What kind of people can only be reached through Instagram? And Twitter? Users “only” available from each major platform

Now, let's take a look at how many users only use each smartphone app. We will look at trends overall, by age group, and by gender together with age group.
For analysis, we will use VALUES' online behavioral analytics tool “Dockpit,” which allows you to analyze competitors’ websites and research trends using behavioral data updated every month, all within your browser.

First, let's look at the overall trends.
Approximately 26% of X users do not use Instagram, and approximately 25% of Instagram users do not use X, and approximately 1/4 of both X users and Instagram users do not use both.

Next, when looking at the percentage of combined use among X by age group, the percentage of users not using Instagram is the following:

・20s: 25.5%
・30s: 28.9%
・40s: 27.3%
・50s: 26.7%

In each age group, more than 1/4 of users only use X. Surprisingly, people in their 30s have the highest percentage of users only X.

Looking at Instagram users also using X by age group, the percentage of those who do not use both is the following:

・20s: 11.9%
・30s: 23.1%
・40s: 28.2%
・50s: 28.9%

Approximately 90% of Instagram users in their 20s also use X, which is higher than in older age groups. On the other hand, about 30% of Instagram users in their 40s and 50s are “only” using Instagram and do not use it in combination with X. As the age increases, the proportion of users only using Instagram seems to increase.

So, are there any differences between men and women of the same age group?

Looking at people in their 20s by gender, approximately 32% of male X users in their 20s do not use Instagram, compared to 18% of females in their 20s that do not use Instagram. Regarding people in their 20s, it seems necessary to consider measures that take into account the existence of male users who only be reached through X.

On the other hand, there is no big difference between men and women when it comes to Instagram, with approximately 90% of users using both Instagram and X.

Looking at men and women in their 30s, similar to the data for people in their 20s, the percentage of male X users in their 30s who do not use Instagram stands out (approximately 38%). On the other hand, the percentage of female Instagram users in their 30s who do not use X is approximately 27%, which is higher than the percentage of female Instagram users in their 20s that do not use X which is approximately 13% and approximately 18% for male Instagram users in their 30s.

So far, we have found that men in their 30s have the highest proportion of users that only use X at approximately 38%, and women in their 40s have the highest proportion of users that only use Instagram at approximately 33%.

The 30s is the age when most people start having children. In addition to posting content such as tips and tricks related to parenting on Instagram for moms, it might be a good idea to share such content for dads on X.

On the other hand, considering people in their 40s, many office workers are in management positions. If you are sharing business information targeting women in their 40s, such as organizational management or more business-related content, you may want to consider using Instagram.

Next, in order to dig deeper into each “only” user, we will switch from the analytics tool from the Dockpit to story bank (*) (Japanese only).
*VALUES’ analytics tool that uses online behavioral data and survey data to aggregate movements and attributes before and after specific online behavior among target users.

First, regarding user interests, we will focus on men in their 30s who had the highest percentage of users only using X, and women in their 40s who had the highest percentage of users only using Instagram.

X is known to be a great source of business-related information, and in that context, this segment seems to be particularly interested in “money, investment.” On the other hand, although the reach rate is not so high, the feature value is also high for the “leisure facilities, theme park,” which seems to be easy to post with visuals on Instagram. It may be a place that people are interested in visiting with a partner or children.

Additionally, the theme of “exams, school” also has a slightly high feature value. After all, there may be a certain number of users who are interested in topics related to their own parenting. Although the values are not currently very high, there may be a space to share enlightening information regarding parenting on X.

On the other hand, women in their 40s who only use Instagram have slightly higher feature values for topics that can be used as a means of improving their own skills, such as “reading, books” and “certifications, lessons.” There is also a topic called “employment, recruitment.” Although this does not necessarily mean that it a hot topic right now, it can be said that it has a high potential affinity with business information.

Next, let's take a look at the shopping behavior of “only” users for each platform.
While users only using X have aspects such as “often purchase new products” and “often purchase products with increased quantity,” they have a low score for “often purchase products introduced in ads.” Even if many users have had contact with web advertisements such as advertisements on X, it may be difficult to make a purchase.

On the other hand, users that only use Instagram have the following characteristics: “often purchase products that indicate that they are ‘No. 1,’” “often purchase products introduced in ads,” and “often purchase products on a limited-time sale.” It seems like running a campaign like this on Instagram would be a good fit.

In fact, in a survey conducted by VALUES, Inc. in August 2023, the survey asked, “Among the following social media posts, please choose the one that most recently prompted you to purchase a product or service.” YouTube came in first place, but Instagram came in second place, ahead of X.

What do you think about the comparison of users who only use Instagram and users who only use X?
In particular, those who had the impression that “young people tend to use multiple social media platforms” may have been surprised by the high percentage of men in their 30s who only use X.
Depending on the users you want to target, there may be room to consider the idea that “Most people use the major social media platforms, so it would be okay to use only one of them.”

MANAMINA will continue to publish reports and information that will provide you insights for online marketing measures based on actual consumer behavior data.

▼Data from Dockpit was used in this case study. Dockpit is an online behavior analytics tool provided by VALUES, Inc., and it allows you to access online behavioral data (updated monthly) via your browser so you can research competitor websites and investigate trends. There is a FREE version of Dockpit, so if you are interested in using it, please register below.