Navigating Social Media Apps: Platforms for Communication

Social media apps are among the most popular tools to communicate with customers.

Why is it so?

There are over 5.1 billion active social media users globally. Further, research estimates that an average person engages with 6.7 different social networks monthly.

It is only fair to say that social media apps have simplified the communication process. You can get in touch with pretty much anyone you want from anywhere in the world. And that, too, with just a few clicks and an internet connection.

Social media apps can be excellent places to connect with prospects or customers. If you haven’t already, it is also great to include them in your marketing plan. However, selecting a channel to focus on can be challenging, with so many options available.

Don’t worry! This article lists the popular social media platforms to help you choose a suitable app for your business.

Top 7 Popular Social Media Apps

People use many social media apps to communicate and interact with their friends and colleagues. Many such platforms are free to use and let you make live voice and video calls, as well as send videos, images, and texts. The table below mentions the top social media apps you can use to get a high return on investment.

The above-mentioned platforms are ranked based on their relevance to creators and monthly active users. Let’s learn about these social media apps to find the most suitable option for you!

1. Facebook
   -Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, USA
   -Launched: February 4, 2004
   -Founders: Mark Zuckerberg
   -Revenue: $134.9 billionEveryone knows Facebook. Although it may not have the novelty it once had and looks less trendy among the younger crowd, it is still the biggest social media platform. Over 3 million advertisers use Facebook to promote their businesses.

   Facebook is now part of Meta Inc., the parent company of other notable social media apps such as Threads and Instagram. Many businesses, from retail to finance and tech, use the super influential app to establish their brands.

   Facebook is available and accessible on iOS and Android, desktops, and browsers. All you have to do is install the app on your device. Open an account and start connecting with others. You can also pay for Facebook ads to appear on News Feeds and attract users.

2. YouTube
   -Headquarters: San Bruno, California, US
   -Launched: February 14, 2005
   -Founders: Steve Chen, Jawed Karim, and Chad Hurley
   -Revenue: $31.5 billionYouTube is the leader in video-based social media platforms. It is more than an app, and its ability to connect businesses with audiences only proves the reach it offers.

   More people are switching to videos every year, and so is the number of companies using digital video marketing. At present, about 90% of businesses leverage video marketing. Therefore, if you are focusing on video marketing, YouTube is your place.

   YouTube is an easy way to expand a business. The platform offers various features for creating lengthy, detailed videos or shorts for visual storytelling. You can use it to tap into new audiences and creatively showcase your services and products. 

3. WhatsApp
   -Headquarters: Mountain View, California, US
   -Launched: February 24, 2009
   -Founders: Brian Acton and Jan Koum
   -Revenue: $330 millionWhatsApp is well-known among people of all age groups in over 180 countries. Surprisingly, it has more users than the Facebook-linked messaging app Messenger. Around 50 million businesses worldwide leverage WhatsApp as a marketing channel.

   WhatsApp initially began as a platform for texting family and friends. Now, it has evolved into a social media site for business communication. As a company, you can benefit from various features of WhatsApp. It offers a business platform to enable firms to chat with customers, provide support, and update them on their purchases.

   Small businesses can employ the handy WhatsApp Business app, while enterprises can use the WhatsApp Business API to handle customer service. The platform ensures privacy and keeps the communication encrypted to maintain security. 

4. Instagram
   -Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, USA
   -Launched: October 6, 2010
   -Founders: Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom
   -Revenue: $60.3 billionIt is impossible not to have heard of Instagram. It is one of the best social media apps for showcasing your services and products. More than 15% of the app users are businesses using it for marketing purposes and to build an audience. Moreover, approximately 90% of users follow a business profile.

   Instagram features a wide range of content, including videos, images, reels, live videos, and stories. It lets you capture pictures and videos and turn them into art using different filters. You can then share your work with relevant hashtags to improve your reach.

   An Instagram business profile can help you establish a shop where users can purchase your products directly. It enables online reservations and offers effective tools to promote your posts and analyze your growth.

5. WeChat
   -Headquarters: China and Singapore
   -Launched: January 21, 2011
   -Founders: Allen Zhang
   -Revenue: $62 billionWeChat is a popular social chatting application that provides alternative options to communicate digitally. The platform currently has over 900 million users and about 3.7 million mini-programs.

   WeChat is free, making it hassle-free to connect with others. The application allows users to call mobile numbers and landlines so people can easily contact your business with any questions or concerns.

   The Barcode scanner is one of the best features of WeChat. You need not ask people for their personal information; rather, you can scan a unique barcode to add a contact to your database automatically. This saves time and ensures your sensitive details stay secure. 

6. Telegram
   -Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
   -Launched: August 14, 2013
   -Founders: Nikolai and Pavel Durov
   -Revenue: $44 millionTelegram is another popular free messaging platform that functions across multiple devices. About 64% of customers prefer instant messaging instead of traditional calls when communicating with businesses.

   Telegram is primarily a messaging platform that can help you deliver tailored customer support. What makes it unique among popular social media apps is that the app is not limited to media sizes. A Telegram business account also enables sharing promotional content or special offers on groups or channels and conducting surveys and feedback in a conversational format.

   You can develop chatbots for the Telegram app or use the channel feature to broadcast your messages to about 200,000 people at once. So, sign up for an account and build your customer base today on channels your customers use! 

7. Snapchat
   -Headquarters: Santa Monica, California, US
   -Launched: September 16, 2011
   -Founders: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown
   -Revenue: $4.6 billionLast but not least, we have Snapchat! It is an instant messaging and networking application where users share photos and messages. The popularity of the platform has attracted over 35 million businesses wanting to scale their brand.

   Snapchat mainly focuses on pictures and short videos, known as snaps. The app features stories of 24 hours of chronological content you can share with others. It also allows brands to show ad-supported content to interact socially with a broader audience.

   Snapchat offers multiple filters and features like quizzes, video editing tools, news, games, and entertainment. Furthermore, nearly 69% of teens in the United States use the app. Hence, consider the platform if your target audience is teenagers.

Manage your Social Media Apps to Ensure Seamless Communication

You can select various social media apps to improve your online presence. However, you do not have to be present on all platforms at once just because a networking site has a large user pool. Choosing two or three sites and strategic planning is ideal and enough to perform well.

Having a partner by your side can help you use the best social media platforms. AdLift offers the finest tools and strategies to level up your social media game. It delivers several tried-and-tested solutions to elevate your brand and help you achieve your true potential.