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A survey in May 2024 suggested that 5.04 billion people use social media around the world, which is about 62.3% of the population. That proportion increases to 70.1% when looking at just the United States; your target audience most likely spends some time on social media, so you need to be there as well.
The Genius Monkey platform is designed to follow your ideal audience wherever online they go, including social media. Thanks to SproutSocial, we have some new data on the various platforms and their demographics; let’s look at the main takeaways and see what advertisers can do to take better advantage of social media.
Instagram is High in Product Discoverability
Instagram is the most popular social media platform, according to SproutSocial. This is especially true with younger audiences: 84% of all social media users have an account on Instagram, and 91% of Gen Z are on the platform.
More than most other platforms, Instagram informs the purchase decisions of many of its users. One survey suggested that 61% of social media users will turn to Instagram for purchasing ideas, while another reported that 97% of Gen Z consumers use social media as their primary source for shopping inspiration.
Facebook Covers a Wide Range of Demographics
According to SproutSocial’s report, 83% of social media users have a Facebook account. Older generations use the platform more than any other social media; here are the percentages of users by generation:
- Baby Boomers: 91%
- Gen X: 92%
- Millennials: 85%
- Gen Z: 67%
Most users report that they primarily use Facebook as a means of keeping in touch with family and friends, while an increasing number of people turn to the platform for news and current events.
Threads is Still in its Infancy
Threads released to explosive growth in July 2023, settling to 200 million subscribers and 33 million daily active users at the beginning of 2025. SproutSocial reports that about 15% of social media users have an account with Threads; these users often come to Threads for updates and current events, overlapping quite a bit with Facebook and X.
Incredibly, as of February 2025, Threads still doesn’t have any form of paid advertising or sponsored posts; any and all traffic is organic. Meta is likely trying to build up the user base with the promise of ad-free social media before making advertising options available for businesses.
While Threads doesn’t have programmatic inventory, the platform features cross-posting with Instagram and Facebook, meaning a single post will simultaneously appear on all three platforms if the right settings are enabled. It might be worth maintaining a profile for your business on the platform as it opens up more opportunities for exposure with minimal extra work.
YouTube is the Haven for Long-Form Video
As attention spans continue shrinking, YouTube remains the platform of choice for long-form video content. While content lengths vary widely, the most popular and well-performing videos fall between 7 and 15 minutes.
SproutSocial reports that brand engagement is lower on YouTube compared to other social platforms, as most consumers come to YouTube for simple entertainment. Educational product information, however, is the second most popular style of video on the platform.
LinkedIn is Ideal for Building Business Connections
Of all the B2B leads generated through social media, about 80% of them come through LinkedIn. Business-centric social media is most popular among Gen X and Millennials who are into their careers but still have some time left to go before retirement.
Text and still images are the content to beat, providing more engagement than videos on the platform. The most popular content is educational material on how a product works, a service is provided, or a business is run.
X is Still the King of Micro-Blogging
Since the transition from public to private, the number of X users has dropped significantly. About half (48%) of social media users maintain a profile on X, the majority of which are male. Despite the decline, the platform hosts approximately 368 million monthly active users. On the average day, around 35% of the X userbase will interact with brand content.
The New Kid on the Block: Bluesky
Bluesky started as an internal research project in Twitter, eventually becoming its own product and severing all ties at the Musk acquisition. Bluesky launched to the public in February 2024, and users immediately saw the Twitter heritage with an extremely similar color scheme and interface.
The micro-blogging site has risen to a modest 31.3 million users as of February 2025. Like Threads, it lacks any kind of paid advertising, though CEO Jay Graber has discussed a few possible advertising methods and is apparently “open” to some ideas. Advertising options are likely to come to the service, as Bluesky lacks the financial backing of a major parent company like Threads.
SproutSocial’s General Guidelines for Brand Content
While each social media platform is a bit different, there are some general guidelines that brands should follow. The most effective types of brand social posts are:
- Original content showing off a product or service in action
- Real customers demonstrating the product
- Promo codes
- Partnering with another brand or influencer
- Engaging with user comments/posts
Genius Monkey and SproutSocial advise brands to take a quality-over-quantity approach with social media. When consumers were asked why they unfollowed a brand on social media, by far the largest majority responded with “repetitive content.”
Using Social Media Wisely with Genius Monkey
Social media generally falls in the middle-to-bottom portion of the sales funnel, where consumers are mostly gathering information and deliberating the purchase decision. This is where you want to offer discounts and client testimonials to build trust in your brand and keep your name in the top of their mind.
When used strategically, social media can be an integral part of a well-rounded programmatic advertising strategy, guiding interested consumers toward conversion. Ready to take your marketing strategy to the next level? Connect with the experts at Genius Monkey today!
