With over 450 million monthly active users and 206 million logging in daily, Twitter remains a powerful platform for brands looking to engage audiences in real-time. But beyond the raw user statistics, understanding the demographics and behavior of Twitter‘s audience provides key insights for marketers exploring opportunities on this high-impact social channel.
Valuable Reach With Engaged Younger Users
One of Twitter‘s greatest assets is its popularity among teens and young adults under age 35. This coveted demographic relies on Twitter as a destination for discovering trends, news, brands, and influential voices. Over 90% of Twitter users are under 50 according to internal data. And in the U.S. alone, 63% of Twitter users are between the ages of 10 and 29 based on Statista survey data.
Younger demographics tend to be early adopters and amplifiers of new products, styles, and emerging media. By connecting with these engaged users on Twitter, brands can leverage their influence with peers. Fashion and beauty brands often target younger Twitter demographics to promote new product drops and trends.
Twitter Holding Strong Against Newer Competitors
While TikTok has seen explosive growth over the past few years, Twitter maintains its appeal – especially among teens and young adults. Twitter‘s global user base is still around 3X larger than rapidly growing TikTok.
And Twitter outpaces TikTok in some usage metrics. U.S. adult Twitter users spend significantly more time per day on the platform compared to TikTok according to 2021 data from eMarketer. This indicates Twitter‘s loyal and highly engaged audience base.
Global Reach Extends Beyond English Speakers
Though the U.S. accounts for the largest percentage of users, Twitter has broad global reach. Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic are popular languages on the platform. Expanding internationally on Twitter allows brands to connect with audiences across geographies.
For instance, Twitter users in Japan are highly engaged, tweeting nearly twice as much on average compared to U.S. counterparts based on Twitter‘s internal metrics. Saudi Arabia and Spain also have very active local Twitter user bases for brands to tap into.
Driving Traffic and Conversions
Twitter‘s real-time nature makes it effective at driving website traffic and conversions compared to other networks. Twitter sends more referral traffic to publishers than any social platform besides Facebook according to Parse.ly data.
And Twitter converts that traffic at rates competitive with larger platforms like Facebook. 41% of users say they‘ve made an online purchase as a direct result of content on Twitter based on GlobalWebIndex surveys.
Use Cases Beyond Marketing
While marketing is a top use case, Twitter also provides value for customer service, PR, recruitment and other business needs. Brands like Spotify and Netflix leverage Twitter for real-time customer support. And 84% of journalists use Twitter to source news stories according to recent research.
Twitter enables brands to respond rapidly to breaking news or crises. And hashtags like #NowHiring have become popular channels for employee recruitment. Twitter‘s broad utility makes it a versatile asset for brands in many scenarios.
New Features Expand Content Options
From live audio talks to integrating with newsletter service Revue, new features provide fresh content formats for brands on Twitter. Twitter‘s live talk rooms compete with Clubhouse for real-time audio engagement. And newsletter integration allows brands to amplify their subscriber reach.
Exploring emerging features is key for brands to create content that resonates with Twitter‘s highly active audience. As Twitter continues evolving under new leadership, it remains a launchpad for digital trends.
Elon Musk Era Raises Questions
Elon Musk‘s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022 puts the platform at a crossroads. Musk aims to make Twitter a bastion of free speech and shift away from advertising dependence. But the implications for users and brands remain uncertain.
While Musk‘s plans suggest changes are ahead, Twitter still provides unparalleled real-time reach. The platform‘s highly engaged audience makes it a powerful channel brands can leverage – if they understand and cater to Twitter‘s core demographics and use behaviors.
