Your Digital Diet: What Platforms Can You Nix Now?
Call this your digital diet - in today’s digital age, you need to be on social media to stay relevant, but what matters the most is who you stay relevant to. Everyone’s brand is targeted to a certain demographic, so where exactly is your audience?
A lot of brands and companies make the mistake of making sure that they’re on EVERY PLATFORM KNOWN TO MAN (who even keeps up with Ello still anyways?), but the rule of thumb is to never stretch yourself too thin, especially with platforms that aren’t doing anything to grow your brand.
You don't need to create content for platforms that no one is paying attention to. (Which, is why we aren't including Instagram. You need an Instagram.) To figure out where you should focus your efforts and where you can cut back, below is a guide that will help you narrow it down.
"You don't need to create content for platforms that no one is paying attention to."
Tweet this.
DEMO: 20.5% of users are aged 25-34, followed by 16.7% of users who are 18-24
USAGE: 72% of all internet users (77% women, 66% men)
BEST FOR: Video content and news updates
WHO SHOULD BE ON IT: Everyone, especially now that Facebook Live serves as an alternative to reach a wider and established audience, compared to Twitter. The platform, that launched in 2004, is also refocusing on video content as an alternative to YouTube.
Despite the fact that your grandparents are on Facebook, it may surprise you that the main user-base is still under 30.
Oh, and Facebook owns Instagram. Instagram’s per-follower engagement rate for brands is 58 times higher than on Facebook and 120 times higher than on Twitter. Instagram users are two and a half times more likely to click on ads than on other social media platforms.
DELETE IF: You want to move off the grid and say goodbye to the modern world.
DEMO: 37% of users are aged 18 to 29, followed by 25% of users who are 30-49
USAGE: 23% of all internet users (25% men, 21% women)
BEST FOR: News outlets and blogs nabbing readers' attention with a 140-character hook (AKA, getting people to READ)
Twitter has what founder Jack Dorsey called, "of-the-moment brevity." And it's powerful.
Great for live chats to engage with audience and start a real time online conversation with the use of one hashtag.
Perfect for immediate customer service and engaging with followers.
It is also important to note that the gender gap on Twitter is much less pronounced than other social media sites, showing an almost equal number of male and female users.
DELETE IF: There's no reason to "delete" Twitter, but if you haven't yet amassed a following and you're not a news site or a brand looking to convert clicks to sales, you could be saving your energy and using it for something else.
DEMO: 23% of users are aged 18 to 29, followed by 31% of users who are 30 to 49
LinkedIn is the only major social media platform for which usage rates are higher among 30-to 49-year-olds than among 18- to 29-year-olds.
USAGE: 25% of all internet users (25% women, 26% men)
BEST FOR: Business pages who are sharing updates about their company.
Brands that want to built thought-leaders out of their CEOs and top executives.
Businesses that are looking to hire.
Good for businesses that want to be an influencer in their space and be ahead of the curve in news and research.
Businesses looking to publish stories.
DELETE IF: There's no reason to delete your LinkedIn, especially if you are a brand that is looking to built out their reputation as an authority.
If you end up moving jobs or need a reference, it's a great way to connect. (See new site WorkGrades as well for fast and efficient references.) However, if you aren't a "brand," LinkedIn isn't a platform that you need to be active on.
SNAPCHAT
DEMO: 45% of users are aged 13-24 and over 60% are 13-34
Millennials account for 70% of all Snapchat users
USAGE: 18% of all internet users (70% female, 30% male)
BEST FOR: Ideal for behind-the-scenes and exclusive content, Snapchat is "intimacy at scale," and if you want to reach the Millennial audience, this is how you do it.
DELETE IF: Your demographic is 34 and up, especially now that Instagram has launched Stories. The stats are yet to be seen for who engages on IG Stories, but considering the platform's 300 million daily active users, there's a high probability Stories is going to be a major player. Snapchat won't become obsolete, but pick the platform where you have more followers and focus on building that.
TUMBLR
DEMO: 27.7% of users are aged 25-34, followed by 23.5% of users who are aged18-34
BEST FOR: Fashion brands with a demo of teens or millennials
Can be used as a blog outlet for brands, but if you're serious about building your content or blog, there are better solutions, like SquareSpace.
DELETE IF: Your demo is not teens or if you're an established brand. There is no reason to have a Tumblr at this point. People aren't using Tumblr to find new and interesting information or brands. Save the space hit delete.
DEMO: 34% of users are aged 18 to 29, followed by 28% of users who are aged 30 to 49
USAGE: 28% of all internet users (42% women, 13% men)
BEST FOR: Brands with DIY audiences looking to find inspiration for home and lifestyle
Brands looking to drive traffic to their consumer sites-- conversion rates from Pinterest are reported very high among bloggers.
Brands can use this platform to share their blog content in a visual way with “click bait”-like headlines
DELETE IF: If you're a tech brand, there's really no need for you to have Pinterest. Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Food, Design-- this is for you. No one is going to Pinterest to find the newest Silicon Valley updates.
VINE
DEMO: 71% of users are millennials, and 28% of users are 18-24
BEST FOR: Actors, comedians, and social media influencers who are looking to grow their audience
Brands have to make sure that their content is able to compete with Vine influencers who post funny content, or partner with influencers to drive views to their own profile
DELETE IF: Vine is a (somewhat) dying platform, as a lot of Vine influencers are moving to Facebook and YouTube to post longer content and get a higher amount of views on their videos and reach a bigger audience.
Sites that you can say goodbye to for good: Ello, Periscope, MySpace, Flickr, and FourSquare (even if you are the Mayor of Taco Town).