The time has come for brands to get on new social platforms because 42% of Americans are using multiple networks.

Marketers who excel at just one social network and treat the rest as an afterthought may see their returns shrink in 2014 and beyond as users embraced multiple networks. According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project report, 42 percent of Americans are using multiple networks on a regular basis. The time has come to diversify, and brands that adjust their social media content for cross-network use can reach wider audiences than those that expect one or two sites to provide results.

Facebook is still the network that sees the most action, Pew reported. More than 70 percent of consumers have accounts and log into the network as of 2013, up from 67 percent last year. However, people are also exploring platforms that serve specific purposes.

Marketers who  have invested in Facebook marketing will find their strategies still pay off.

Instagram membership jumped from 13 percent last year to 17 percent in 2013, putting the photo-sharing site at nearly the same level of penetration as Twitter. (The micro-blogging network is now used by about 18 percent of American adults.)

It’s important to note that people aren’t setting up accounts on these sites and leaving them unattended. Around 57 percent of Instagram users log in daily and 35 percent check their feeds more than once a day. This is just shy of Facebook’s habitual users, 63 percent of whom check the social network everyday and 40 percent who admit to multiple daily visits.

Instagram is becoming more popular among American users.

As brands bring new networks into the fold, they need to remember that content language and tone must match each platform. In a recent blog post, Brafton social media strategist Justin Oram explained that it’s not always what marketers say that defines the success of their campaigns, but the way they say it. Specifically, he revealed that customers have different expectations when they sign into each site and brands that want (positive) engagement must deliver or risk losing followers and lead gen opportunities.

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.