What is the Best Social Media Platform for Your Business?

Social media marketing is always an investment. Even with free organic content, creating posts takes time and effort. That effort pays off in brand awareness and, ultimately, conversions.

You need to find interested audiences to get the most bang for your buck, though. Here's how.

Learn Where Your Target Audience Is Active

Audience matching is the most crucial factor when you're choosing a social media platform. Even if a platform has billions of users, it will pay off only if your target audience spends time there.

That said, social media users visit an average of 6.7 platforms a month. It's less about finding the perfect platform and more about spreading your resources in a way that makes sense.

Consider Your Brand

Like any marketing strategy, social media is a matching game. The right match requires you to know your brand identity inside and out.

That includes:

• Products and services: What do you sell, and how do you promote it? If you rely heavily on product photos, you'll want to focus on image-centric platforms.
• Business type: Do you sell to consumers or other businesses? Some social platforms are better for reaching companies versus individuals. 
• Brand personality: Social media platforms have personalities just like brands do. Look for the right blend of formal versus casual, mature versus youthful, and so on.

Analyze Your Competitors

Need some help finding the best social networking platform for your business? Do a competitive analysis. Choose a few competitors and look at how they run their social profiles, including:

• What platforms they use
• How often they post
• What types of content they share
• What gets the most and least engagement

While you shouldn't make a marketing choice just because of a competitor, it helps to know what others in your space are doing. If a similar business is thriving on a particular platform, there's probably a good audience there.

Understand Your Platform Options

Now, on to the last step: learning about the different platforms. Whether you're social media savvy or just getting started, organizing your information helps.

Let’s look at a few of the social media sites you can use to market your business. The more you know about each one, the better prepared you'll be to choose where to focus your resources.



Facebook

Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world, boasting more than 3 billion monthly active users. It's a global phenomenon, connecting people across national borders.

More than 70% of Facebook's users are 18 to 44 years old. Its largest user base consists of 25- to 34-year-old men, who account for 18.3% of all account holders worldwide.

Facebook is a multimedia platform with many supported content formats, including:

• Text-based updates
• Polls
• User-generated content
• External links
• Image carousels
• Live broadcasts
• Short-form videos

Brands also have access to Facebook Messenger, an ideal tool for building customer relationships. Two-thirds of adults say messaging is their favorite way to communicate with a business, and 74% say it helps them feel more connected.

YouTube

YouTube allows creators, influencers, and businesses to share video content with their target audiences. It's hugely popular among all age groups, with the following percentages saying they use the app regularly:

• 93% of 18- to 29-year-olds
• 92% of 30- to 49-year-olds
• 83% of 50- to 65-year-olds
• 60% of those who are older than 65

YouTube's appeal comes from its versatility and the breadth of content that's available. No matter what your audience is interested in, it can find videos about that topic on YouTube.

Educational and how-to videos are in exceptionally high demand. They allow you to provide accessible answers to users' pressing questions and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

If educational videos don't match your branding, plenty of other options exist. Funny videos, vlogs, and even personal stories can generate engagement and establish a connection with your viewers. 

Instagram

Instagram is one of the most widely used platforms for sharing photos and videos. Its user base is younger, with over 62% of users under 35 and 78.4% under 45. Only 7.3% are over 55. 

Successful Instagram posts use visual appeal to draw audiences in. Instagram is the place to showcase your products, share inspirational content, or establish a personal connection with behind-the-scenes videos.

When you're working on visual branding or community-building with your target audience, Instagram is a valuable tool.

TikTok

TikTok is also extremely popular with younger users. Approximately 62% of teenagers and 62% of adults under 30 use the platform. Fifty-eight percent of teens use TikTok daily, and 17% use it "almost constantly."

But TikTok isn't just for the kids. Almost 40% of people in their 30s and 40s use it, as do 24% of 50- to 64-year-olds.

This hugely popular social media platform lets users create and share short-form videos, often with background music or viral spoken scripts. Brands can participate with creative approaches to the latest dance challenges, lip-synched memes, and fun filters. 

Advice and how-to videos have also become popular. As of 2024, 41% of consumers have used TikTok as a search engine, and almost 10% of Gen Z consumers prefer it to Google. The most popular topics to search for include DIY tips, fashion advice, workout routines, and beauty advice.

Product recommendations are also on the list, so get those influencer campaigns ready.

Snapchat

Snapchat combines a social media platform with instant messaging. Its primary user base is teens and young adults, with more than 58% of its users under age 25.

Snapchat's primary selling point is that it deletes messages 24 hours after you view them. Unopened messages are automatically deleted after seven to 31 days, depending on the message type.

Snapchat included its disappearing message feature for privacy reasons, but it's a perfect way for brands to communicate a sense of urgency. Use Snapchat to share time-sensitive deals and promotions, reminding people to click before they disappear.

The platform is also ideal for user-generated content. Encourage followers to create and share snaps using branded hashtags and filters, such as NYX's "Beauty Bestie" augmented reality tool. Remember to reshare your user-generated posts for better engagement.

If you're a fun-loving brand, play with Snapchat's features, lenses, and formats. This is a platform where you can take creative chances!

Pinterest

Pinterest is a visually oriented platform that's designed for creative discovery. Users visit Pinterest to find inspiration and ideas for almost any project they can imagine, from home decor to children's party games. Ideas appear visually as "pins" that users can collect and organize on their boards. 

The platform is overwhelmingly female. Almost 80% of its users worldwide are women, and most are between 18 and 35 years old. There's also a decent cohort of 35- to 55-year-old users.

Pinterest is a place to find searchable graphic content. If you have DIY ideas, product tutorials, downloadable graphics, or inspirational quotes, post them here and encourage users to share them.

Not a visual brand? Post your infographics on Pinterest and encourage followers to share them. You might get viewers who wouldn't see you otherwise.

X, Formerly Twitter

Let's face it: Most people still know the social media platform X as Twitter. Twitter made its fortune as a platform for posting 140-character, soundbite-style posts, or tweets.

X now accepts anything from text-based posts to long-form videos. Although it's still primarily a text-based platform, high-quality images can help you stand out on users' feeds. 

As X, the platform is still a go-to location for posting real-time updates and breaking news. It's the place to be to position yourself as an authority in your field, especially in a fast-moving industry like technology or finance.

Nearly 40% of the platform's users are 25 to 34 years old, with 35- to 49-year-olds coming in a distant second at 20.7%. The user base is male-dominated, consisting of 63% men and 37% women.

Honorable Mention: Twitch

Twitch is a livestream platform that initially gained popularity among video gamers. Today, it hosts real-time feeds from many different types of content creators.

As the platform grows, brands have more opportunities to support streamers. According to Twitch Marketing, 76% of users appreciate businesses that support platform creators. Consider getting in on the ground floor.

Integrating Social Networking Sites With Your Marketing Strategy

Social media marketing can expand your audience and open new revenue streams. Like any strategy, it takes time to launch and develop, but you don't have to do it alone. 

At Optimize Digital Marketing, we help brands develop custom social media strategies. We'll work closely with you to combine organic and paid tactics to reach your target audience and secure more leads. To learn more about how we can assist you, schedule your free consultation today.