eCommerce Marketing: What Are the Top Social Media Platforms for Each Generation?

As an eCommerce business, your goal is to reach your potential buyers to keep making sales. The more you sell, the more goods you can buy, create, or manufacture for your customers in order to keep your store growing. However, with over 20 million eCommerce websites in the world in 2020, it’s becoming challenging to beat the competition. Giants like Amazon, eBay, and Rakuten have such massive revenues and so many customers that small businesses may find it tough to grab potential buyers’ attention. Most of the world’s population is shifting towards the internet to complete daily tasks and shop online, and with the increased eCommerce traffic, the number of online stores also keeps growing. 

Your prospects now have more options than ever and can browse catalogs of millions of shops worldwide. While the competition is fierce in eCommerce, and you can’t stop anyone from selling similar items as you do, you must reach your potential customers and promote your products so that you may boost sales. Generating income is essential for any business to cover expenses and sustain the business while making a profit. As an eCommerce website, you target buyers who shop online, so the best way to reach your audience is by creating a successful online marketing strategy. Your audience, on the other hand, may use different methods to find you. Some search and browse on Google, while others stay active on social media. There are several social media channels your prospects use to find information about brands and products they want to buy, and you can implement these in your digital marketing strategy to maximize sales. It’s essential to know which platforms are the top ones for each generation to reach your potential customers, achieve your business goals, and boost your company’s revenue.

Social Media Platforms across Generations

Scrolling social media has become an inevitable part of the routines of millions across the globe. Digitals screens have replaced newspapers that went so well with coffee in the mornings. Millions of Americans begin their days by visiting one of the social media platforms to see the news worldwide, watch animal videos, see what others are doing, and basically catch up. With 3.6 billion active users, social media is a powerful tool for online businesses to market their products and services and speak directly to the audience. However, not all social media channels share the same users, and there is no single profile you can create to reach all your customers. Your audience is most likely on one of the seven major social media platforms – but the question is, on which one?

For a successful online marketing plan, you need to determine who your target audience is and where to find them. One of the most helpful ways to find out which social media platforms will work for your sales is by looking at top social media platforms for each generation. It’s not that you have to exclude any of the most popular platforms from your social media marketing strategy. Instead, by knowing which generation makes most of your audience in each channel, you’ll also know what content to create and share to engage more users.

Baby Boomers

You might think baby boomers who grew up without the internet and lived the American Dream are less likely to scroll Facebook daily, but that’s not the case. Your potential customers born between 1946 to 1964 are online to find information, a form of entertainment, or buy the products they need. 88% of 50 to 64-year old adults and 73% of Americans over 65 use the internet. 82% of online Baby Boomers have at least one social media account and an average of 4,6 social media accounts. Out of Facebook’s two billion monthly active users, 10% are boomers, while only 3% are from the younger demographic.

“The Internet is an everyday part of boomers’ and seniors’ lives; it is the top source for gathering information on topics of interest, outpacing TV, and print media by a substantial margin.” – Google, Reaching Today’s Boomers & Seniors Online

So what’s the top social media platform? According to statistics in 2019, Baby Boomers prefer YouTube over Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram. It’s not surprising that the generation that grew up watching TV with no fast-forward or commercial skip function loves YouTube with so much available content and entertainment opportunities.  Besides, 1 in 3 Boomers uses YouTube to learn about a product or service. The least favorite social media channel among boomers is Reddit. So, are boomers among your prospects? Then YouTube and Facebook are the platforms where you can find them, and the best way to address their needs is by creating informational videos related to the products you sell.

Generation X

Prospects born between 1965-1980 and raised in the Walkman era are the second-highest mobile internet users in the U.S. after millennials. 3 in 10 internet users globally belong to Generation X. This generation’s top platform is Facebook, while Twitter and Snapchat are the least popular social media platforms. 73% of Gen X users have a Facebook account, 65.5% use YouTube, and 41.7% are active on Instagram, according to the statistics in 2019.

Millennials

Your social media presence may influence 75% of those individuals’ purchase decisions born between 1980 and early 2000s. You may have heard millennials are obsessed with technology and social media. Almost 100% of them use the internet, and 90.4% are active social media users. 68% of millennials visit Facebook daily, followed by YouTube at 46% and Instagram at 39%. If you want to reach Millennials, the platforms you need are Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Generation Z

The internet and social media have been an integral part of the lives of those born after millennials, also known as Generation Z. The youngest and the largest generation in American History may even become the largest U.S. consumer population. It may come as a surprise that the most famous social media platform, Facebook, isn’t popular among users aged between 13 and 21. A survey by Business Insider showed that the top social media channel for Generation Z is Instagram, followed by YouTube and Snapchat. Only 34% of the generation uses Facebook.

Statistics by BUSINESS INSIDER

Top Social Media Platforms for Each Generation

• Baby Boomers – YouTube and Facebook
• Generation X – Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram
• Millennials – Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram
• Generation Z – Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat

U.S. Population by Generation

• Baby Boomers – 69.56 Million
• Generation Xers – 65.7 Million
• Millennials – 72.12 Million
• Generation Z – 67.7 million

Data from Statista in 2019

Users on Each Platform

Although some may prefer one platform over another, it doesn’t mean you should leave some of them out of your social media marketing strategy. The way you can utilize the data about top social media platforms for each generation is by creating and sharing content based on your audience on each channel.

It’s also essential to look at the overall number of users on each platform. While Generation Z may prefer Instagram over Facebook, Facebook is still the largest social media platform with most users worldwide.

Instagram, Generation Z’s favorite social media channel, has 1 billion active users with more than half aged younger than 34.

26% of Reddit users belong to Gen Z. Younger generations use Reddit more than Baby Boomers or Millennials, and only 6% of all online users are on Reddit, and 51% of Reddit users are from the United States.

Snapchat is among the most favorable social media channels among the younger generation, and its users are primarily 13-24 years old. 24% of U.S. adults use Snapchat.

80% of Twitter’s global population consists of users under 50, and 44% of U.S. adults between 18-24 use Twitter.

Interest in Pinterest has been rising in the last couple of years. Currently, 34% of U.S. users aged 18-29 use Pinterest to find inspiration and ideas around their interests or learn more about the products they want to try.

37% of LinkedIn users who use social, professional, and career networking platforms are between 46-55 years old.

Number of Users on Most Popular Social Media Platforms

• Facebook Active Monthly Users – 2.45 Billion
• Instagram Active Monthly Users – 1 Billion
• Reddit Active Monthly Users – 430 Million
• Snapchat Active Monthly Users – 360 Million
• Twitter Active Monthly Users – 330 Million
• Pinterest Active Monthly Users – 322 Million
• LinkedIn Active Monthly Users – 310 Million

Data from Search Engine Journal.

Social media is a great place to find potential buyers of all ages and demographics. It’s a space where you can build relationships and engage most of your audience. Social media platforms will help your eCommerce business promote products and increase sales. Regardless of your target audience, it’s essential to have at least one social media account and invest time and energy in building a reputation for your brand. Being socially active will help you build trust towards your company, interact with the audience, and find what your prospects like and dislike about your brand. We hope by knowing whom to expect in your audience at different social media channels, you can craft a successful social media marketing strategy and maximize your eCommerce sales.