The Players and the Game: Beginners Guide to Digital Marketing

No one doubts that social media is a powerful marketing tool, but it’s easy to chalk it up as this one big thing, coalescing its biggest players (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) into an amalgam, and calling that social media. Every player in the game has its personality, its own strengths and weaknesses, recognizing these differences and making the game plan according to them can be the difference between success and failure. Not a big football buff here, but I’d say you wouldn’t send a Linebacker to do a quarterback’s job, right?

When choosing how to marshal your players, there are always two things to keep in mind: demographics and content form. We can think of the former as what sorts of people does each player attract, what kind of people will show up to the stadium to see this guy (or gal) play. Keeping that in mind, we can think of the latter as what sorts of plays can the player pull off, what can they do to get the people to rise from their seats?

Instagram draws a young crowd, it’s most popular with ages 18 to 29 (67% of people in that age group use the platform). Instagram is a place where looks matter; where images and videos are kings. While text can always accompany these, it’s never the first thing anyone sees. With its young audience, Instagram can take point for any brand with a young target demographic, and, with its focus on visuals, it’s also ideal for any company that’s constantly in need of showing something off.

Twitter’s not as popular as the other platforms (it scores highest in the 18–29 age group, 38% of people, and the 30–39 age group, 26% of people), but what it lacks in numbers it makes up by being the best at what it does: short text. Twitter is the best place to share ideas efficiently, essential for any brand that places importance on sharing its views. Since it's so text-driven it’s also the best place for a brand to develop its voice.

LinkedIn is most popular with people aged 25 to 34 (60% of people in that age group use the platform). Being mostly employment-oriented, it allows companies to post their jobs and prospective workers to post their CVs, and it’s otherwise flexible in the type of content it allows. LinkedIn is the best place to find young adults in the workforce, ideal for brands looking to do business with businessmen.

Pinterest is very popular among women (70% of Pinterest’s userbase is female), and it typically draws people aged between 18 and 49 (34.5% of people in that age group use the platform). If there is anything that can get you to buy just about everything, it’s Pinterest. 72% of Pinterest users say they are inspired to buy even when browsing without the intent of shopping. With its large female userbase and its powerfully persuasive nature, Pinterest is best suited for sales companies looking to sell to a largely female demographic.

Facebook is a jack-of-all-trades. It’s more popular with every age group than every other platform except YouTube. And it’s important to note that since you don’t need an account to watch YouTube videos, Facebook’s second-place might still be indicative of the highest level of overall engagement. Facebook is also flexible when it comes to its content: images, text, videos, live-sharing; everything is possible on Facebook. With its wide-reaching audience and variable forms of content, Facebook can be made to fit any role. It can take point in your social media campaign if no platform is better suited, and it can also provide a supporting role when a niche is better captured by another platform.

With these sorts of nuances in mind, take a look at your brand and ask yourself, what am I trying to achieve here? What am trying to sell, and to whom? Then pick a platform or two and get to posting.

A solid strategy is always essential to ensure victory, and that strategy always starts by recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your players.

Sources

Khoros, Digital care, communities, & social media software. (2021, January 12). The 2021 Social Media Demographics Guide.