employee, they’ll say Twitter or ask a LinkedIn spokesperson they’ll
say… and so on. According to in-depth research, carried out by ‘Ebizma’,
official stats, as of January 2013, put…’Facebook’ at the summit of the social
media syndicate.”
According to
‘Ebiz’, Facebook boasts approximately 750,000 billion unique monthly users and
now has approximately 1 million users (at time of writing), exceeding Twitter’s
(which ranks in second place) unique monthly users by around 500,000.
Isn't it all subjective?
Waseem Saddique comments: “Being top of the pile in the quest for social networking
supremacy is no small feat. But, do the statistics represent personal
preference. Whilst people may be registered with a social networking site, it
may not necessarily cater to their needs and presence on the site is more out
of necessity as opposed to an essential requirement.”
Certain
business streams adopt one form of social media, whereas competitors may well
maintain a social media presence elsewhere. Much of the decision making process
rests on where businesses can achieve the best results in terms of reach, but
reaching the required audience for their business needs.
There is no
doubt that social media is shaping the way that business conducts its online marketing efforts. Business moguls are now often quoted as saying that ‘any
marketing strategy that does not consider a social media presence is no
marketing strategy at all.’
Social media
has a ‘vice like’ grip on society. According to ‘World Mixture’, the average
individual checks their social media profile every 6 minutes. Also, 87% of
these people maintain the same habit in checking their profile first thing in
the morning and last thing at night.
In terms of
subjectivity, whilst Facebook is defined as the leading social media lead
generation platform for B2C businesses, B2B companies refer to LinkedIn as the
most effective social media tool for their needs.
Waseem
Saddique states: “When it comes to business to business relationships and
business to customer relationships, maintained via social media, statistics do
become subjective. One platform that works for one will not work for another.”
To put things
into perspective, according to ‘Marketingeasy’, the average midsize or large
company (1000 employees or more) has 178 “social media assets” (Twitter
handles, employee blogs, etc.)–yet only 25% of companies offer social business
training to their employees.
So whilst
businesses recognise that social media now plays a key role in business growth,
investment into employee training remains staggeringly low.
So even the
overall importance of social media to businesses can be questioned, although
many companies have a great social media presence, do they have the resources
and knowledgeable staff to maintain it.
Concluding thoughts
The question
of who sits at the summit of the social media empire is open to interpretation.
Waseem Saddique comments: “Whilst Facebook holds the statistical crown, if you
were to conduct a country-by-country survey, many nations would offer a
different social media platform, which they would consider to be the leader in
the social networking wars.”
To give
business leaders and individuals a recent insight, from a statistical point of
view, of who dominates the social media realm, here’s a list, compiled by
‘Ebiz’, revealing the top 15 most popular platforms of the moment (correct as
of March 2013) –
1 | Facebook
- 750,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
2 | Twitter -
250,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
3 | LinkedIn
- 110,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
4 | Pinterest - 85,500,000 - Estimated Unique
Monthly Visitors
5 | MySpace -
70,500,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
6 | Google Plus+ - 65,000,000 - Estimated
Unique Monthly Visitors
7 | DeviantArt - 25,500,000 - Estimated Unique
Monthly Visitors
8 |
LiveJournal - 20,500,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
9 | Tagged - 19,500,000
- Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
10 | Orkut - 17,500,000
- Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
11 | CafeMom
- 12,500,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
12 | Ning - 12,000,000
- Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
13 | Meetup -
7,500,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
14 | myLife - 5,400,000 - Estimated Unique
Monthly Visitors
15 | Multiply - 4,000,000 - Estimated Unique
Monthly Visitors
