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TikTok has become a global powerhouse, capturing the attention of children, teens, and adults alike. The simple, yet addictive design of the app makes it easy for users to scroll for hours without noticing, so it’s no wonder TikTok has continually risen in popularity since merging with Musical.ly in 2018. This immense popularity makes TikTok a great digital marketing tool. Many influencers and businesses have recognized TikTok’s potential to increase their brand’s recognizability and reach, using trends and partnerships to show users what they offer (Grome, 2022).
While TikTok is certainly the ideal marketing platform for many, it may not be for everyone. Just as different businesses have varying target audiences, different social media platforms are geared toward varying demographics. To craft the most successful digital marketing strategy for your brand, it’s important to know which platforms suit your needs and consumer base best. Let’s view the strengths and weaknesses of different social media platforms to assess which platforms suit which industries and audiences best.
TikTok as a Digital Marketing Tool
With one billion monthly active users, TikTok has seen meteoric growth in the last several years (Khoros, 2022). TikTok’s short-form video format is a great way to deliver various information and content, making it a useful tool for influencers and businesses. By hopping on a trend or creating your own to draw viewers in, businesses can successfully convey what their brand does and how it can benefit consumers. Whether with memes, life hacks, or tutorials, these short videos are perfectly digestible for consumers and generally easy to create.
Despite its many strengths, TikTok does have some limitations as well. Although TikTok has gained popularity among diverse age groups, its audience is predominantly teens and young adults. Thus, if your business’s target audience is older, TikTok might not be the best platform for you (Grome, 2022). Likewise, while some TikTok formats can be created quickly and with minimal effort, others can be more time-consuming, especially considering consumers prefer content with a higher production value. With this in mind, creating TikTok content for some can be a bigger hassle than writing a simple Tweet or editing an Instagram photo, and even perform poorly (Lagman, 2021).
Digital Marketing Alternatives to TikTok
If TikTok doesn’t seem like the ideal social media platform for your business, there are plenty of others to choose from. Here are some of the top social media platforms for your business to consider:
Facebook remains the most popular social media platform, with 2.93 billion monthly active users and 1.96 billion daily active users (Khoros, 2022). The platform caters to an older audience, as 95 percent of its users are over the age of 17, and 72 percent of users are over 24 (Oberlo, 2023). Along with Instagram, Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms among millennials, so it is a more appropriate choice for adult audiences than teens, who tend to be more drawn to platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. Considering the age demographic of the user majority, Facebook is most suited for the healthcare, media, and retail industries, with a target audience over the age of 25 (Khoros, 2022; Workspace Digital, n.d.).
Instagram brings in one billion monthly active users and 500 million active daily users, who spend an average of 30 minutes a day on the platform. Similar to Facebook, Instagram has a predominantly younger audience: 67 percent of people ages 18 to 29 use Instagram, while only 23 percent of people ages 50 to 64 use the platform. Additionally, 83 percent of Instagram users report finding new products and services on Instagram, proving the platform’s value to businesses seeking to attract new consumers. Instagram is ideal for the retail, sports, and automotive industries, with a target audience under the age of 35. As Instagram is known for its aesthetically pleasing lifestyle content, it’s also a good platform to advertise travel agencies, fashion and cosmetics brands, and food and beverages (Khoros, 2022; Workspace Digital, n.d.).
LinkedIn has nearly 90 million monthly active users and just under 30 million daily active users. Unlike many other platforms, LinkedIn is a professional networking website that caters more to business-to-business (B2B) companies than business-to-consumer (B2C) companies. This means that businesses on LinkedIn typically don’t target individual consumers; instead, they tend to sell their products or services to other businesses. For example, LinkedIn is the leading social networking platform for social media marketing, a service targeted toward businesses rather than individuals. LinkedIn’s audience tends to be older, with 30 to 49-year-olds making up the largest demographic of users. Since LinkedIn is a social media platform for professional networking and business interactions and has an older demographic, it is ideal for brands in the financial services, legal services, and information technology (IT) industries, with a target audience over the age of 30 (Khoros, 2022; Workspace Digital, n.d.).
Pinterest brings in 433 million monthly active users and 15 million daily active users. The majority of Pinterest’s users are female, with only 30 percent of its users being male. As a visual search engine, Pinterest relies heavily on the aesthetics and shareability of its content. To attract consumers on Pinterest, businesses must produce visually pleasing content to entice users. Pinterest is a great tool for businesses, especially online retailers — 90 percent of weekly Pinterest users utilize the platform to make purchase decisions, and Pinterest directs 33 percent more referral traffic to retailer websites than Facebook. Considering Pinterest is visually oriented like Instagram, it is best suited for the beauty, fashion, travel, retail, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries, with a target audience of predominantly women (Khoros, 2022; Workspace Digital, n.d.).
- Snapchat
Snapchat has 557 million monthly active users and 332 million daily active users. Snapchat is most popular with a younger demographic: 53 percent of people ages 15 to 25 and 34 percent of people ages 26 to 35 use Snapchat, while only 18 percent of people ages 36 to 45 use the platform. Thus, Snapchat is an ideal medium for businesses targeting Gen Z, who tend to show higher advertising recall than other generations. This means that even if Gen Z users view an advertiser’s video for only a few seconds, they will still recall the advertisement. Considering the age demographic of its users, Snapchat is best suited for the retail, media, sports, and CPG industries, with a target audience under the age of 30. Since only 4 percent of people aged 56 and older use Snapchat, this platform is significantly less effective for a target audience of adults (Khoros, 2022).
Twitter has 436 million monthly active users and 238 million daily active users. Twitter is known for connecting people and fostering conversation between users more so than other platforms. Since Twitter is a popular platform for customer service — customers can pose questions or complaints to businesses and receive responses from customer service teams in real time. Consumers enjoy this responsiveness: 77 percent of Twitter users say their impression of a brand is more favorable when the brand responds to Tweets. Twitter also enables businesses to build a significant following without paid advertisements, making it a great tool for increasing brand awareness. Twitter’s user base is 72 percent male, and 82 percent of B2B businesses are on Twitter. Considering these factors, Twitter is best suited for the media, sports, financial services, and technology industries, with a target audience of predominantly men (Khoros, 2022; Workspace Digital, n.d.).
- YouTube
YouTube brings in a sizeable 2.6 billion monthly active users and 122 million daily active users. It boasts one of the largest age demographics, attracting people of various ages, ranging from 15 to 56 or older. YouTube also contains a wide range of content, from entertaining animal videos to tutorials on how to change a flat tire. Therefore, YouTube is a good tool for businesses with various target audiences and industries. YouTube is especially well suited for the media, sports, automotive, and CPG industries. However, it can also be useful for retail, financial services, and healthcare industries, depending on the content strategy of each business (Khoros, 2022). However, it’s important to note that creating content for YouTube can be more time-consuming, as videos are much longer than TikTok’s, and users tend to prefer high-quality videos.
Across all industries, digital marketing is essential for any successful business. Not only does it establish a strong relationship with your target audience or consumer base, but it also increases your brand’s recognizability, allowing your company to reach a wider audience. If you need help navigating the do’s and don’ts of digital marketing, BlueTickSocial is here for you. Contact us today to begin growing your brand’s online presence!
Sources:
7 Pros and Cons of Doing TikTok Marketing You Need to Know
Best Social Media Platforms for Different Industries
The 2022 Social Media Users Demographics Guide
The Way of TikTok Marketing and Why It Works So Well
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