Social media marketing has revolutionized the way brands communicate and market to consumers. Before implementing a social plan, brands must determine which platforms suit their target audience.
Here’s how you can use the five biggest social media platforms to maximize the potential of your next campaign...
Linkedin
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 77% of content marketers surveyed said that Linkedin produces the best organic results in B2B social media marketing.
Companies and users can leverage LinkedIn’s advertising features for sponsored content and InMail newsletter features to reach a broader audience and form new connections. In Q1 of 2023, Linkedin reached 150 million newsletter subscriptions, proving that users are taking advantage of this feature to stay in touch with their favorite businesses.
The platform’s latest addition, LinkedIn Live, is a live-streaming feature that allows businesses to connect and engage directly with their audience. 30% of internet users watch a live stream once a week, meaning users are actively participating in the streaming community. Companies utilizing Linkedin Live have gained 7x more reactions and 24x more comments, increasing their engagement exponentially with one video stream. For example, Hootsuite uses LinkedIn Live to announce strategic partnerships and quartley updates within their industry. The live events have hosted up to 500 attendees with up to 600 reactions and 200 comments.
With 2.9 billion active users, Facebook is the most popular social media platform. Facebook is most valuable for businesses in the B2C industry looking to build brand awareness and reach a broader audience. Posts that tend to do well are discussion-centered posts that allow your audience to engage with your desired content.
Facebook also offers advanced targeting options, allowing businesses to target interests and demographics. According to Hootsuite, 54.9% of users follow or research a business through Facebook.
Companies within the sports betting industry would find value in using Facebook as a platform since nearly 60% of users on Facebook are avid sports fans. Engaging with the sports community can elevate your community engagement while attracting consumers.
Instagram is a visually-driven platform that businesses can utilize to showcase their products or build a personal brand aesthetic. Instagram will provide the most value for B2C brands due to the ability to visually display products and shop through Instagram Market. This platform offers a variety of features such as IGTV, Instagram Reels, Instagram Live, and Instagram Stories that allow users to engage with their community and attract potential consumers.
The popular restaurant chain Sweet Green utilized a social media ad campaign through Optimized Instagram Reels to increase sales. Through a consistent posting schedules and Instagram business tools such as Reel Ads, the campaign resulted in a 7X increase in incremental sales.
If you plan to market on Instagram, you need to know that their algorithm favors high engagement. Business accounts on Instagram post 1.71 times per day to ensure the algorithm pushes their content toward the Instagram Explore Page. Developing a consistent posting schedule will be vital to establishing platform growth.
Twitter is a fast-paced online platform with over 450 million active monthly users. Twitter is a text-based platform, but imagery and video content still have an opportunity to shine. Once an engaged audience picks up your content, the chance to spark a viral conversation awaits.
Twitter’s most recent platform addition is Twitter Blue. This premium subscription service offers advanced platform features such as profile verification, editing tweets, extended character limits, and prioritized conversation rankings. With Twitter’s advanced features, businesses can stay engaged with their audience while elevating their marketing efforts.
Twitter Blue has sparked a controversial debate around paying for verification. Twitter’s algorithm will soon push only Blue accounts to Twitter’s main feed that users see by default. This may be controversial for individual users, but businesses with an established Twitter following can find the most value in the platform feature. Verifying your business through Twitter Blue provides a valuable display of authentication that your business is real.
Twitter Blue will not raise your followers overnight, but it can maximize the reach of your profile by prioritizing your account amongst unverified users. In most circumstances, we recommend this advanced feature as an enhancement to your social media strategy.
TikTok
TikTok has over one billion monthly active users and is ideal for companies looking to showcase their brand in short-form videos. The igaming and sports communities have exploded on Tiktok, making it a go-to platform for fans and enthusiasts, with 75% of users discovering new games and content through the platform. TikTok’s internal insights have shown that the top 100 gaming-related hashtags gross 40 billion monthly views.
Trends have a high turnover rate on TikTok. What is trending today may not trend tomorrow. Staying current on the latest trends is essential to keep your audience engaged. Using trending hashtags, sounds, filters, and effects will push your videos to make the platform's “For You Page” which broadcasts your content to a vast audience.
The sports community utilizes short-format videos to break down sports highlights, recaps, and fantasy information. Leveraging influencer marketing in collaboration with a TikTok strategy can yield highly engaging results, as Tiktok has social media’s leading influencers.
For example, Nike partnered with Tiktok creators during the UEFA European Women’s Championship to create an engaging campaign around women in soccer. The TikToks had influential women like Emani Kassem, Leah Williamson, and Alexia Putellas star in a series of short videos that use the hashtag #NikeShesBallin to encourage participation in the soccer trend. The campaign resulted in 3.6 billion views and was trending number 1 in the UK.
The gaming community has found great use in TikTok’s live feature to stream games while interacting with their viewers in real time. The hashtag “#GamingonTiktok” has over 33 billion views, with thousands of creators featuring gaming-related content. Creators are producing paid and organic media calling back to popular games. Content surrounding memes, live games, game recaps, and game reviews is among the most popular on the platform.
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Sports, sports betting and iGaming brands have plenty of options when it comes to social media marketing. Narrowing down the features and benefits of the top five platforms will allow you to select what aligns with your marketing strategy. Social media is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Businesses must analyze their marketing objectives, target audience, and community to determine which platform will help them reach their goal.
Businesses in B2B sectors should leverage LinkedIn, while incorporating Twitter and Facebook into the mix. B2C brands should predominantly execute their social media strategy on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
At Red Knot, we can provide you with a balanced social media strategy and production with our social media specialists that will help elevate your brand.
