Deciding which Social Media Platform is best for your Brand can be a tall order, with many good high-performing Social Media platform choices like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, and many more.
It doesn’t have to be that hard.
To make it as easy as possible for you to choose your target Social Media Marketing platform and flourish, we at PRYZM Media have done the digital leg work and come up with this Informational Article that breaks down all Top Social Media Giants based on their capabilities, and what they can do for you.
Depending on the time it takes to build a sizable following, the kinds of customers you will find, and the compatibility of your Product and Brand with the platform, your choice may vary drastically.
Let’s start by looking at Top Social Media Platforms by Active Users:
- Social Networks Ranked by Approximate Monthly Active Users:
- Facebook: 2.85 Billion
- Youtube: 1.9 Billion
- Instagram: 1 Billion
- Google+: 395 Million
- Twitter: 330 Million
- Reddit: 330 Million
- LinkedIn: 303 Million
- Pinterest: 291 Million
Facebook tops this ranking as an all-purpose-all-weather Social Media Network that hosts all sorts of Business, Personal, and Leisure media. Youtube comes second with its user & creator-friendly video-sharing interface, while Instagram holds the 3rd spot on this ranking with its Image and media sharing App.
Whether or not you should choose a Social Media Platform based on its number of active users is a question that requires close examination.
Solely relying upon these numbers can be a poor decision as there are other related factors at play that you should figure out, such as:
- Is your Industry/Sector present on that platform?
- Is the Social Media Network popular with your Target Demographic?
- Are your prospective customers and clients active on that network?
- Will more users translate to more competition for views?
- How important is the Social Network to your Target Demographic?
Once you have determined the answers to the above questions, you would have a much clearer idea of how compatible any given Social Media platform is with your Digital Marketing goals. Now it’s time for the next step.
- Find your Customers
Demographic Data is an invaluable resource for making a good choice in Social Media Platforms. The Pew Research Project, for instance, has been compiling Demographic Data and Social Media statistics for several years now, which they update routinely.
81% of people from all Demographics overwhelmingly use Youtube, while Facebook comes at a close second at 69%. Women were thrice as likely as men to use Pinterest but twice as likely to not use Reddit. College graduates were 4 times as likely as High-schoolers to use LinkedIn while being almost twice as likely to not use Tik-Tok.
What do you make of all this? How may these insights impact your choice of Social Media? That entirely depends on who you are selling your Brand or Products to. Once you have figured out where your target audience resides, you can move on to the next step.
- Content and Platform Compatibility
The value of a Social Network to you also depends a lot on how well the platform fits your Content Strategy. You are far more likely to find your target audience on social networks where users love consuming your preferred medium of Content— Videos, images, long-form, etc.
Here is a quick overview of which Platforms serve what type of content:
- Facebook, Twitter, Google+: Connecting with People and Brands
- Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr: Image and Infographic Sharing
- YouTube, Snapchat, Vimeo: Video Content Sharing
- LinkedIn: Business Focused Platform
- Foursquare & Yelp: Location-Based Social Media Platforms
- Reddit: Niche and Micro-Blogging Forums
All you need to ask yourself now is:
- Does the Platform match my Content medium?
- Do prospective customers spend time there?
- Does it make sense for my organization?
And take the plunge. If you still can’t decide and need our educated opinion, read on-
Should your Business Join Facebook & Instagram?
Absolutely. They are the most popular Social Media platforms worldwide, and even though you will face a fair bit of competition, you will potentially be able to reach Billions of people.
Should Your Business Join Twitter?
Yes, if you’re interested in a younger, more educated audience. This is a hot place for News, Information, dialogue, and journalism alike.
Should Your Business Join LinkedIn?
If you’re looking for a professional or business-oriented audience, you absolutely should. This is an excellent place for B2B conversations and Professional Networking.
Should Your Business Join Pinterest?
If your content is heavy on Images and visuals, this is a solid choice. Another good reason to join Pinterest is if your target demographic focuses on women.
You can bookmark this article, and figure out the rest! While it is ideal to create a presence across all relevant Social Media Networks, it can be overwhelming to manage more than two or three at once. It is best to start from one and step to another when you have established a foothold in the first.
We hope you have a much clearer idea of which Social Media Network is the best for your Brand. If you want more such Informational Social Media Marketing articles from PRYZM Media, Like, Share, and Subscribe to our NewsLetter here!
