Why is Facebook So Successful As a Social Media Outlet?

There is little doubt that Facebook is one of the most powerful tools that can be used by businesses to market their products and services. While many make this assumption based solely on the sheer amount of active Facebook users, there is much more to the story. Other social media outlets also have huge numbers of users, but still don’t provide the same effect when it comes to marketing. A deeper look at Facebook and its users reveals just why Facebook is a leading marketing platform.

Penetration and Population

Facebook dominates the social media market and is the undisputed leader of social media. While competitors boast users in the millions, Facebook sits at the top with over one billion users. More than seven out of 10 U.S. Internet users ages 18 and up are accessing Facebook, which gives the social media giant an impressive lead in penetration. Businesses of all shapes and sizes can use this level of penetration to their advantage and gain access to a much wider audience than would be possible outside the world of social media.

Gender

One very interesting fact about Facebook is that its user base still skews female. Women in the U.S. are more likely to use Facebook than men by about 10 percentage points, making it a very attractive medium for businesses looking to court women’s business.

Age

Facebook has a wide range of users of all ages. However, Facebook has more users fall into the 20s and 30s age brackets than other services. These brackets are often targets for many businesses, making it an attractive place to advertise goods and services.

Teens

While Facebook has many adult users, it is still the top social media site for teens. The social media giant has more teen users than other services, even though other sites such as Instagram have more “prestige” for many teens when compared to Facebook.

Income

Users of Facebook come in a wide range of income brackets. The most interesting stat on Facebook, however, is the fact that 69 percent of Internet users who have an income of $75,000 or more are on Facebook. This is an attractive statistic for any business looking to grow as individuals in this bracket often have the most disposable income to spend on new goods and services.

Education

Businesses often try to attract customers with college degrees as they tend to have more spending power. Facebook leads in this arena as well with 69 percent of Internet users with college degrees using the service on a regular basis.

While there is little doubt that Facebook is a true giant in the world of social media and beyond, the above gives you a little insight as to exactly what makes them so attractive to marketers from all over the world. The service boasts unsurpassed penetration and some of the best demographics with users who are very often the target audience of businesses.

Businesses that use Facebook as a primary marketing tool gain access to a much wider audience than ever before, allowing companies the ability to leverage the service to grow their business.