As marketers, it’s critical to understand your target audience’s preferred social platforms. For example, if you’re marketing retirement homes, it’s best to avoid Snapchat, where just 3.7% of users are over 50.

HubSpot polled over 1,200 businesses worldwide to determine which social media platforms are gaining traction. Continue reading to discover which platforms will be most popular with marketers and consumers in 2023.

Instagram has more than 78 million monthly active users, earning the app among the most popular platforms today, according to SimilarWeb.

Instagram is anticipated to expand much more. According to our study results, 52% of marketers want to expand their investment in the platform in 2023. Furthermore, 29% of social media marketers want to invest the most in Instagram above any other platform.

According to our survey, marketers’ preference for Instagram makes sense, given that the app produces the best ROI and engagement compared to other social media platforms.

Another reason Instagram is popular among marketers is that it is at the forefront of utilizing the social selling trend. In-app selling features on Instagram are the most advanced of any platform. According to our poll, 80% of marketers anticipate customers buying things more frequently through social networking applications than through a brand’s website.

Advertisers aren’t just some of the ones who use the site.

Although Generation Z frequent TikTok the most, Instagram is their preferred social media app, as are Millennials.

Instagram is also holding steady with older audiences. In the last few months, 55% of Gen X-ers have visited Instagram, followed by more than a quarter (27%) of Baby Boomers. However, Facebook or YouTube could be a better option if you’re targeting these audiences specifically.

On the marketing side, more than half of video marketers rank Instagram as the best platform for ROI, engagement, and lead generation. If you want to dive more into video marketing, Instagram is an attractive option.

Facebook is predicted to proliferate in 2023, trailing just Instagram. According to our poll, 23% of social media marketers want to invest more in Facebook than any other platform, with 43% intending to raise their expenditure.

Additionally, in 2023, 36% of social media marketers want to utilize Facebook for the first time.

Facebook now has 2.93 billion monthly users, more significant than its competitors. Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers comprise a sizable portion of their viewership.

In the previous three months, Facebook was visited by 91% of Baby Boomers, 88% of Millennials, and 83% of Gen X-ers.

Moreover, Generation X and Baby Boomers identify Facebook as their favorite and most frequented social networking app. Facebook is your most outstanding choice for targeting older audiences through social media marketing.

Yet, engagement among Gen Z audiences is substantially lower.

Just 12% of Gen Z claim they use Facebook more than any other platform, and only 55% have visited Facebook in the last three months.

TikTok is renowned as the platform for Generation Z, and the evidence backs this up. TikTok is used by more than half of Gen Z customers. Moreover, Gen Zers claim TikTok is their favorite platform, surpassing Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube.

It doesn’t end there: TikTok is also gaining popularity among other demographics. In 2021, 36% of TikTok users were between the ages of 35 and 54, a 10% rise from the previous year. Yet, the usage among Baby Boomers still needs to improve, with only 7% using the app in the recent three months.

While just 36% of social media marketers utilize the network, those that do are increasing their investment in 2023 – more than any other medium. 53% want to raise their TikTok marketing budget in 2023, while 36% plan to maintain their current level.

It’s also worth noting that TikTok boasts the best engagement rate of any social site, with an average session length of 10.85 minutes. In summary, TikTok’s snackable material is addicting to people of all ages.

According to SimilarWeb statistics, YouTube has a user base of over 2 billion individuals and receives around 34 billion, monthly visitors.

YouTube is equally popular with Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X viewers. 83% of Millennials viewed YouTube in the past three months, followed by 81% of Gen Z and 79% of Gen X. YouTube is the second most popular social networking app among Baby Boomers, after only Facebook.

YouTube was also a popular destination for video marketers. According to HubSpot’s Video Marketing Study, more than a quarter of video marketers expected to spend more on YouTube than any other platform in 2022. Furthermore, video marketers identified YouTube as the second-best ROI platform.

One issue remains: which social media marketing methods are ideal for you? Should you stick to established networks like Facebook and YouTube or venture into uncharted territory like TikTok?

Finally, your choice should be based on one critical factor: your target audience. Placing your audience at the heart of your social media strategy entails prioritizing the channels that will best reach them.

Also, keep in mind that social media marketing is all about experimenting. There’s no need to commit to one platform for the rest of your life; doing side experiments on multiple platforms to see what results you obtain may be beneficial.