The latest US-based figures from Hitwise show Twitter is the fourth most popular online social network with a tiny market share of just over one percent.

According to the Hitwise statistics, Facebook is firmly established as the leading social website with a market share of 53 percent, followed by YouTube with 15 percent. Third place is currently occupied by MySpace, which has a 13 percent share of the market.

Yet despite its relatively small audience, a recent report from socialmediaexaminer.com shows online marketers still have a good deal of faith in Twitter. Amongst the almost 1,900 social media marketers surveyed, 88 percent use Twitter, while 87 percent are reaching out to their audience via Facebook.

LinkedIn is the third most popular online marketing channel, used by 78 percent of respondents. This is despite the fact that Hitwise’s figures place it 13th on the list of popular US social networks. 70 percent of the respondents said they use blogs for online marketing, while 46 percent use YouTube, and only 11 percent use MySpace.

So what conclusions can we draw from these contrasting findings? Clearly, Facebook still needs to be a priority for those marketing via social media. As for Twitter and LinkedIn, their smaller audiences sizes mean focus and planning are all the more important to create some level of return on your time investment. In other words, don’t waste your updates - tailor them to ensure you connect with your audience every time.