Social Media Agency - Which Social Media Platform is Best for Your Business?

In this day and age, marketing on social media is not a question, it’s a must. With 3.5 billion people globally on some sort of social media platform, there is a guaranteed audience for your product or business online.

For many small businesses, the decision of whether or not to join a social media platform spawns from the idea of over saturation in the marketplace. However, the point of marketing online is being able to target your audience directly in order to break through those barriers and find your niche.

Social media is overwhelming, to say the least. From designing the proper content to understanding the changing algorithms, the difference between impressions and engagements, psychographics vs demographics, and even as simple as how to post a photo, there are so many functions and dynamics to understand in order to make the most out of your social media strategy.

If this is you and your business, don’t worry because you are not alone. As a social media agency, it is our job to help our clients and potential clients to bridge the gaps in what is a complex and in-depth world of social media and social media marketing.

The big five social media platforms based on their monthly active users are: Facebook (2 billion), Instagram (1 billion), Twitter (330 million), Pinterest (320 million), and LinkedIn (250 million).

These five are the most user friendly, can be used across phones, tablets, and laptops and have the most diversity amongst users.

In order to determine which social media platform is best for your business, it’s important to first understand your target demographic through market research and compare them to the demographics of the users on each platform.

Let’s Break It Down

Facebook:

You can post just about anything on Facebook from images to videos, text posts, and beyond. Facebook is the all-encompassing app that creates a seamless transition from Grandma posting photos of her dog to running a fully functioning business. 61% of Facebook’s active users are primarily made up of American women and men between the ages of 25-54 with only 9% of their users between the ages of 18-24. So, if your company’s target audience is under 24 years old it might be best to use your marketing strategies on another younger social media platform. However, if your market is a little older, you are in luck because out of that 61%, 44% check Facebook several times a day so a business could be booming!

Instagram:

Images and videos are the keys to growing your Instagram presence. It is a visual app but it also has one of the highest ROI’s when it comes to marketing. It is constantly evolving to create the best platform that caters to both its users and its businesses. It is the fun and fresh side of social media. With 59% of its users checking the app every single day, it is ideal for marketing. 75% of Instagram users are 18-24 and 52% of them are American women. 57% are between the ages of 25-29 and 47% are between the ages of 30-49. To reach your audience on Instagram, it is important to create a strategic plan to capitalize on its one billion users.

Pinterest:

Similarly to Instagram, Pinterest is home to images and videos. It is a haven for design, fashion, mood boards, graphic designers, wedding planners, and cooks. Its main use is to create boards for inspiration on various forms of art, design, and motivation. It is by far a female-dominated site. 42% of Pinterest users are women with 34% of them being between the ages of 18-29 and 28% between the ages of 30-49. The site has its net cast over a wide age range and creates the perfect platform to market to women across vast demographics.

Twitter:

Immediacy is the name of the game when it comes to Twitter. Twitter caters to those who need to get a short message out fast. If you are dealing with the need for managing public relations responsibilities that are time-sensitive or if your business can mainly be established through text alone, Twitter is your platform. Unlike most of the other platforms, more men are on the site than women with 66% of Twitter’s users being men and 34% women. The age ranges on Twitter are also vast with users between the ages of 18-29 making up 38% of its users and 26% of users are between the ages of 30-49.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is the professional side of social media. You’re more likely to find mimosa pictures on Instagram and NASDAQ findings here. More people are seeing the importance of LinkedIn, but the chances of a high-end boutique finding much business in terms of marketing on the site are slim. Breaking it down by numbers, the percentages of older individuals is staggering. 72% of LinkedIn users are over the age of 30 and 90 million of their 250 million active monthly users are senior-level influencers.

These are the big five, they have proven ROI, they are efficient in insights and analytics and social media agencies love them! However, that’s not to say there aren’t tons of other social media platforms out there, some that might even have bigger audiences, but have yet to capitalize on the marketing capabilities.

TikTok, formerly Musical.ly, has grown exponentially in the early months of 2020. With over 800 million active monthly users globally and an explosive number of downloads during the Coronavirus quarantine, 315 million, it surpassed 2 billion total downloads making it the app to beat. Its audience is very young, 69% of users are between the ages 13-24 with only 15% over the age of 35. TikTok still has a long way to go to become market-friendly, but when a hashtag for a campaign gets used properly by the right influencers, it can reach over 1 billion people.

Snapchat is another one of those off the cuff platforms. It has slowly been declining in interest over the years due to its lack of marketing capabilities since it is only a quick photo-sharing app. Photos and videos only last 24 hours and can’t be saved. Facebook and Instagram have capitalized on this concept making their own 24-hour stories which are way more viable since they can be tracked through analytics. Snapchat’s audience is similar to TikTok with 62% of its users between the ages of 13-17, but they only average 46 million monthly active users in the US.

At the end of the day, social media will constantly be evolving and new platforms will always be emerging. The most important part of your business is to stay true to your brand and continue to develop trust and consistency with your audience. Social media agencies are one of the best ways to develop community management, increase engagement, design content, and maintain brand loyalty at the forefront of your business on social media.