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Small businesses (and marketing agencies) often choose their social media platform of choice based on on the demographics of who is using them. Want to reach women between the ages of 18 and 25? Instagram users skew in that direction. But not only do the different platforms have different strengths in terms of communication, their users have different reasons for using them. Choosing a platform to promote your company based on who uses it is actually a mistake. Millions of people use each of the major platforms so it’s not a question of whether you can reach a potential customer. The real question is whether your message will reach them. And that depends on what they expect from their social platform experience.

Choosing your platform based on who uses it is largely a mistake

There’s a lot of guesswork and intuition when it comes to advertising, so we’re lucky when we can find real data to guide us… and data that actually matters. Most advertising data doesn’t. Scores of bloggers and ad agencies will tell you the most popular hashtags and tell you that you should use them. Unfortunately, this advice is wrong. Last week (March 8, 2021), #instagood was the second most popular hashtag on Instagram. Does anyone search for #instagood? The answer is obviously, no. A popular hashtag doesn’t connect you to customers, fans, or followers. Hashtags are what posters want to talk about, not what users want to read.

Research as shown that some types of advertising and outreach work better on one platform— and worse on another. This is because “Social Media” is a catchall phrase for a form of communication that is actually several different mediums. Just as you wouldn’t use one approach to communicate on “broadcast media” (which encompasses radio and television… and YouTube and Hulu), you shouldn’t lump all of the social media platforms together. Twitter/X is a different medium than YouTube. Instagram is a different medium than both of them.

So what does that difference mean for communicating messages, and just how different are they from each other? Those are deep dive questions, a two hour discussion— and we’re keeping this as concise as possible, so we’ll cover just the most important points for your outreach campaign. If you want a taste of just how deep a dive it is, check out this research article:
“Engagement with Social Media and Social Media Advertising: The Differentiating Role of Platform Type,” published in the Journal of Advertising. It’s an in-depth, sometimes head-scratching examination of the question. The bottom line? Hold onto your hat…

Each platform— Twitter (darn it, “X”), Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest— has different characteristics, and people visit them for different reasons. These include catching up on current events, a desire to fill the small gaps in life with entertainment, practical solutions, and connecting with other people socially— though the last is much more rare than you would think. To be successful, companies and organizations should:

1. 1. First, carefully align each platform’s character with:  their product type (for example, whether it’s a product or a service; whether it’s a high-involvement purchase such as an esspresso machine (which requires research) or a low-involvement purchase like pair of pants; and whether people ultimately buy based on an emotional impulse or a more rational choice.

   2. Second companies should align the platform to their advertising goal (such as increased awareness, brand likeability, or direct sales).

   3. And lastly, the platform character should align with their advertising format. Don’t try to visually wow anyone on Twitter… (sigh) X. Don’t give technical data on Instagram. Don’t try to build relationships on Pinterest.

Now all of this may feel a bit too dense to put into use. So let’s break it down for the most popular platforms.

Researchers from the University of Amsterdam scored each social media platform based on how people use them. Facebook scored highest for social interaction and topicality. In other words, people use Facebook to connect with their friends and family, as well as people with common interests, and occasionally companies. It excels at this because it allows people to correspond with others, to do or share something them, and to be quickly informed and up to date. It also scored high on the pastime dimension: Consumers used it to fill empty moments. But to complicate this reality, users reported being saddened or disturbed by Facebook as often as they received enjoyment from the experience. Most of the time, the experience itself was kind of empty.

Topicality: “what is current, hip, now…”

What Facebook consumers want is social connection, to stay up to date on cultural happenings, and to be entertained. Your content, then, has to be interactive— not one-way communication but dialogue. And it needs to be provocative, while staying positive. Stay away from clear advertising messages— those feel especially disruptive on Facebook. Remember, people signed in on to find out what their friends are doing. So show them something they’ll want to tell their friends. Add to those conversations– craft your messaging with the goal of content one person would want to share with a friend.

Facebook is a good platform to build a relationship with your potential customer. Facebook is a bit of a multipurpose platform, so you can aim for many different types of goals. But it’s also one of the platforms where people are the most quickly irritated with advertising.

Instagram is the second most popular social media platform. It scored highest on the pastime and topicality dimensions: It’s often used to fill empty moments, and it was perceived by users as a social medium that ensured they were quickly informed and up to date. Instagram’s scores on entertainment and social interaction were also moderately high. What this means is that posts that create warm feelings, raise awareness, fill an empty moment, and are topical (deal with current events) do well. You also want to encourage ways for them to interact, which is why carousels do better than individual posts. They WANT to touch what they see on screen. Prioritize fun above information. Give them something to smile about. Raise their awareness on an issue— but highlight the benefits and not depressing bits. Don’t “sell” to them in any kind of obvious way on this platform. Be eye candy. And inspire. Instagram is a good platform for increasing your likeability. In this regard, Instagram is often better at promoting your brand than it is at promoting your product.

Twitter, now known as X (but everyone still thinks of as Twitter) is harder to characterize as it’s demographics transforms under Musk. It was originally designed to keep people informed and up to date on a wide range of topics from serious news to frivolous gossip. On other dimensions— entertainment, practicality, pastime– they scored low. That’s not why people were there. Twitter… erm X, is characterized by a focus on quick updates and useful information. It follows that for advertisers for whom topicality is important, for instance, service-oriented organizations, then the service is a must. If you’re an environmental organization, Twitter/X should be one of your platforms. If your company produces a wide variety of items, like jewelry, they may offer some value. But it your product doesn’t evolve weekly— for instance, you’re a brewery— than Twitter/X is unlikely to add value. Marketing on the platform needs to give consumers the useful and up-to-date information that they expect to find there, and failing to meet these experience expectations can have negative consequences for advertisers. You should update, inform, show innovative ideas, explore current events, play with words, and inspire. That last one, inspiration, is becoming a rare commodity on X.

Pinterest is the last platform I’ll discuss. Most people don’t think of Pinterest as a place to do business, but oddly enough it got the highest score among all of the social media apps when it came to practicality. People come to Pinterest to learn about something. It also scored highest when it came to stimulation. Users said the platform made them enthusiastic, was original and unique, and offered something new. Using Pinterest was enjoyable and relaxing, and it gave users practice tips, ideas, and advice; it motivated them to visit a shop or to search for more information. Pinterest users were also more receptive to direct advertising when it came to things that were attractive, like clothes. People are there to get ideas about what they can do, transform, and become. Keep it visual. Celebrate uniqueness. Be unique. Motivate to shop. Keep it fun. Provide solutions to problems.

Topicality and originality are key ingredients of success

There are a couple of findings that apply to all of the platforms. It’s far better to speak to the now. Don’t try to be “timeless.” Use current events to your advantage, but don’t force it. Also, take a unique angle on what you do; give them something different than what they find on your website or Amazon page. When viewers felt they were offered something original, it was evaluated more positively. And remember, there’s a social aspect to all of the platforms. This means you have to be available to respond to people who express an interest in you.

The advice here relies heavily on the research presented in “Engagement with Social Media and Social Media Advertising: The Differentiating Role of Platform Type.” I strongly recommend you read that article for yourself– you may find other conclusions that are specific your business.

Tailoring your social media outreach to each platform can be overwhelming. The differences are subtle, but can have a big impact on your marketing efforts.

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