If you’ve ever started a brand or business, you know how important it is to get the word out about your products or services. This used to require simply purchasing ad space in newspapers and magazines or purchasing commercial time on radio stations and television networks. You can no longer rely on traditional forms of advertising to promote your products or services, however. Nowadays, you need to have a comprehensive and well-thought-out digital marketing strategy. How do you go about creating a solid digital marketing strategy though?
For starters, you need to make use of some social media platforms, as this is where consumers talk to one another, share their views, discuss trends, and even make purchases. Two platforms which are often used by brands and businesses are Facebook and Twitter. Both platforms have been around for quite some time now and have successfully adapted to the always changing digital landscape, which is why you see so many successful brands and businesses utilizing them. So, which one is best for your brand?
Facebook vs Twitter: Statistics
Let’s first take a look at some statistics to get a good understanding of where consumers are most active.
- 1.01 billion daily active users
- 894 million mobile daily active users
- 1.55 billion monthly active users
- 1.39 billion mobile monthly active users
- 83.5% of users outside the US
- 320 million monthly users
- 1 billion unique visits monthly to sites with embedded tweets
- 80% of active users on mobile
- 79% of users outside the U.S.
As seen above, Facebook beats Twitter in the numbers department by a considerable amount. Not only does Facebook have over 1 billion daily active users, it also has 894 million mobile daily active users, which is crucial, as mobile marketing is becoming more and more important each and every day. So, does this mean you should choose Facebook as your main social media platform and call it a day? Not exactly.
Twitter vs Facebook: Pros and Cons
While Twitter doesn’t have as many users as Facebook, it certainly has some unique benefits on its side. One of these benefits is the fact that 49% of Twitter users follow brands or companies, which is much higher than the rates for other social media platforms. In addition to this, Twitter users actively research and engage with these brands and companies, In fact, according to Convince and Concert, “42% learn about products and services via Twitter.” This powerful relationship between consumers and brands allows Twitter to be a great place for brand ambassadors and influencers, which are also becoming increasingly important to the marketing world. So, if you’re looking to build relationships with influencers, Twitter is probably the way to go.
If you’re looking to get better overall engagement from your posts, Facebook is probably your best bet, however. According to a study completed by Forrester, for every one million Twitter followers, there were 300 interactions, and for every one million Facebook followers, there were 700 interactions (e.g. likes, comments, shares, etc.). While both of these numbers seem rather unimpressive, Facebook’s engagement rate is significantly better than Twitter’s. In fact, this rate could mean the difference between getting the word out about your products or services and going under. Always remember: every engagement counts!
When deciding which platform is best for your brand or business, it’s also important to consider why people generally create Facebook and Twitter accounts. Typically, people create Facebook accounts to connect with friends and family and keep up with their lives. When it comes to Twitter, people usually create accounts to keep up with current events, ranging from the latest celebrity gossip to developing news stories. So, if your brand or business has a range of products or services to promote or is constantly making announcements, it might be wise to take advantage of Twitter. If you make announcements sporadically, however, it may make sense to focus on Facebook.
As one can see, Facebook and Twitter both offer unique benefits when it comes to promoting brands and businesses. Facebook offers solid engagement rates and allows you to tap into a vast network of over 1 billion daily active users, while Twitter is a great place for brands to connect with proactive consumers and influencers. Both platforms also allow users to upload videos, which is of great significance, as video marketing is becoming increasingly important.
If and when you decide to take the plunge into the world of digital marketing, remember that it’s perfectly fine to make use of both Facebook and Twitter when promoting your brand or business. In fact, we’d recommend creating accounts with both platforms and testing out which one works best for you. You can always choose to emphasize one platform over the other, after all!