Social Media Demographics by Platform

Social media marketing can make or break an ecommerce company. But knowing which social site to focus on is often difficult.

To that end, I’ve compiled critical audience demographics for the leading social platforms. The data is mainly from Statista, eMarketer, and the platforms themselves. I’ve linked to the sources where appropriate.

For each platform, I’ve focused on four metrics: the number of users and their age, gender, and session duration. Comparing data across multiple sources is always tricky owing to collection methodology and timeframes. Nonetheless, what follows will hopefully assist in identifying the best options for your business.

Facebook

Facebook has roughly 2.9 billion global active users. The ages are 25-34 (26.3% of total), 18-24 (18.1%), and 35-44 (also 18.1%).

Gender distribution is 43.5% female and 56.5% male.

The average daily time spent on the network is 33 minutes.

My take: Privacy changes have upended Facebook’s ad performance for many merchants. But it remains the most-used social platform. Engagement is high. Moreover, younger users are not abandoning the platform at alarming rates, as rumors often suggest.

Instagram

Facebook’s sister platform has 1.1 billion active users. It skews younger than Facebook, as its top age cohorts are 25-34 (31.4% of total) and 18-24 (25.7%).

Gender distribution is 57% female and 43% male.

The average daily time spent on Instagram is roughly 29 minutes, but some estimate it as high as 53 minutes.

My take: Instagram is arguably a better advertising platform for ecommerce merchants due to its content and influencer marketing opportunities.

Twitter

Twitter has roughly 211 million active users. The top age cohorts are 25-34 (38.5% of total) and 35-49 (20.7%).

Gender distribution is 29.6% female and 70.4% male.

The daily average session time is 3.53 minutes.

My take: Twitter is primarily for news and current events. Sessions are short. Advertisements are a challenge at best, although partnering with an influencer could be fruitful.

LinkedIn has approximately 800 million users. Roughly 40% of internet users aged 46-55 use the platform.

The gender split is 49% female and 51% male.

Only 22% of users are active daily; 75% are outside the U.S.

My take: LinkedIn’s audience is older, educated, and relatively affluent. B2B sellers could find advertising success, as could sellers looking to connect with international partners.

Pinterest has 444 million active users from all age groups: 18-29 (32% of total), 30-49 (34%), 50-64 (38%), and over 65 (18%).

The gender distribution is 78.1% female and 21.9% male.

My take: Pinterest is a visual discovery engine for finding products. It’s ideal for ecommerce merchants selling home, styling, and fashion goods. It offers compelling ad and content marketing opportunities to high-income users.

TikTok

TikTok has about 1 billion active monthly users. The age distribution is 18 and under (28% of total), 19-29 (35%), 30-39 (18%), and 40 and over (19%).

Roughly 61% of users are female, 39% male.

Users spend roughly 68 minutes per day on the platform, depending on the country.

My take: TikTok is growing rapidly. Recent partnerships with Shopify and other ecommerce platforms illustrate its focus on shopping. It’s a good option for merchants targeting younger consumers.

Snapchat

Snapchat has 306 million users. The company claims 75% of consumers aged 13-34 in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, and Netherlands.

Gender distribution is 58% female, 42% male.

Users spend roughly 30 minutes per day on the app.

My take: Snap is not the easiest place to generate ecommerce-related content. But it’s the choice of most U.S. teenagers and is helpful for identifying their trends and interests. Those insights could form a strong content strategy across all social platforms.