There’s a slew of up-and-coming social media networks to test out this year – but successful marketers say their networks of choice remain Facebook and Twitter, according to a Percolate report.
In terms of both organic and paid social, Facebook was the reigning champ for the 250 senior marketers surveyed. Almost 90 percent of high performance marketers said they actively post to Facebook and 61 percent said it’s their top-performing marketing channel.
Facebook allows for more strategic content placement than Twitter
The report suggested marketers have more time to plan their content on Facebook than they do on Twitter, with 30 percent saying they plan their marketing efforts on Facebook roughly a month ahead of time. Brafton reported that engaging and successful Facebook posts have the potential to stay at the top of users’ newsfeeds for a full day – so a well thought-out post has potential to reach a widespread audience.
Unless a Tweet is promoted, it quickly falls down a user’s timeline and has the lifespan of roughly five minutes. This data correlates with how marketers use the network: 22 percent of participants said they plan Twitter efforts on the same day they take place.
Paid advertising: To invest in social or PPC?
Marketers have often wondered if they should invest in organic content or PPC. As we’ve discussed, the two can easily work hand-in-hand. Now, marketers are faced with the challenge of balancing their budgets across PPC, display ads or specific social channels.
One in three marketers surveyed engage in paid Facebook advertising – followed by both display ads and PPC. The survey also noted that “high performance teams were more likely to spend paid promotion on Twitter than average or low performance teams.”
Niche networks like Snapchat & Instagram haven’t broken through… yet
While Snapchat climbed to popularity for Millennials and Instagram boasts the most engagement among the social networks – the report suggested both top and lower performing marketers aren’t utilizing the networks.
Of those surveyed, 28 to 31 percent have an Instagram presence, and only 1 to 2 percent are active on Snapchat. This isn’t to say these networks aren’t worth the time. In fact – our social strategist Rachel Caruso thinks Snapchat is the marketing wave of the future. Find out why here.
Choose the networks where your audiences are active
Less than half (40 percent) of marketers determine what content their audience is interested in by monitoring their social media channels. Our latest eBook, Content for Social Media in 2015 dives into the demographic and user trends for each network, so you can determine where your target audience will be active and engaged. Get your copy here.
