How Many People Use
Twitter?
320+
Million MAUs
Monthly Active Users on Twitter
With a mission of, “To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers”, Twitter has a goal of building as many users as possible in order to share their ideas universally. So, the question remains how successful have they been at doing so? The primary metric that matters is not the total number of people that use Twitter – it is only important if these people use Twitter regularly.
Twitter, and other social media sites, measure this on a monthly basis known as the Monthly Active User (MAU) total. The reason for this is that it doesn’t really matter how many accounts have been created if no human activity is taking place on those accounts to share and receive new information. One example of high numbers of accounts with a corresponding small MAU that may jog the memory is MySpace. Oh yea, remember them? I think I may still have an account set up with them – but I haven’t touched it in about a decade. So, I should not be considered a user, right? Exactly.
The total number of accounts is not important, but according to research firm Statista.com, the more important metric of MAUs is at nearly 320 million people as of the end of 2016. This shows growth of about 15 million new MAUs over the last year. It is clear that from a business standpoint the platform is nothing to scoff at. Just look at the chart below showing their growth in MAUs since 2010.
Other Important Twitter Statistics
We know how many monthly active users Twitter has, but how many of them should a business expect to get if they set up a page? To put things into perspective, Katy Perry holds the title of the “Most Followed Twitter User” with 84 million followers. So, with the right content and a strong follower base, let’s call that the ceiling for now. You are most likely just getting started out with understanding Twitter and if you think getting your social media management under control is too much for you, let us know — we can help!
One interesting thing to point out is that there is a serious opportunity to increase your international presence because there are so many accounts and activity that come from outside the U.S. In fact, 250 million MAUs come from outside the U.S. So, if your current business strategy includes internationalization initiatives and you don’t currently have a twitter account that is actively being managed at a high level, you should probably consider doing so. That growth seems to be slowing, but 78% of all Twitter MAUs are already international. Look at the graph below for details:
Twitter for Business
Businesses have been moving to include Twitter as a main marketing channel. And, one content marketing firm describes the reason for that as being the sheer number of users receptive to educational advertising; Convince and Convert say that “42% learn about products and services via Twitter.” This study was completed several years ago, but the nearly half of users open to branded content means that people use Twitter for learning about businesses.
Another reason why Twitter is popular among marketers is that it has been claimed that over 1 billion unique website visits to sites embedded with Tweets occur every single month. So, it is clear that when links are placed, they are followed by those same people that are open to learning about your business.
So, if you own your own business or are a marketer for a firm that is not currently maximizing the Twitter opportunity, it should be clear that you are potentially missing out. But, if you still need more detailed information on How People Use Twitter for Business, we recommend you get started learning and implementing a strategy now.
Ivan Reed, CEO
Ivan Reed is the CEO of SunCity Advising. His client portfolio includes successful partnerships with startups, small businesses, medium-sized firms & large corporations. SunCity Advising specializes in developing high performing websites, including services in SEO, paid media advertising, social media, email marketing and other digital marketing solutions.
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