Yes, it is true that 91% of marketers do business on social media, and 90% of those with a social media account have used the same to communicate with brands and businesses while purchasing. So it is very clear that businesses wanting to make a clear impact, be it in terms of awareness, loyalty, presence, or sales, must have a predominant presence on social media sites to maximize their brand reach and nail their social media goals.
But with so many social media sites at our disposal, we understand that it gets tricky for you to access which ones you need and must capitalize on. To make your work easier, I have collated a list of 23+ of the most popular social media sites, their MAUs, and the reasons to leverage them. Check them out!
Top 23 Social Media Sites To Build A Strong Network In 2024
1. Facebook
Source: pcmag.com
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 3.049 billion monthly active users
Company: Meta
Rating: 4.2
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Facebook is the largest social networking site, with a total of 2.037 billion people using Facebook every day – that’s 68% of all monthly active users (MAUs). This means that Facebook’s global advertising audience consists of 2.25 billion people, having reached a global average revenue per user (ARPU) of $9.62 USD in April 2023. In fact, according to Hubspot’s Social Media Trends 2023 Report, 25% of marketers list Facebook as one of the most effective platforms for building community on social media, as Facebook is the most convenient platform to establish a presence on social media. It supports almost all content formats — text, images, video content, and Stories. But apart from that, it has a vast reach, targeted advertising tools, business pages, communities and groups, analytics, and most importantly, E-commerce Integration, facilitating direct sales.
For in-depth coverage of Facebook insights, visit our Facebook Marketing Strategies page.
2. Instagram
Source: Bussiness Insider
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 2.4 billion monthly active users
Company: Meta
Rating: 4.5
Why Do Businesses Need It?
While considered one of the best social media sites businesses need to leverage in 2024, it is surely Instagram is the best place for showcasing your products or services in the form of photos, videos, Stories, Reels, live videos, and UGC to establish a strong visual identity, authenticity, and attract more followers. The platform offers several options for paid social media ads to increase your reach by approximately 310 million (or 23.5%). Besides this, businesses can also leverage Instagram’s array of features, influencer marketing opportunities, shoppable posts, robust analytics, hashtags, and user-generated content by tagging brands.
Follow our Instagram Insights page and check out the latest blogs for all the insightful marketing tactics.
3. X (Formerly Twitter)
Source: Variety
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 528.3 million monthly active users
Company: Twitter
Rating: 4.4
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Different from most social media sites, X mostly emphasizes trending and real-time updates in just 280 characters (140 for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese). This is why most businesses use Twitter as an alternate customer service channel. Besides this, it's a very good platform for engaging with customers, answering their queries, tweeting about recent events, using relevant hashtags to increase visibility, retweeting content, and participating in relevant Twitter chats. It also serves as a hub for networking, enabling businesses to connect with industry leaders, potential partners, and influencers for collaborations and partnerships. In fact, Advertisers can reach a potential of 372.9 million people on Twitter – or 7.2% of total internet users.
Get the inside track on the latest marketing strategies and tips about Twitter by visiting our Twitter Insights page.
4. LinkedIn
Source: Forbes
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 310 million active users
Company: Microsoft
Rating: 4. 4
Why Do Businesses Need It?
This is one of the must-have social media sites to be on, especially if you are a business depending on professional networking. LinkedIn is the best platform for businesses to connect with professionals and forge relationships with potential clients, partners, and industry leaders. In fact, Marketers can reach a potential 922.3 million people on LinkedIn, representing 17.8% of total internet users. Besides finding career development, informative, educational, and industry-related content, LinkedIn helps establish thought leadership, attract new talents, stay up-to-date on industry news and trends, join relevant niche groups, and celebrate professional milestones such as promotions, awards, and accomplishments.
Keep up with the top marketing strategies and tips about LinkedIn by following our LinkedIn Insights page.
5. YouTube
Source: uncountable stars
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 2.70 billion monthly active users
Company: Alphabet
Rating: 4.1
Why Do Businesses Need It?
As a video-centric platform, YouTube is considered to have the largest search engine after Google and allows businesses to create engaging visual content, which is highly consumed and shared. With a massive user base, businesses can reach a global audience, leveraging localized content to connect with diverse demographics. Besides this, businesses can share vlogs, tutorials, or how-to guides to establish deeper connections with their viewers, and if they rank well in search engine results, it can contribute to increased visibility and traffic. Besides this, businesses can use this site to create a YouTube channel, promote products or services on the channel, join the YouTube Partner Program, and start generating revenue by placing ads
For the latest marketing strategies and tips about YouTube, visit our visit our YouTube Marketing Strategies page.
6. WhatsApp
Source: Facebook
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 2.78 billion unique active users
Company: Meta
Rating: 4.3
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Initially used as a messaging app by most people to connect with their personal contacts, now Whatsapp can be used for business as well. With the WhatsApp Business app, businesses can now leverage various features specifically designed to enhance interactions and support businesses. With WhatsApp Business API, businesses can opt for more scalable and personalized interactions, such as sending notifications, offers, updates, and transactional messages. Most importantly, Whatsapp acts as a convenient platform for providing customer support, addressing queries, and offering assistance in real-time, besides offering end-to-end encrypted communication between businesses and clients for sensitive information.
Visit our Whatsapp Insights page for the exciting marketing scoop about WhatsApp.
If you want to automate managing multiple social media tasks, give Statusbrew a chance to make it easy for businesses like yours to manage WhatsApp messages and social media campaigns from a single dashboard. Try Statusbrew for FREE today to see how we can help!
7. TikTok
Source: Sophos News
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 1.1 billion monthly active users
Company: ByteDance
Rating: 4.4
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Being the king of virality and trends, TikTok lets businesses tap into creative, entertaining, and engaging short-form video content that predominantly appeals to younger demographics, offering a platform to engage with Gen Z and Millennials. The platform's algorithm-driven content discovery enables small businesses to create viral content and gain substantial visibility while partnering with TikTok influencers, which can significantly amplify brand reach and credibility. Businesses can also leverage popular challenges and trending hashtags to go viral.
8. Messenger
Source: TechCrunch
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 931 million monthly active users
Company: Meta
Rating: 4.2
Why Do Businesses Need It?
The Messenger app was developed by Meta & Insurify. The platform offers businesses a dynamic real-time space to engage with customers, providing a direct and personalized communication channel. Messenger is seamlessly integrated with Facebook Business Pages, allowing customers to initiate conversations directly from the page. Besides this, the chatbot functionality helps businesses automate responses, handle inquiries, and provide immediate assistance, enhancing customer service efficiency. It can exchange multimedia content, schedule appointments, send reminders, provide updates, and streamline communication with clients.
9. Pinterest
Source: Search Engine Journal
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 463 million monthly active users
Company: Pinterest
Rating: 4.6
Why Do Businesses Need It?
According to Search Engine Journal, 80% of weekly users say they’ve discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest. This means that businesses wanting to build a strong brand presence in 2024 need to consider this social media site in their strategy. As Pinterest offers 2.3X more efficient cost per conversion and 2X higher returns for retail brands on ad spend, businesses must leverage Pinterest's targeted advertising options to reach specific demographics based on interests, behaviors, and searches. But more than that, Pinterest offers features like shoppable pins, enabling businesses to pin high-quality images and videos to showcase products and drive sales directly from the platform, create boards, and use keywords in board titles and descriptions to make them more discoverable.
Stay ahead of the curve by visiting the Pinterest Insights page and reading our latest Pinterest blogs for all the latest Pinterest marketing information.
10. Snapchat
Source: India Today
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 750 million monthly active users
Company: Snap
Rating: 4.3
Why Do Businesses Need It?
One of the main benefits of Snapchat is that it offers a unique opportunity for businesses to connect with their audience in a more authentic and behind-the-scenes way. Unlike other social media platforms, this social media site is the best for portraying the real, unpolished version of your brand, the one with which they could relate on a day-to-day basis. And the best part is that there isn't as much competition on the platform, as many brands focus on the "big three" (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). Brands like ASOS, Grubhub, Gatorade, Warner Bros, and MTV have used Snapchat for marketing. Besides this, Snapchat offers innovative ad formats, such as augmented reality (AR) lenses and filters, providing unique and interactive ways for businesses to engage with users, along with features like Snap Ads and Collection Ads to drive direct sales and integrate e-commerce within the platform.
11. Reddit
Source: Indian Express
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 1.660 billion monthly active users
Company: Reddit
Rating: 4.5
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Often referred to as the “front page of the internet,” Reddit is the most versatile platform to offer businesses a platform to what we can say join any community (subreddits) and discuss a niche topic. It's a valuable social media site for businesses, as they can participate in AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions to establish industry authority, share tips and resources, and receive feedback directly from users.
12. Quora
Source: Medium
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 300+ million monthly active users
Company: Quora
Rating: 3.9
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Quora allows businesses to demonstrate expertise by providing insightful answers to industry-related questions, establishing credibility and thought leadership. Most importantly, Quora Answers often ranks high in search engine results, providing businesses with an opportunity to gain organic traffic and improve their online presence. The high-quality answers can also be repurposed as blog posts, articles, or social media content, amplifying the reach and value of the information. Besides this, businesses can also engage with other industry professionals and influencers on Quora, leading to networking opportunities and collaborations in the future.
13. Threads
Source: Facebook
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 23.7 million monthly active users
Company: Meta
Rating: 4.0
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Built as an alternative to Twitter, Threads became the fastest platform to reach 1 million active users in only 1 hour. But what’s interesting is that Threads focused on close friends and specific groups, which could be beneficial for businesses to communicate internally or with select clients/partners. Besides being built with a focus on privacy, Threads has a potential integration with Instagram's features that could offer businesses added benefits for already leveraging the Instagram platform.
14. Mastodon
Source: People
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 1.8 million monthly active users
Company: Mastodon gGmbH
Rating: 4.7
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Recently launched in 2022, Mastodon's decentralized nature allows businesses to have more control over their data and interactions without relying on a central authority. It offers businesses control over content moderation and privacy settings, potentially appealing to businesses seeking greater control over their online presence. Companies can leverage Mastodon by creating or joining specific instances (communities) tailored to their industry or target audience, allowing for targeted engagement. This social media site potentially offers distinct advantages for businesses seeking a more community-oriented and privacy-centric online presence.
To know more about Mastodon, read our blog post: What Is Mastodon, The New Twitter Alternative?
15. Bluesky
Source: 9to5sky
Monthly Active Users (MAU): Unknown
Company: Owned by Jay Graber
Rating: Unknown
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky is a decentralized, microblogging social platform and a public benefit corporation based in the United States. As Bluesky hits a million downloads by Jul 2023, exploring its decentralized protocols might align with businesses aiming to stay ahead in technology. Besides this, participation in the development or adoption of decentralized social media protocols might foster collaboration and engagement within niche tech communities. Additionally, Bluesky might offer innovative features or functionalities that could benefit businesses seeking alternatives to current centralized platforms.
To know more about Bluesky, read our blog post: What Is Bluesky & Can It Replace Twitter?
16. Telegram
Source: Times Of India
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 800 million monthly active users
Company: Telegram Messenger LLP
Rating: 4.5
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Very similar to WhatsApp, Telegram is a free messaging app with the ability to broadcast messages to up to 200,000 people. Businesses can create broadcast channels to share updates, news, and content with large audiences, similar to a one-to-many communication channel. Group chats allow for efficient team communication, collaboration, and project management, fostering productivity among team members. Besides this, Businesses can leverage Telegram bots for customer service, lead generation, and various automation tasks, enhancing efficiency.
17. Discord
Source: Memrise
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 154 million monthly active users
Company: Discord
Rating: 4.7
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Primarily designed for gamers, Discord is a platform having various features, like voice chat, video calling, text messaging, file sharing, and screen sharing. However, it has expanded beyond gaming communities, allowing businesses to leverage the platform to build and engage with communities centered around their products, services, or industry. Businesses can host live events and offer real-time assistance, Q&A sessions, webinars, or product launches within Discord, fostering engagement and interaction within the community.
18. Twitch
Source: Dacast
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 140 million monthly active users
Company: Amazon
Rating: 4.7
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Twitch is a live streaming platform that offers gamers the opportunity to create a channel, stream their gameplay, and interact with their audience through chat. Businesses can leverage Twitch by tapping into their engaged, interactive audience through live streaming and sharing live content related to their industry, such as product launches, tutorials, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or interactive Q&A sessions. Besides this, by collaborating with Twitch streamers or influencers, businesses can expand brand reach and credibility among their followers in the gaming industry or utilize Twitch to connect with gamers, sponsors, and enthusiasts. Businesses can also explore revenue streams through subscriptions, donations, and sponsorships, especially in content creation and live streaming.
19. Tumblr
Source: Techcrunch
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 135 million monthly active users
Company: Automattic
Rating: 4.4
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Tumblr is a very popular social networking and micro-blogging site used for sharing text photos, videos, links, audio, and more. Businesses can leverage Tumblr to create multimedia content, including images, videos, GIFs, infographics, GIFs, and short-form videos tailored to resonate with their target audience. Moreover, businesses can use Tumblr for microblogging, sharing stories, insights, and behind-the-scenes content, showcasing a more personal side of their brand, and expressing their brand identity, values, and aesthetics through customizable themes and content. Besides this, Tumblr posts can also contribute to SEO efforts, potentially enhancing online visibility and driving traffic to the business's website or blog.
20. WeChat
Source: Business Insider
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 1.3 billion monthly active users
Company: Tencent Holdings Limited
Rating: 4.2
Why Do Businesses Need It?
WeChat is one of China’s biggest tech companies and the most popular social media site that works just like WhatsApp. WeChat is now an all-in-one platform offering messaging, social media, payments, e-commerce, and various other functionalities, allowing businesses to engage with customers at multiple touchpoints. With a massive user base predominantly in China, WeChat offers businesses access to a vast audience for marketing and customer engagement. Besides this, businesses can create official accounts, set up stores, provide customer service, handle inquiries, and share content, updates, promotions, and articles, and leverage WeChat Pay for seamless transactions and e-commerce within the app. So, if your business is based in China, where popular social networks like Facebook and X are banned, WeChat is a good alternative.
21. Kwai
Source: Semaphor
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 673 million monthly active users
Company: Kuaishou Technology
Rating: 4.6
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Popularly known as Kouaishou in China, Kwai is a social platform for short videos, much like TikTok, and allows users to film short-form videos, overlay text and stickers to images or videos, add sound bites, and live stream content to their followers on the platform or record longer videos. The platform's algorithm-driven content discovery could facilitate the virality of engaging videos, expanding brand exposure. Businesses can foster engagement by sharing user-generated content, hosting challenges, and interacting with their audience creatively. Besides that, by partnering with Kwai influencers, businesses can amplify brand reach and credibility among their followers, leveraging influencer marketing.
22. QQ
Source: 21Yunbox
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 558 million monthly active users
Company: Tencent Holdings Limited
Rating: 4.0
Why Do Businesses Need It?
Prior to the launch of WeChat, QQ was the number one Chinese messaging app, but now it has expanded to offer various features such as social networking, gaming, shopping, and entertainment. Quite similar to other social media sites, businesses having a dominant presence in China can create official accounts on QQ, provide customer service, share updates, and engage with users through various services. QQ Wallet allows users to make payments and transfers, providing businesses with an avenue for e-commerce and transactions within the platform. Besides this, businesses can foster communities, forums, or groups within QQ to engage with users, share content, and gather feedback.
23. Line
Source: Line
Monthly Active Users (MAU): 230 million monthly active users
Company: LINE Corporation
Rating: 4.1
Why Do Businesses Need It?
The Line is among the most popular social media sites in Japan that allow users to send messages, make voice and video calls, share stickers, play games, make ticket bookings, make payment transfers, and do online shopping. Businesses can create official Line accounts to provide customer service, share updates and promotions, and engage with users directly. Besides that, Line's sticker and emoji features allow businesses to create branded stickers, Line Pay allows users to make payments and transactions, enabling businesses to offer e-commerce services and conduct transactions within the app. Line also provides marketing tools for businesses, allowing them to send messages, create promotional campaigns, and manage customer interactions.
Choose The Right Social Media Site!
Sure, you must be wondering how to follow all these 23 social media sites at once and which are the ones that you actually need. Well, you don't need to follow all! Picking up the right social media site is actually easy as you just have to access your business goals, target audience, demographics, and, obviously, reach. If you consider these parameters while selecting the right one, I am sure it’ll do the trick.
And while being at it, if you ever feel the need to automate your marketing efforts, you can ace the same with the help of Statusbrew. We not only integrate social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, X (Formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Business, Pinterest, and Line but also let you schedule, manage, monitor, and analyze your social media posts to these top social media sites. So, if you want to manage more than one social media account across multiple social media sites, give Statusbrew a try (totally FREE) to experience what we can do for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What social media platform is best for networking?
The choice for networking varies based on goals. LinkedIn remains a top pick for professional connections, while Twitter offers broad industry networking. Instagram fosters visual networking, and Discord caters to gaming and community-based networking.
2. Which is the fastest-growing social media site?
According to the latest data, the fastest-growing social network is BeReal, along with TikTok/Douyin, for its short-video format, virality, and innovative features, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Twitter.
3. What are the benefits of using social media sites for businesses?
Using social media sites properly enhances brand visibility and customer engagement, fosters direct communication, offers targeted advertising audience insights, boosts website traffic, aids customer service, and facilitates global reach, driving sales and brand loyalty. It is also a cost-effective platform for businesses to promote their products or services to a targeted audience.
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