Summary
Find
out the 21 most popular social media sites today. Some will be
familiar, others may not. Discover some that might be great for your
brand but that you have yet to explore.
You will learn
Which social networks have the most monthly active users and engagement
Under-the-radar social networks that have massive appeal
Where to focus your social media efforts if you’re looking to optimize scale
Whether
you are a seasoned social media marketer, a marketer looking to venture
into social media marketing, or a business owner looking to leverage on
social media, it’s helpful to know the most popular social media sites
around. This will allow you to maximize your brand reach on social
media, engage with the right people, and achieve your social media
goals.
Of course, it
isn’t only about the size of the social media sites. It’s also whether
the social media site is a right fit for your business and you. Does it
fit your brand image? Is your target audience using that social media
site? How many social media sites can you manage at once?
To
make things easier for you, I did some research and compiled
information about the 21 top social media sites in 2018. Some will be
familiar to you, others might sound foreign to you. It might be worth
reading more about the social media sites that might be great for your
brand but that you have not explored.
And remember that you don’t have to be every social media site!
Let’s dive in.
The 21 most popular social media sites in 2019
(MAUs stands for Monthly Active Users, and MUVs stands for Monthly Unique Visitors.)
1. Facebook – 2.23 billion MAUs
Facebook Page of Foster Coffee Company
Facebook
is the biggest social media site around, with more than two billion
people using it every month. That’s almost a third of the world’s
population! There are more than 65 million businesses using Facebook
Pages and more than six million advertisers actively promoting their
business on Facebook, which makes it a pretty safe bet if you want to
have a presence on social media.
It’s
easy to get started on Facebook because almost all content format works
great on Facebook — text, images, videos, live videos, and Stories. But
note that the Facebook algorithm prioritizes content that sparks
conversations and meaningful interactions between people, especially
those from family and friends. If you want to learn more about
succeeding with the updated Facebook algorithm, Brian Peters, our
Strategic Partnership Marketer, shared the secrets of the new algorithm
and what you can do to thrive on Facebook.
Also, remember to optimize your content for mobile as 94 percent of Facebook’s users access Facebook via the mobile app.
2. YouTube – 1.9 billion MAUs
YouTube homepage
YouTube
is a video-sharing platform where users watch a billion hour of videos
every day. To get started, you can create a YouTube channel for your
brand where you can upload videos for your subscribers to view, like,
comment, and share.
Besides
being the second biggest social media site, YouTube (owned by Google)
is also often known as the second largest search engine after Google.
(So if you want your brand to be on YouTube, I would recommend reading
up on YouTube SEO.)
Finally, you can also advertise on YouTube to increase your reach on the platform.
3. WhatsApp – 1.5 billion MAUs
WhatsApp conversation screenshot
WhatsApp
is a messaging app used by people in over 180 countries. Initially,
WhatsApp was only used by people to communicate with their family and
friends. Gradually, people started communicating with businesses via
WhatsApp. (When I was in Bangkok to buy a new suit, I communicated with
the tailor via WhatsApp.)
WhatsApp
has been building out its business platform to allow businesses to have
a proper business profile, to provide customer support, and to share
updates with customers about their purchases. For small businesses, it
has built the WhatsApp Business app while for medium and large
businesses, there’s the WhatsApp Business API. Here are some stories of
how businesses have been using WhatsApp.
4. Messenger – 1.3 billion MAUs
Messenger conversation screenshot
Messenger
used to be a messaging feature within Facebook, and since 2011,
Facebook has made Messenger into a standalone app by itself and greatly
expanded on its features. Businesses can now advertise, create chatbots,
send newsletters, and more on Messenger. These features have given
businesses a myriad of new ways to engage and connect with their
customers.
If you are thinking about using Messenger for your business, here are seven ways you can use Messenger for your marketing.
5. WeChat – 1.06 billion MAUs
WeChat wallet
WeChat
grew from a messaging app, just like WhatsApp and Messenger, into an
all-in-one platform. Besides messaging and calling, users can now use
WeChat to shop online and make payment offline, transfer money, make
reservations, book taxis, and more.
WeChat
is most popular in China and some parts of Asia. If you are doing
business in those areas (where social media platforms like Facebook are
banned), WeChat could be a good alternative.
6. Instagram – 1 billion MAUs
Instagram feed screenshot
Instagram
is a photo and video sharing social media app. It allows you to share a
wide range of content such as photos, videos, Stories, and live videos.
It has also recently launched IGTV for longer-form videos.
As
a brand, you can have an Instagram business profile, which will provide
you with rich analytics of your profile and posts and the ability to
schedule Instagram posts using third-party tools.
To help you get started and succeed, here’s our complete guide to Instagram marketing.
7. QQ – 861 million MAUs
QQ screenshot
QQ
is an instant messaging platform that is extremely popular among young
Chinese. (It is used in 80 countries and also available in many other
languages.) Besides its instant messaging features, it also enables
users to decorate their avatars, watch movies, play online games, shop
online, blog, and make payment.
I
have to admit I don’t know much about QQ but Carrie Law from ClickZ has
written a helpful brief introduction to QQ for marketers. It seems that
while QQ, a desktop-native platform, used to be the top social media
platform in China, WeChat, a messaging app from the same parent company,
has taken over its place.
8. Tumblr – 642 million MUVs
Tumblr feed screenshot
Tumblr
is a microblogging and social networking site for sharing text, photos,
links, videos, audios, and more. People share a wide range of things on
Tumblr from cat photos to art to fashion.
On
the surface, a Tumblr blog can look just like any other websites. So
many blogs that you come across online might be using Tumblr!
If you want to consider Tumblr for your marketing, Viral Tag has written a starter guide to Tumblr marketing.
9. Qzone – 632 million MAUs
Qzone homepage screenshot
Qzone
is another popular social networking platform based in China, where
users can upload multimedia, write blogs, play games, and decorate their
own virtual spaces.
According
to several people on Quora, Qzone seems to be more popular among
teenagers (while WeChat is more popular among adults). But the rise of
mobile-based platforms like WeChat seemed to have caused a decline in
popularity of desktop-based platforms like Qzone.
10. Tik Tok – 500 million MAUs
Tik Tok app screenshot
Tik
Tok (also known as Douyin in China) is a rising music video social
network. It was the world’s most downloaded app in the first quarter of
2018, beating Facebook, Instagram, and other social media apps.
My
initial impression is that it looks like Instagram for short music
videos (though I’m sure it’s more than that). Users can record videos up
to 60 seconds, edit them, and add music and special effects.