Three numbers you need to know about Canadians and social media

One entrepreneur summed it up like this: Social media is free, and it’s an easy way for me to reach people.  

Indeed, social media has been giving traditional paid advertising a run for its money for a while. Today you can eve hire a professional social media manager to do the work for you – and many will do it well. 

But if you are one of the many business owners who are testing the social media waters with a DIY approach, here are a few statistics that can help you get the most out of each post you write. 

That was the number of social network users in Canada in 2018. By 2023, that number is expected to grow to 27.1 million. That’s a lot of potential customers, no matter what type of business you are in. 

That’s the percentage of Canadians on social media who say they regularly use Facebook. YouTube came in second at 70%, followed by Instagram at 52%. Only one quarter of Canadians said they used LinkedIn on a regular basis. And while I have never watched a TikTok video, apparently 18% of my fellow Canadians tune in. 

What does this mean for your business? Invest in your Facebook page, but don’t neglect video or you’ll be missing out. 

If you are going after the teen market, you won’t find them on Facebook. Less than 3 per cent of users are between 13 and 17 years old. 

So, who is on Facebook? Just over a quarter of Canadian users are between the ages 25 – 34, but the fastest growing demographic on this social media platform is people over 65. 

When it comes to making a sale, 26% of women say the platform has influenced a purchasing decision. 

I hope knowing a bit more about who’s on the other side of the screen will help you with your social media strategy. If you’re wondering how to write better content, come back next week when I’ll be sharing a few tricks of the trade.