Which Top Social Network Should You Focus Your Efforts On?

It may seem like a simple question, but it has stumped many entrepreneurs.

The main reason is that social media marketing can be difficult to measure and monitor.

For instance, research from Adobe found that only 1 in 4 marketers use conversion tracking to assess their social ROI.

The truth is there's no silver bullet when it comes to social media marketing.

Each social network has a different niche and an audience that reacts differently to your posts.

So even if one platform generates more "likes" than another, it may not have the same impact as that number indicates.

The best way to determine the optimal focus for your brand is by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each network.

We have compiled a comprehensive guide that will help you determine which social media platform is right for your brand.

In this article, you'll learn about:

The different types of social media platforms. How to determine which platforms your brand should use.

The pluses and minuses of each platform so you can strike a balance across all networks.

Brand Guidelines for Social Media Platforms

Before we begin, it's important to figure out what type of brand voice and tone you want to portray on each social media platform.

First, make a list of the major types of content your brand typically posts. This could include:

Event promotion Product announcements Recipes Photos Videos (creative)

Once you have this list, determine how much emphasis you want to put on each type of content.

For example, if you sell a product that your customer typically purchases for its health benefits, you may want to focus on healthy recipes and tips.

If this is the case, we would recommend using Pinterest as your main platform because of its high levels of engagement.

Keep in mind that social media platforms are not just used by consumers but also by businesses as platforms for customer service.

If your business receives a lot of support inquiries, we would recommend using Facebook for its high levels of engagement and its Messenger app as a way to provide customer service.

Since each social media platform has a different audience, you may want to adjust the tone of your brand's voice on each network accordingly.

Let's take a look at each platform and its niche:

Twitter

Although many users think of Twitter as a news-oriented social media, it's also very useful for sharing quick updates and posts with an emphasis on hashtags.

In fact, this social network is ideal for journalists because it provides an easy way to share their work in progress with experts in their fields.

This makes it easy for them to ask questions, crowdsource ideas and gain inspiration.

Another important aspect of Twitter is that there's less engagement than other social networks so it's a great platform to announce new products or content.

If you want your audience to know about an event without them needing to click on anything because they are more interested in the "happening now" aspect, Twitter is a good choice.

Facebook

If there's one social media platform that will never go out of style, it's Facebook.

It has consistently been the most popular social network for over 10 years and its audience is still growing.

In 2015 alone, Facebook added 60 million users to bring its total number of active accounts to 1.59 billion.

One of the reasons why Facebook is so popular with marketers is that its audience is highly engaged.

They like, comment, and share content more than any other network - especially short videos across all demographics (18-24, 25-34). So if you are creating high-quality videos for your brand, there's no better place than Facebook.

Pinterest

Since Pinterest takes up such a large portion of the internet, it may be easy to forget that less than 5% of its audience comes from the United States.

This social network is international in every sense of the word and part of its success stems from being very visual with high levels of engagement, especially in the food, health, and home niches.

The other reason why Pinterest is so successful in advertising is that it isn't as crowded as Facebook or Instagram because users prefer to look at curated - rather than spontaneous - content.

Instagram

When comparing engagement between Pinterest and Instagram, there's a clear winner every time.

In fact, 80% of Instagram's 400 million monthly users use the platform on a daily basis.

This high level of engagement is due to its simple, visual interface and the ability for brands to create short videos that gain hundreds of thousands of likes.

One reason why we recommend using Instagram as a primary social media platform is that it tends to focus mostly on visuals rather than written content.

This makes it perfect for B2C businesses looking to get their products in front of the right audience.

LinkedIn

Companies that want to reach out to a more professional and higher-income demographic should consider LinkedIn as their social media platform of choice.

This network is less visual than most and focuses mostly on written posts rather than photos or videos.

However, this doesn't mean there isn't any engagement. On the contrary - LinkedIn is considered a social network for "thought leaders" because of its high levels of engagement from business professionals and executives.

In Closing

Remember that social media is still a relatively new medium and so it's important to adopt a multi-platform approach.

The best way to do this is by creating unique content for each network as opposed to sharing identical posts across them all.

This not only prevents your audience from getting bored but also increases the chances of receiving engagement since there are more posts tailored to their interests.