The Top 8 Social Media Platforms for Marketing

Every business needs social media. Whether you are an independent, family-run company, or a major, global corporation, you will need a strong social media presence to build success. These days it’s simply become too important of a touchpoint to neglect your presence there.

This is because, as stated in our simple guide to social media, these platforms allow you to expand your audience, engage with your audience, and ultimately boost your conversions.

With over half of the world's population active on social media, there is no easier way to organically get your brand in front of more potential customers. But what are the top social media platforms that you should be using?

If you want to read on the benefits of using social media, and how to see which social media platforms your audience will be most active on, read our guide to social media for business here.

Once you know the benefits social media can bring to your business, it’s all about choosing the right platform. Here are the top 10 social media platforms that every marketer and business owner should know about:

1. Facebook

To start off with, every business should have a Facebook page. It is the largest social media platform in the world with 2.7 Billion monthly active users.

Because of the sheer number of users on Facebook, unless you are targeting people that don’t use the internet, a portion of your customers will be active on the platform.

Whilst organic reach is now difficult on Facebook because of the number of pages, a lot of your potential customers will still search for your Facebook page when researching whether or not to buy from your company.

And also, Facebook Ads are one of the most effective ways to generate traffic and revenue to your website.

2. YouTube

In 1995, Tom Dickinson was unemployed and looking for a new job. He loved baking bread but had one problem: there were no good cheap home blenders available. Tom made his own home blender, and in 1999, his company ‘Blendtec’ was founded.

Tom now had the challenge of marketing a seemingly boring product. I mean, who cares about blenders?

Well, Tom utilized YouTube, and this single platform alone was able to build Blendtec into the company it is today, making over $50 million in revenue a year.

How did YouTube help Tom achieve this? Tom started making videos whereby he would put objects that were what everyone thought impossible to blend into one of his blenders. These objects included marbles, golf balls, and even Justin Bieber CDs. His videos became viral sensations. People loved seeing these objects get perfectly blended and couldn’t wait for the next video. If you want a taste of it, check it out here: Video

The message of the story? YouTube is a great platform for entertaining and putting out videos that people will find interesting. Like Facebook, a lot of people use the platform (2 Billion), so you can bet a portion of your target audience will be using it.

If you are planning on producing video content, YouTube should definitely be part of your social media strategy, especially with the growing interest and engagement with video content. 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands they follow, and with podcasting platforms such as Apple and Spotify now launching video podcasts, it seems both the demand and supply of great quality video content is only increasing.

3. Instagram

With over 1 Billion monthly active users, Instagram is a massive platform. In particular, this platform is suited to businesses and marketers that plan to share a lot of visual content (photos and videos).

Born as a photo sharing app, Instagram has quickly evolved to become one of the best marketing channels for any business to grow organically.

The type of visual content you want to share is entirely down to you and your business. If you are a restaurant, share professional photos of your food, or if you are in a B2B environment, use Instagram to create educational infographics and videos in your niche.

The possibilities with Instagram are endless, so try to get as creative as possible.

4. TikTok

This social platform is a new player to the scene but boasts a lot of active users. In fact, TikTok has over 800 million active users worldwide.

Having only launched in September 2016, it has quickly grown to popularity. The main reason for this, is their appeal to young people. 41% of TikToks users are between the age of 16-24, a much higher proportion than the other social media networks out there.

TikTok distinguishes itself from its competitors in one main way: the way it shows you content. By default, TikTok shows you recommended posts based on your history, and have another tab to see content from accounts you follow. In comparison to other social networks such as Instagram, you are shown content from people you follow by default and have another tab for an explore page to see content from others.

In short - TikTok focuses on showing you content based on your historical use of the app, rather than from accounts that you follow. But what does this mean for you? It means that currently, TikTok is arguably the best social media platform to be able to grow organically. The algorithm is still fresh, and the app is yet to become saturated with content like Instagram and Facebook.

All of these factors account for one thing: if you are looking for fast, organic growth, and your business is focused towards the under 35’s, then TikTok is the platform for your business.

However, TikTok is not yet as commercialized as the other major networks in the social media space. It’s makes for a great platform if you want to grab your future audience early on in the lifecycle (before they purchase), and to create an emotional connection between your audience and your products or services, without directly selling there or marketing things actively.

5. Twitter

With over 326 million average monthly users, Twitter is a great social media platform for businesses looking to engage with their audience more.

Twitter is sort of like a short blogging social media network. You can post content (usually written), up to 280 characters, and share it for the whole world to see. It is for this reason that Twitter is also one of the most opinionated places on the internet. It’s often a place that people like to leave their thoughts or have detailed discussions with others.

Hence, this is why having a business profile is so important. It will allow you to better communicate with your customers and show other members that you are a customer friendly service.

Join in on chats you see going on in your niche or put out a ‘tweet’ to ask your followers their opinions on a new product or service you are launching. Twitter is one of the easiest ways to interact with people online, and in turn can help to drive a significant amount of traffic to your website.

6. Pinterest

Pinterest is one of the most overlooked social media channels that marketers should be utilizing right now. It boasts 335 million active users, but where it really gets interesting and useful for businesses, is the platforms power within social commerce.

Nearly half of its users say that shopping is their top priority when using the platform. Compare this with just 10% of Instagram's users and 7% of Twitters, it’s clear to see the power that Pinterest has when it comes to actually boasting conversions.

Whilst the other platforms are great for building awareness to your brand, connecting with customers, and showing off your company as an authority in your niche, Pinterest has an active audience that are specifically using the platform to buy.

But Pinterest can also be a place for specific niches. Its user base is heavily female, with its most common age group being between 25-34.

And when it comes to what people are shopping for, some of the biggest niches are home furniture, decor, accessories, art, and travel. If your company is in a B2C environment, and you are selling a product targeted towards females, you have to be on Pinterest.

7. LinkedIn

I’m going to say this one simply: if your business is in B2B, get on LinkedIn now.

There are over half a billion users, with all of these being business professionals that are on the platform to either develop their own career, or their business. Whilst LinkedIn isn’t the most effective way to generate leads for B2B companies, it still beats every other social media platform.

It isn’t as effective as methods such as inside sales, executive events, and telemarketing, but there is an interesting trend. 71% of B2B marketers are using content marketing to generate leads. And where is the best place online to distribute this content to its intended audience? LinkedIn.

Create a company page and begin posting content about how your business can help other businesses. That’s exactly what we do here at Marketing Monkeys. We use LinkedIn as part of our own lead generation strategy, by sharing case studies, marketing tips, and inside access to our team so we can show other businesses the value that we can bring to their company.

8. Snapchat

Whilst Snapchat is much more difficult for businesses to engage with their audience through, it wouldn’t’ be fair to just write it off. After all, it does have 249 million users, and some brands see great success through their marketing campaigns.

The reasons why Snapchat could be effective for your business? You will encounter a lot less competition as not many businesses are active on the platform, and you will also be able to find creative ways to reach out to your audience.

82% of active users are aged under 34, and 60% of its users are female. In this sense, it has a similar audience to that of Pinterest, so if that is your target audience, it could be perfect for you.

However, organic growth is tricky to come by on Snapchat, just purely by the way the app is designed. Instead, you’d be better off using the app for advertising your products to a younger audience through displaying ads on Snapchat stories.

Key Takeaways

When it comes to choosing how to market your business online, it can be overwhelming. Do you focus on your website, or do you focus on your social media presence? And what social media platforms should you focus on? This breakdown of the top 8 social media platforms, along with our simple guide to social media for business, should give you all the guidance you need to successfully generate a solid social media following.

Get in contact with us for a consultation on how you can take your business online to the next level!