If you're an e-commerce business, you likely know the importance of social media marketing. Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms help companies grow their audience and drive sales from existing customers. 75 percent of marketers credit social media marketing with increased web traffic, and almost 90 percent say it has improved business exposure.
You must have a solid strategy for targeting users to maximize your social media marketing efforts. Plus, this strategy includes identifying the platform that yields the best performance in terms of conversion and ROI.
Instagram vs. Facebook, TikTok vs. YouTube, which one is the best for your business? This article discusses the pros and cons of using each platform and outlines practical steps to help you decide where to focus.
Facebook is the largest social media platform, with over 2.85 billion users globally. People use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, share photos, find jobs, connect with others with similar interests, and learn about new events and products. Facebook also allows businesses to sell their products or services online.
Another important feature of Facebook is its ability to integrate with other websites and services so that users can collect information from different sources in one place. For example, users can add items to their Google Calendar from Facebook.
Pros of Facebook for business
1. Cost-effective exposure
Whether a big corporation or a small business, Facebook is a powerful marketing tool to broaden your reach and increase brand awareness. With the right strategy, your business can get the best bang for your marketing buck. Facebook ads are the cheapest form of advertising. You can spend $5 and reach 1,000 people considering that the average CPC on Facebook is $0.94, which is more affordable than advertising on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
Source: Facebook
Nevertheless, seasonality and competition influence the cost of your ad campaigns. Advertising is even cheaper on Facebook when your ads drive plenty of engagement. Ensure your ad has a captivating headline, stunning visuals, and a solid call to action.
2. Target specific audiences
Although advertising helps you get your business in front of many people, if these people are not interested in your product or service, your ad budget will be a waste of your money. That's why targeting is vital in ad campaigns. Fortunately, Facebook ads 2022 allows you to reach your exact audience by targeting people by age, interests, behavior, and location.
But how can you decide the proper targeting criteria for your campaign? Tools like Google Analytics give you a complete breakdown of demographics, interests, geographic locations, behavior, and devices. With the help of this information, you can optimize your ads not only for Facebook but for every other platform.
3. Mobile-optimized experience
Did you know that 81 percent of users access Facebook via mobile devices? This means that they can always view your content on the go. The average person spends 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phone each day, so this can be an incredible opportunity to showcase your business.
To make the most of this opportunity, you must target mobile users in your Facebook ads campaign. Only 14.3% of mobile users are on iOS, while eighty percent use Android phones, so focus your ads on the latter. Also, design an ideal mobile experience by appropriately sizing your ad creative and messaging.
4. Tools to customize your brand message
Facebook helps you keep customers around by providing a comprehensive set of tools to engage them and drive sales. One of these tools is a chatbot. You can build a free chatbot for your business page in a few minutes using excellent templates Facebook has developed for you.
Another valuable tool is Appointments. If you're a local service provider, you can use this tool to help customers book appointments directly on Facebook. Then, the Facebook shop tool enables you to share your inventory or services with customers.
5. Host events
Facebook allows you to create events for your business. This way, you can build deeper relationships with your audience virtually and in person. You can invite people to events that promote your products and services or create awareness for your business. You can create three types of events on Facebook: In-person, Facebook Live, and External Online Events.
Source: Facebook
In-person events are for location-based meetups to keep in touch with your audience in person. Facebook Live comes in handy when you want to host a live stream. External Online Events lets you notify your audience of virtual meetings on a third-party platform like Google Meet, Zoom, or Adobe Connect. To create a Facebook event, tap the menu icon in the top right corner of Facebook. Go to your Page and select Events, and then tap Create Event.
Cons of Facebook for business
1. Advertising is based on bid mechanisms
Facebook's ad bidding system is an auction where advertisers bid for their ads to be placed in Facebook's various ad placement locations. The highest bid usually gets the most ad placements, so you must be willing to spend more than other similar businesses to outcompete them.
The bidding system has a low-cost method that caters to businesses yet to understand the worth of each prospect. Still, you may not get optimum results as you increase your budget spend on the platform or if competitors intensify their advertising efforts.
Alternatively, you may choose the target cost method that permits Facebook to vary your ad performance based on specific situations. But this approach means you can increase the amount you spend on the platform and see the same result from each extra dollar. The system takes time to determine the average cost for your campaign; therefore, you can expect cost fluctuations in the initial stage.
2. Ads require skills
A solid Facebook ads strategy 2022 can be so sophisticated. This is one reason larger companies usually rely on the services of digital marketing agencies to create and manage Facebook marketing campaigns. And if you prefer to have everything done by your in-house marketing team, you'll have to make provisions for their training.
Buying courses from top Facebook marketing experts is a great way to train your staff. Nevertheless, it may take them some time to get the hang of the platform and achieve the best results on your campaigns. Also, remember that training is a continuous investment because technologies and strategies change.
3. Fake profiles
Although Facebook proactively restricts fake accounts, the platform still suffers from a ton of these fake profiles that cause harm to business pages. Facebook removed 1.6 billion fake accounts from its platform during the first quarter of 2022. In the previous quarter, they deleted 1.7 billion.
Cybercriminals can use these accounts to conduct promo abuse, payment fraud, identity theft, and content spam, ruining the experience for other users on the platform. These fake accounts can also be bots that deliver fake clicks on your ads creating invalid traffic and leads for you.
Best performing industries to promote on Facebook
1. Fashion
2. Auto
3. E-commerce businesses
4. Real Estate
5. Consultant Agencies
6. Investment Companies
Instagram is a popular social media platform for sharing photos and videos. With over 1.4 billion users worldwide, Instagram is a great way to connect with your audience and build brand awareness. In addition to posting appealing visuals of your products, you can also use Instagram to share links to your blog posts, offer product samples or sell merchandise.
With an Instagram Business account, you add swipe-up links to Stories, schedule posts, and enable auto-posting for your content. Meta, the company that owns Facebook, also owns Instagram, yet, Instagram vs. Facebook has unique pros and cons.
Pros of Instagram for business
1. Purchasing power
Did you know that 72 percent of Instagram users have purchased a product or service they discovered on the platform? And this conversion rate is way higher than what you get on other social media platforms. On Snapchat, it's 1 percent, Twitter 3 percent, Pinterest 22 percent, and Facebook 23 percent.
People may be more inclined to buy products on Instagram because it introduces the product to them in a visually appealing manner. By showcasing products on Instagram, you give potential buyers a real-life view of the products, and such insight strongly influences their purchase decision.
2. Reach new audiences
One of the biggest perks of Instagram vs. Facebook is its broader reach. If you post awesome content on Instagram and apply the right strategy, your post can quickly go viral without paid ads or a post boost.
Your content must be captivating and engaging to increase your reach on Instagram. You must also use the right hashtags and post at the right time.
3. Trackability
Measuring the performance of your Instagram marketing helps you identify what's working and what's not. From there, you can make necessary improvements to your campaign and do better in the future. Instagram makes it easy to analyze your results with apparent metrics such as likes, comments, and followers. Each post has a "View Insights" option that reveals these metrics at a glance.
The Insights tool lets you see which hashtags work the most for you. This feature is especially vital if you're trying out many hashtags per post.
Cons of Instagram for business
1. Non-business centric
Instagram allows businesses to reach their target audience. Nevertheless, the platform is not primed for business promotion. People often use Instagram to share pictures and videos with friends and family, so they may be less receptive to buying via Instagram.
2. Potential for decreased visibility
People use Instagram for relaxation and to connect with friends. If their feeds are filled with brands and influencers trying to sell to them, they might get overwhelmed and frustrated with the excessive promotion and unfollow those business accounts.
The best way to avoid being blocklisted by your target audience is to moderate your content. Instead of being salesy all the time with promotional content, try posting stuff that informs your audience or one with plenty of humor and a natural tone.
3. Instagram ads are pricey
The average cost of CPC advertising on Instagram is between $0.20 to $6.70, depending on the bidding model. At the same time, the cost-per-impressions range from $2.50 to $3.50. Many small businesses need more money to afford to spend high amounts on their social media marketing strategy.
Best performing industries to promote on Instagram
1. Fashion Industry
2. Food Industry
3. Travel Industry
4. Beauty and Skincare Industry
5. Real Estate Industry
TikTok
TikTok is a popular video-sharing app that allows users to record, edit, and share short videos. This platform is similar to social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram because of its emphasis on video content. It's great for businesses to engage customers and generate buzz around their brand.
On TikTok, you can create fun and engaging content, share your product or service with your followers, and promote special events. There are several influencers on the platform too, who can help you grow your social media presence and boost sales. Remember, the app has a young demographic, so it might not be a good fit for businesses targeting older audiences.
Pros of TikTok for business
1. Widen your reach
TikTok can be a powerful tool for reaching your ideal buyers. It has over 1 billion active users, most of which are in the sought-after age range of 18 to 34. The platform is known for its short videos that are often playful and creative, so you must ensure your content has these qualities too. And most importantly, ensure that they are relevant to your target audience.
2. Deeper engagement
One thing that sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms is its short video format. This makes it perfect for capturing quick, snackable content. And because the videos are so short, people are more likely to watch them all the way through. Plus, there's the bonus of the app's creative filters and effects. This makes it an excellent platform for generating engaging content.
3. Trackability
TikTok makes it easy to track your advertising metrics because it provides detailed insights into how users are interacting with your account. For example, you can see how many people have seen your videos, how many have clicked on the link in your bio, and how many people have saved your content.
Additionally, TikTok also offers a wide range of features that help you to track metrics correctly. For example, you can use the 'Track Events' feature to measure how different actions (such as likes, saves, and comments) impact your overall success on the platform.
Cons of TikTok for business
1. Content format limitations
TikTok is limited to video content, so businesses that rely on images or text-based posts may find that this platform isn't a great fit. Additionally, the shorter format of videos on TikTok can make it difficult to get your point across or share in-depth information.
2. Video production takes time
One downside of TikTok is that video production takes time. You need to think about what you want to say, film it, and edit the footage. This routine can be challenging, especially if you produce videos regularly. This means that you might be unable to communicate your message effectively or engage your audience as much as you'd like. However, planning your content and scripting your videos can help you stay on track.
3. TikTok advertising is expensive
It's already hard enough to stand out in a crowded marketplace, and it becomes even more difficult when you add expensive advertising into the mix. TikTok ads cost $10 per CPM (cost per 1000 views) with a minimum budget of $500 for a campaign. Perhaps, the high cost of advertising on this platform is due to the fact that it has a large user base that's always active.
Best Performing Industries to Promote on TikTok
1. Beauty
2. Fashion
3. Jewelry
4. Home Interior and accessories
5. Food
6. Mobile Accessories
YouTube
YouTube is an excellent way to reach a large audience, build brand awareness, and generate leads. It's an incredibly versatile video platform. Providing a global audience with easy access to your content can help you promote your brand and products.
With so many people using the platform, it's a great way to get exposure and show off your products. You can use YouTube to upload videos of you or your company explaining what you do and why people should buy from you. You can also use it to show people how your product works and get them excited about it.
Pros of YouTube for business
1. Greater exposure
Posting your content or running adverts on YouTube gives your business greater exposure because YouTube is the second-most visited website after Google. Moreover, Google owns YouTube, so your videos will appear in Google search results.
This is an excellent way to reach potential customers who might not be aware of your business otherwise. You can target your ads specifically to people who have already shown an interest in your product or service by visiting your website or watching your videos. This ensures that your marketing budget is spent on people more likely to convert into customers.
2. Qualified traffic
YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world. So when people are looking for information—which could be about your product or service—they might just turn to YouTube to find what they're looking for. In other words, your potential customers are already using YouTube as a resource, which means you should be using it too.
YouTube is great for building trust and credibility with potential customers. With an informative, engaging video, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and show your human side too. This approach can help people feel more comfortable doing business with you.
3. Monetize your channel
Making money off your YouTube channel is relatively easy. The most common way to make money off of YouTube is through advertising. When you have a lot of viewers, YouTube will place ads on your videos, and you'll earn a commission on those ads. You can also partner with other brands and promote their products in your videos.
Another way to monetize your channel is through sponsorship. You can partner with brands and promote their products in your videos if you have a large enough following. In return, they'll pay for the promotion.
Cons of YouTube for business
1. Highly competitive
YouTube is a highly competitive platform because there are so many people using it for business. With so much noise, it can be tough to stand out and be heard. The key to succeeding on YouTube is to create content that is valuable and engaging. You need to provide your audience with information that they can't find anywhere else. You also need to be consistent with your publishing schedule.
2. Spend time and resources to market your videos
Social media marketing for beginners can be challenging because you're competing with bigger and more experienced brands. Although users can find your videos organically, there's a high probability that your videos are going to get buried in the billions of other videos on YouTube.
For people to see them, you need to put in some extra effort. One way to do this is by spreading your links to other platforms where you already have traffic. You can post your YouTube video links in your blog posts, share them on other social handles, or even run ads to promote them.
3. Inability to have direct sales
You can't make direct sales on YouTube because there's no e-commerce functionality built into the platform. What this means is that you can't create a sales video and then have people buy your product or service right there on the spot.
However, you can include links to purchase pages in the description field underneath your video. This feature may not be as convenient for viewers, but it helps to drive sales nonetheless.
Best performing industries to promote on YouTube,
1. Arts & Entertainment
2. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
3. Health & Fitness
4. Home & Garden
5. Technology & Computing
6. Quick Service Restaurant (QSR)
How to use Mandala AI to determine the best Social Media platform for your business
Let's take a look at a use case for an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Step 1: Log into your mandala AI dashboard and create a campaign. From the data here, you can see which platforms are popular.
Step 2: Select the top mentions feature. It will show you all the popular mentions across the platforms.
Step 3: Let's look further into Facebook.
Step 4: Here, in the Mentions List, you will see that people are interested in discounts and promotions, especially seasonal offers. From here, you can review what customers are interested in and their characteristics from these popular posts.
Step 5: Furthermore, you can use Platform Comparison and Platforms Matrix. This will show you in more detail the comparison between all platforms. In this case, Facebook has the highest number of mentions, while Instagram has the highest number of engagements.
Therefore, Instagram would be the best choice for engagement, while Facebook would be the for mentions.
You can have a go at Mandala Analytics free for seven days trial or register for personal use at mandalasystem.com. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
Mandala Team
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