See the person, then the platform
You're not buying "ad slots," you're buying a specific crowd in a specific mood. AI can draft the audience-to-platform map; the real reach and age numbers have to come from each platform's own audience tools and independent research like Pew, never a guess.
Fastest path: one prompt, end to end
🤖 AI prompt — paste into ChatGPT / Claude
You are my audience strategist. Product: [product]. Who buys it: [age, gender, interests, B2C or B2B].
For EACH major platform (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Reddit, X, Google Search, Microsoft/Bing):
1. Open the platform's own audience/insights tool AND a primary source (Pew Research Center, pewresearch.org, or the platform's investor/earnings report) and read the REAL age/gender skew and reach for US adults.
2. Judge fit: does that crowd match my buyer, and is the platform's winning format (short vertical video, search ad, aesthetic pin, professional post) one I can actually produce?
Output ONE markdown table: Platform | Who's really there (with source) | Mindset | Format that wins | Fit for my buyer (Y / N / maybe).
Do not guess or estimate any number. Every figure must come from a tool you opened or a source you can cite; put the source next to it. If you cannot get a real number, leave that cell blank and name the tool to open. If you can't browse, return the table headers plus which tools to use.
Or do it in 5 steps
- Start from your buyer, not the platform. Write their age, gender and mindset down before you look at a single platform.
- Match reach to age. Pull real usage numbers (Pew 2025, below) instead of assuming "everyone's on TikTok." If you sell to 55-year-old homeowners, the money is on Facebook and YouTube.
- Match format to your capacity. Every discovery platform now rewards short vertical video; if you can't ship a clip a week, lean on search or Pinterest instead.
- Separate search from social. Google and Bing reach people by what they type, not who they are. Pair one search channel (captures demand) with one social channel (creates it).
- Use the platform picker on this page to turn your buyer profile into a shortlist, then pressure-test each pick against your creative capacity.
Done looks like: two or three platforms where your buyer's age, their mindset, and the format you can produce all line up.
Worked example: US adult reach and who skews young (Pew Research Center, 2025)
| Platform | % of US adults who use it | Age skew |
|---|
| YouTube | 84% | everyone (95% of 18-29, 64% of 65+) |
| Facebook | 71% | peaks in middle age (74% of 50-64) |
| Instagram | 50% | younger (80% of 18-29 vs 19% of 65+) |
| TikTok | 37% | younger (63% of 18-29, 12% of 65+) |
| Reddit | 26% | younger, research-heavy (48% of 18-29) |
| LinkedIn | not in Pew's 2025 release (30% in 2024) | working professionals |
| Snapchat | 25% | teens and early-20s (58% of 18-29) |
Source: Pew Research Center Social Media Fact Sheet, survey Feb-June 2025 (US adults). This is the honest baseline; the picker on this page maps it to YOUR specific buyer.
Re-check demographics yearly; platform audiences age and shift.