Social media marketing channels proliferate, more so during the pandemic, wherein the users prefer these platforms to be their primary communication mode. With this said, brands thrive because they can capitalize on the ever-increasing usage of netizens of these channels.
A dilemma is deciding which social media marketing channels to choose for the business. With a plethora of choices, the decision-making process can get confusing. Of course, social channels are not created equal—some deserve your attention, and others you can do without.
Here are some of these social media marketing channels that must be included in your marketing arsenal.
Core social media marketing channels for your business
When choosing a social channel or two to penetrate, remember that you are in it for the long term. You’d want your choices to contribute to better lead generation, increased click-through rates (CTR), better engagement with customers or clients, and a higher return on investment (ROI).
1) Facebook
Facebook is the biggest social media marketing channel for both reach and usage.
Facebook has a myriad of advertising tools that suit every business need regardless of the size of the operation. Some tools are paid, though; The social media giant also offers credits for first-time users, which is excellent for testing the waters.
Facebook usage statistics
- Facebook is the #1 social platform with a 60.6% share of all Internet users
- The platform has 2.7 billion monthly active users, 1.73 billion of which visit the site daily
- About 96% of these active users access their profiles through mobile devices
- Over 80 million small businesses worldwide use Facebook pages
- About 65% of Facebook users are 35 years and below, 32.4% of which are between 25 and 34 years old
- About 86% of marketers use Facebook to advertise their products and services
Content to post: Articles; images, videos, infographics, and other visuals; branded
Pros:
- Has the largest audience at almost 3 billion users
- Most complete features and functionalities for posting all forms of content (visual, textual, branded, and non-branded)
- With reporting options
Cons:
- Organic reach is not guaranteed considering the high volumes of dummy and duplicate accounts
- Noise is everywhere cutting through it to reach the target audience can be challenging
2) Twitter
Twitter remains to be widespread despite claims of its waning popularity.
Twitter is a microblogging site of up to 280 characters. Each tweet is creatively made, and this catchiness often leads to the virality of the tweets. Users are also allowed to use hashtags.
In fact, Twitter is the pioneer of this feature that is now utilized for branding and campaign-relevant purposes.
Twitter usage statistics:
- Twitter has 330 million monthly active users, 145 million of which use the platform daily
- About 63% of all Twitter users are aged between 35 and 65 years
- Approximately 80% of users belong to the affluent millennials category
- About 500 million tweets are posted daily
- A user spends 3.39 minutes on Twitter on average
- About 75% of B2B businesses use Twitter to market their products and services
- Approximately 93% of users are open to connecting with brands
- About 38% are more likely to post their opinion on brands and their products and services on Twitter than on other social media channels
Content to post: Curated, industry or company news, announcements, short videos, GIFs, and other visuals
Pros:
- An efficient tool for marketing and customer service
- An ideal channel for quick responses
Cons:
- It can get crowded and noisy, depending on the numbers of followers, followed back (individuals and brands), and tweets
- Network growth is commensurate with the amount of effort exerted
- The limited character length is not suitable for long communication
3) Instagram
Instagram is primarily a photo-sharing platform with hashtags as its most utilizable feature. That’s in addition to various e-commerce-friendly functions and tools such as product tagging, pricing, and website linking.
Brands can use the highly visual interface to show off their products and services while also attracting the right audience, especially the female audience. Visual content creation can be a challenge, though.
Instagram usage statistics:
- Instagram has nearly 1 billion monthly active users; 71% of these users are below 35 years old
- Users spend 53 minutes per day on the app on average
- About 50% of users use Stories daily
- Instagram generates 4x more interactions than Facebook
- About 80% of users were able to decide on which product to buy or service to avail of through the help of Instagram
- About 50% of users follow at least one brand
- The gender mix of users is almost equal at 49% male and 51% female
Content to post: High-quality visuals (photos and short videos), vertical and behind-the-scene videos, tutorials, stories, event coverages, live Q&As
Pros:
- Perfect for brands with highly visual and immersive content
- Easy to reach target audience through tagging, hashtags, direct messaging, and followers list
Cons:
- Introduces algorithms that may directly affect content creation and promotion
- Producing high-quality visual content could be cost-intensive and time-consuming
4) Pinterest
Pinterest is another highly visual channel explaining the inherent virality of the content posted here.
Encapsulated images and infographics make it easier to reach the right audience. The best part is Pinterest allows adding URLs to the images. These are redirects to the website that boost engagement, click-through rates, sales, and, thus, returns.
Pinterest usage statistics:
- Pinterest has 322 million monthly active users
- 7 in 10 Pinterest users are female with a median age of 40 years
- About 97% of searches are unbranded
- 3 out of 4 weekly Pinterest users discovered a new brand or product
- Over 50% of Pinterest users live outside the US
- 8 out of 10 users bought products by looking at the brand’s boards and pins
- About 94% of social media marketers have Pinterest in their channel portfolio
Content to post: Vertical images (fashion, lifestyle, beauty, travel, food, etc.)
Pros:
- Allows connecting with individuals and brands easier
- Hyperlinked pins that drive relevant website traffic
- Allows following a board or a pin on that board
- Higher conversion rates compared with other channels
- Attracts niche users
Cons:
- Copyright issues are a hindrance to pinning and repinning images
- Results vary, requiring a high volume of pins daily
- Attract niche users
5) LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a business-to-business platform because of its professional networking vibe.
As such, businesses may go here if they are selling professional products and services. A good presence also means having a broad audience for company news and announcements of achievements and even new or changes to its product and service portfolio.
The goal is to build connections, and LinkedIn Groups are a great way to network with other professionals. The platform can fill the business’s hiring needs.
LinkedIn usage statistics:
- LinkedIn has more than 722 million monthly active users
- About 57% of LinkedIn users are male
- About 60% of users are from 25 to 34 years while 37% are from 30 to 49 years old
- Over 30 million companies are found on LinkedIn
- 57% of LinkedIn’s traffic is mobile
- LinkedIn is the most trusted platform in the US
- About 76% of users live outside the US
- Content creation increased 60% in 2020
- Content has 15x more impressions than job postings
Content to post: Professional content, company-related content such as job postings and announcements, articles showing expertise and authority
Pros:
- Reaching professionals and experts are easy
- Directly communicating with users
- Not too cluttered or crowded
Cons:
- Users are not as active as in other social channels
- Spamming is quite rampant
6) YouTube
YouTube is the most effective audio-visual platform today.
YouTube is also a search engine, much like Google, the company that currently owns it. The channel offers maximum traction, especially if you know how to do YouTube SEO.
Content optimization possibilities are endless—the people behind it continuously improve its functionalities and features. For instance, YouTube now offers video remarketing and retargeting.
YouTube usage statistics:
- YouTube has 2 billion monthly active users
- Content creators upload up to 500 hours of video per minute
- A user spends 11 minutes and 24 seconds on YouTube per day on average
- Each YouTube visit involves an average of 6.5 page views
- More than 70% of YouTube views are on mobile devices
- About 80% of users watched a YouTube video before purchasing a product
- About 70% of the users engage with content creators and channels
Sources: Hootsuite
Content to post: Short and long-form videos
Pros:
- The 2nd biggest search engine
- Upcycling of content is possible
- The high virality of video content is possible
- Google prioritizes videos on SERPs (search engine results pages)
- Possibility to monetize content
Cons:
- High-quality video content is not cheap and can be time-consuming to produce
- Reaching a target audience can be a real challenge
- Strict rules on branded, promotional, and sponsored content
Other social media marketing channels to explore are:
- Snapchat
- TikTok
These are other channels that may also work for your brand. Remember that your success on your chosen social media marketing channels for businesses depends on the social marketing campaign’s goals and targets. It pays to develop a marketing plan that is relevant to your target audience and industry.
You need not be on every social channel. Choose only the ones that can bring the most engagement because, in social media marketing, engagement is the currency of the users.
Optimind can help you decide which social media channels to utilize to improve conversions, including social traffic. Let’s create a social campaign from the ground up. Call us to know more about our social media marketing services!
