Facebook is still the largest social media platform to be used in 2017. With an estimated 32.5 million users a month. However, with recent studies, it is losing market share. With social media platforms such as Instagram and snapchat becoming increasingly popular with younger users. These visual platforms (Instagram and snapchat) are becoming more popular with the younger audience, as this is the way these users tend to communicate. Facebook is becoming less used, mainly by the users aged 12-24. Among the 12 - 17 year olds, the Facebook user growth will fall by 2.8%. Among the 18-24 year groups, the Facebook user growth will fall by 3.1% in 2017 compared to statistics from 2016.  

Other social media platforms

Instagram is ever-growing, and according to 

eMarketer

, 16.7 million users will log in to Instagram a month this year, this is up 34.8% from last year. Comparing this to Facebook it is still significantly lower (nearly half). However, Instagram usage is continuing to increase while Facebook decreases, meaning there is a chance they will catch up with Facebook soon. eMarketer has lowered its expectations for snapchat to remain a competitor in the social media platform industry. eMarketer has stated that Instagram is taking over snapchat with features like Instagram stories (similar to snapchat). Users will use Instagram as their main and only platform, making snapchat redundant. With all this in mind, Facebook is becoming less powerful for this demographic, making it more difficult for businesses to reach out to this target audience. Twitter is also becoming less used by users. With the usage of this platform estimated to drop to 0.9% of the population using it a year by 2021.  

How we can help

With all this said, businesses’ need to understand their target audience and what social media platforms are best to use. Wriggle Marketing can help with this; we will create social media plans designed to entice your target audience. 

For more information on social media click here.