Women under 35 are most likely to notice ads on social media in an average week, with men 65-plus being the least likely to notice brand ads on social platforms. This is according to Vividata’s Going Social, which also found that more than half of Canadian users age 14-plus (55%) notice ads on social media in an average week.

Online ads are most effective at driving search, purchases and commentary from daily social media users under the age of 35, says Vividata. This age group is also twice as likely than other audiences to make a purchase because of an influencer. TikTok leads in driving action, with almost 40% of users searching for products or making a purchase.

Despite year-over-year declines, Facebook continues to have the highest audience reach, dropping from 87% last year to 82% in 2024 in terms of average unique monthly visitors. TikTok and WhatsApp are the only plaforms showing an increase in reach. For TikTok, monthly visitors jumped from 34% to 38% this year and WhatsApp rose from 30% to 33%.

Facebook and Instagram lead when it comes to average unique monthly visitors across all age groups, while TikTok follows for those 18 to 34 and LinkedIn skews 35-plus. Canadians living in B.C. are more likely to be on TikTok, WhatsApp, Reddit, and Snapchat, while those in Atlantic Canada skew towards X and Pinterest.

Most age groups use social media to discover new brands, including 61% of 14 to 17 year olds, 58% of those age 18 to 24, 56% of users between 25 and 34, and 46% of 35-to-49-year-olds. Social media is also still the main source of news for many, particularly younger groups (43% of those age 18 to 24 and  36% for those 25 to 49).

Almost three-quarters of Canadians (71%) use social media to keep in contact with family and friends. They also use social media to watch content (46%), to keep up to date with news (38%), to share opinions and interesting finds (34%), and to find inspiration and ideas (25%). After Facebook, TikTok is the leading platform for content, sharing, inspiration, and keeping up with brands and celebs, while X leads for news.

The Going Social report is based on findings in Vividata’s SCC Spring 2024 study.