What Are Different Social Media Platforms Used For?

HubSpot Research and the University of Virginia recently came together to compete some really interesting research on social media platforms. They looked at the platforms that brands and businesses use, and what they use these different social media platforms for.

Here is what they found;

Social Media for Bridging

When businesses and brands are trying to build bridges to engage with their target audience, or they want to give their target audience information to bridge knowledge gaps they turn to social media. The most popular social media platforms used for bridging is YouTube. This is closely followed by Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, Facebook and Instagram. Bringing up their rear as the least popular social media platform for bridging is Twitter.

Social Media for Bonding

As a business or brand looks to bond with their target audience they will often turn to social media. The most preferred social media tool for bonding, and way ahead from the rest, is YouTube. This is followed by Facebook Messenger, Twitter and then Facebook. Least popular social media platforms for businesses and brands looking to bond with their target audience are Snapchat and Instagram.

Social Media for Communicating

Communicating with your audience is an important part of marketing for a business and brand. We were not surprised to see YouTube, once again out in the lead. This was followed by Twitter and Instagram. Snapchat can then be seen as the 4^th most popular social media platform for communicating. Facebook and Facebook Messenger are then the 2 least popular social media platforms in this case.

Social Media for Discovering

Different social media platforms can be a great way for businesses and brands to discover more about their target audience. The research by HubSpot and the University of Virginia found that, in this case, YouTube was not the most popular social media platform. In fact the most popular social media tool for discovering was Snapchat, closely followed by Facebook Messenger. Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were then the least popular social media platforms for discovering.

Social Media for Taking Action

It is important to find ways for your target audience to take that next step and take action. This action could be contacting you directly, ordering from you, visiting your website or more. When it comes to businesses they find that Twitter is the most popular social media platform for taking action. This is followed closely by Snapchat and Messenger. These social media platforms are followed by Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

As you can see from this research, every social media platform has different benefits. Do you agree with the research above on the different uses of the different social media platforms?