What Social Media Platforms Should My Business Be On?

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According to Ryerson’s State Of Social Media report, issued early this year, over 94% of adults have at least one social media account. Similarly, according to Pew Research data released this year, most Americans have between 3 and 8 social media accounts.

It’s no secret that social media has the power to drive both awareness and conversions. At the same time, most businesses have a finite amount of resources to allocate to social media. Understanding the user base of each platform can save you both time and money, because you can zero in on the platforms where your audience is spending time.


With that in mind, we’ve put together a stats-based overview of four key social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

Facebook

Facebook is an undisputed social media giant. According to the Ryerson study, 84% of Canadians have a Facebook account, including 95% of young adults. Additionally, according to the Pew research sample, a large percentage of users visit the site daily, and two-thirds of those who visit it daily visit it more than once per day.

Is This Platform Right For Your Business' Marketing Efforts?

Pros:

  • Facebook allows businesses to post a wide variety of content, from images, text, and video, to links.
  • In addition to having a large audience size and reach, Facebook has a very robust advertising platform to help you leverage this audience.
    • This means that you can deliver your ads to a large number of people in almost any demographic, whether you want to target by age, location, interest, or more, and can easily track and monitor your results.

Cons:

  • Negative Press And Privacy Concerns - Consumers’ faith in Facebook’s use of their data has been shaken recently, so many users might be taking advantage of setting such as the recently-released erase history function in order to feel protected.
  • Declining Organic Reach - In January 2018, Facebook made newsfeed changes designed to help users connect more with others rather than “consume media in isolation”. In a January 2018 video, Facebook Head Of Newsfeed Adam Mosseri stated, “Person to person will be more valuable than person-to-page” in terms of weight and ranking in newsfeeds. This means that business owners need to be prepared to invest in advertising if they want to remain highly visible.
 
 

Instagram

According to Ryerson’s data, approximately 37% of Canadian adults have an Instagram account. The user base is relatively young: Statista suggests that 61% of users are between 18 and 34. Those younger than 25 spend over 32 minutes a day on the platform, and those who are over 24 spend over 25 minutes per day.

Is This Platform Right For Your Business?

Pros:

  • This platform allows customers a visual reference for your products and brands. It can be highly influential in purchasing decisions, especially when it comes to lifestyle products: In fact, 72% of millennials in one study reported buying fashion and beauty products based on Instagram posts.
  • This platform is highly visual, allowing images showcasing your brand to be front-and-centre. Additionally, there are a variety of unique ad formats such as photo, story, carousel, and video.
  • Hashtags make it easy for your posts to reach the right people, whether you’re trying to reach people in your city, or who are interested in a specific topic or issue area.

Cons:

  • If you are looking for a platform to post text-heavy content, Instagram might not be the best place for you to devote your attention.
  • In posts that are not advertisements, it can be difficult to link back to your website directly, as links are not live on these posts (although you can place links in your bio).
  • If your business does not lend itself well to photographs, you may need to consider creating branded imagery.
 
 

Snapchat

According to Statista, Snapchat’s rise in popularity among US teens was meteoric: check out the chart here. Statista also notes that this social network has an incredibly high reach. Additionally, according to Snapchat, those who use the app open it on average 25 times per day, and spend around 30 minutes in total in the app. When it comes to the industries present on this platform, a March study from MediaRadar noted that media, technology, and retail make up a large portion of advertisers using the Discover channel at the time of the study.

Is It The Right Platform For Your Business' Marketing Efforts?

Pros:

  • When it comes to organic posts, snap stories’ authentic and temporary nature can create a fear of missing out, prompting users to click on them. When combined with special offers, this can be especially powerful.
  • Snapchat is a great platform to combine with influencer marketing.
  • In addition, to snap ads, SnapChat offers innovative options like sponsored lenses and geofilters.

Cons:

  • Snapchat’s younger demographic means that this may not be ideal for all businesses.
  • Some businesses may be prone to erring too far on the side of “polished”, when Snapchat is better for more authentic content.
  • Some advertising options may be on the expensive side for businesses operating on a tight ad budget.
 
 

Pinterest

Pinterest is often dismissed as a smaller, niche platform. But did you know that slightly more Canadians have Pinterest than Instagram? 38% of Canadians have an account on this platform. However, data from other sources suggest that users don’t use this platform with the frequency that they use other platforms.

According to Pinterest’s own statistics, their demographic split is 70% women, and 30% men. Pew notes that most users are under 40, college educated, and relatively affluent.

Is It The Right Platform For Your Business' Marketing Efforts?

Pros:

  • It’s a great spot for anyone seeking customers who are ready to buy: 61% of users say that they’ve discovered new brands, products, or pins, and 1 out of 2 have made a purchase after using a promoted pin.
  • Pinterest can also be highly beneficial for certain industries: it is known for a focus on retail, fashion, decor, and lifestyle.
  • 61% of Pinners say that they find data to help themselves, meaning that it has a positive association for users.

Cons:

  • With around 200 million users, Pinterest is smaller than many competitors.
  • Users with Pinterest accounts visit the site less frequently than other platforms.
  • While Pinterest has small niches related to many subjects, industries outside of its main focus may have more difficulty gaining traction on this site if their profile and advertising are not correctly optimized.

 

No Matter What Platform You Choose, We Can Help

Once you’ve decided what platforms would best to reach your customer, you can start creating a presence. Whether you’re creating organic posts or using your platforms’ ad services, it’s important to have clear goals and a plan on how to achieve them.

Want to save time, effort, and avoid the learning curve? Get in touch with our team. Whether you're not sure where to start or need advice on taking your social media management to the next level, you can reach us at 1-587-880-3358 or through our online contact form. 

 

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