Social media by gender (figures in per cent) Source: Pew Research Center, January 2014  So how to find them? Most services offer few clues as to the gender or age group of an individual user (although Twitter's new analytics platform claims to be able to detect the gender of a user, even if it's not specifically stated.)  The big exception of course, is Facebook, a service that has accumulated an extraordinary amount of data about us and our preferences. “Facebook has some very interesting targeting options,” says Grant, “that are much more granular than traditional methods.”  But according to Lilach Bullock, co-founder of digital marketing agency commsaxis.com, the competition for eyeballs is making it harder to find a Facebook audience. “It's a challenge for bigger businesses as well as smaller ones,” she says. “It's still a very good platform, but it's hard for anyone who doesn't have an advertising budget. They have to be more creative about what they're doing.”  Social media no longer sees us categorised according to what we are (C1, female, etc) and then targeted according to a set of assumptions about what we might like. Instead, brands have an idea of what we actually like – because we've willingly surrendered that information to the service. As a consequence, finding an audience becomes more about studying behaviour.  Social media by salary (figures in per cent) Source: Pew Research Center, January 2014  “The companies who apply an old-school marketing approach to the internet are ignoring the fact that social media is the best market research platform in the world,” says Bullock. “For example, we see young people engaging with Instagram, understanding hashtags and leveraging them to reach out and make connections. Brands should be understanding that and listening,” Grant agrees.  “The power of social media is your ability to build an audience over time that you speak to on an ongoing basis,” he says. “It's a more conversational form of marketing that's much less about reaching large numbers in one go.”  If that seems like much harder work than the old way, you're not wrong – although Grant emphasises that it's still important to make the right strategic decisions about where to position yourself initially. “If you're a retailer selling aesthetically pleasing products,” he says, “Pinterest is absolutely the place for you, whereas if you're a financial services brand it certainly isn't.”  Social media by usage (figures in per cent) Source: Pew Research Center, January 2014  It's also important to remember how quickly the landscape can change, and respond to those changes; LinkedIn, for example, has seen a big upswing in engagement since Pew's research was carried out, thanks to a Facebook-like deployment of shareable content. “To a certain extent,” says Grant, “a lot of the social networks are learning from one another and adopting each other’s tactics. This allows businesses to use content across multiple sites.”  But the new model is evidently about looking carefully for your audience, rather than broadcasting to who you think it is. “And there are so many tools to help you do that,” says Bullock, “including Radian6, Shoutlet, Hootsuite and so on. Most agencies will be using these tools to try to work who where an audience is, to understand it – and, most importantly, to listen to it.”  • For more advice on preparing your business for the tech challenges of the future, visit HP BusinessNow  Discover more advice for SMEs:  • Social media infographic: how to boost engagement  • Five must-have apps for frequent flyers  • Business tips from Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent  • Five ways to improve the digital customer experience  • The plight of medium-sized businesses  Go behind the scenes at some of the UK's most innovative SMEs:  • e-Go Aeroplanes: the spirit of enterprise is taking off  • Route Monkey: tracking lorries to save cash and the planet  • Hello Fresh: healthy recipes delivered to your door
Social media infographic: everyone knows that social media is an important tool in business, but which platforms are more effective for your target market?