A majority of businesses also look at social media marketing as a way to increase the exposure of their brand. That’s because 9 out of 10 internet users are also active on social media. So, social media platforms would be a great place to get in touch with your customers. 

Facebook is currently the leading social media platform with respect to the total number of monthly active users. But there are plenty of other options out there. But how many of these social media platforms are actually worth considering for marketing your brand? The answer depends on the industry your business belongs to. And also the type of audience you wish to target. 

So, if you are a business owner or marketer looking to transform your social media marketing strategies for the year, you should know about the popular social media platforms to focus on. But before that, let’s talk about the reasons why social media marketing is a trend you cannot ignore. 

Relevance of Social Media Marketing in 2022

As a marketer, you might find yourself in the tight spot of segregating your marketing funds across various digital and conventional channels. 

B2B brands spend around 14.7% to 18.3 % and B2C brands spend 18.7% to 21.8 % of their total marketing budget on social media marketing. 

When there is such a huge portion of your marketing expense going into SMM, it is only natural that you contemplate the effectiveness of these campaigns. 

For marketers who have their doubts about SMM, here are the benefits to know about – 

• Your social media pages can be extensions of your website or app. From establishing a clear brand design to strengthening brand awareness, you can use social media in so many ways for your brand. 
• Before social media, it was quite difficult to understand what customers around the world really want. People relied on direct methods like surveys to know their customers better. But today, customers share most of their life’s happenings and their likes and dislikes on social media. This makes social listening so much simpler. As a result, brands can obtain valuable insights into customer preferences. Fine-tuning their marketing strategies based on these insights helps improve the effectiveness of these strategies as well.  
• Social media channels allow you to directly get in touch with your customers through the messaging service built into most of them. So, you can provide faster response and thus better experience to customers. 
• Though each social media platform has its own traits, they all have a few similar features. Marketers can make use of these similarities and create ads or posts to repurpose across different channels. 
• Being an avid observer of social media interactions will make brands better aware of industry-specific trends and customer-driven trends. 

Social Media Platforms to Consider for Your Business 

Having understood the merits of social media marketing, you should also know that not all channels offer the same type of engagement. You might, therefore, need to optimize your content approach based on the platform. 

In the past, social media was a place for people to connect with like-minded people, like hobbyists in the tech realm for example. With the launch of Friendster in 2002, the world of social networking took a wild turn and from there it has been all uphill. 

As there is a growing number of social media channels, marketers are always at wit’s end figuring out which ones to choose and which ones to drop for their business. Your target audience might not be on all of these social media channels so focusing on too many of them will mean wasted efforts. 

So, let’s talk about the best social media platforms for marketers to work with. This list has the best ones that have been there for the past few years and also the emerging ones worth your attention in 2022 and beyond. 

1. Facebook 

By the end of 2021, there were nearly 1.93 billion daily active users on Facebook. Thus it is one of the best places to target first if you need to increase the visibility of your brand. 

Moreover, creating a Facebook page for your business is free. And it only takes a few simple steps. Along with this, Facebook Business Manager makes it easier to manage your business pages and monitor ads.

Merits 

• Audience segmentation is quite simple with Facebook. You can set a custom audience, lookalike audience, or even a special ad audience for your posts and ads. 
• You will find all types of users on Facebook including consumers, entrepreneurs, and also people of different age groups. 
• Conversing with customers becomes easier especially for online businesses with very few touchpoints to prove their customer service strengths. 
• You can seamlessly integrate your regular posts and ads to take customers back and forth to your page and thus steadily improve conversions. 

Limitations 

• As an ever-expanding space, this one can be highly competitive. So, it requires a lot of effort and a clear understanding of your audience to really make an impact. 
• Leaving comments about a brand is easy on Facebook. This makes the Reviews section on your brand page a double-edged sword. Be ready to receive negative reviews. On the other hand, if you do respond to these negative reviews courteously and provide timely resolutions you can use this section to your advantage. 

2. Instagram 

Instagram is a platform that heavily relies on the power of visuals. Yes, you can add text in the captions of your images but how many times have you actually stopped to take a second look at the caption of an Instagram post? 

Merits 

• If you have a knack for storytelling through visuals, this is your place to be.  
• Instagram Stories comes as a feature-packed tool for engaging in real-time conversations, conducting polls, gathering feedback, or even allowing customers to ask you questions. 
• With Instagram analytics, you can easily understand the reach of your post and come up with strategies to fill any gaps.
• Instagram is a great place for brands to connect with their customers. Nearly 130 million users interact with shopping posts on Instagram, on a monthly basis.  

Limitations 

• If you do not have a sound graphic design strategy, it would be quite difficult to survive the battlefield that exists here. 
• Considering that the best Instagram experience is available only on mobile devices, you are missing out on the audience who only browse through their computers predominantly. 

Kimp tip: Instagram has been planning to strengthen its focus on video content. Very soon, catchy images might not be enough to stand out on Instagram. Your brand needs refreshing video content and that too on a regular basis. 

Is the thought of consistently creating videos for Instagram intimidating you? Choose a Kimp Video subscription for unlimited video designs for your brand. 

3. Twitter 

Talk about strength in brevity, Twitter is perhaps the first social media that comes to mind. If you are a fan of catchy one-liners and trending hashtags, then Twitter is the place for you. By creating hashtags for your brand or specific campaigns, you can enrich your customer engagement. And for real-time conversations, you have Twitter Chat too! 

Merits 

• Through Tweets and Retweets, you can build a strong brand identity. Such regular interactions also strengthen customer engagement for brands. 
• It’s not just a great place to connect with customers but also to collaborate with other businesses. 
• This is a great place for brands to show their responsiveness in customer service. 

Limitations 

• Did you know that there are around 6000 Tweets posted per second? So, it can get pretty busy here. If you do not time your Tweets right, they get lost in the crowd. 
• You have to get the message across within the 280 characters limit for Tweets. So, when you find it difficult to convey the message with a simple Tweet, a picture can speak a thousand words for your brand. And so can a video. That’s another reason to consider unlimited graphic design services. So, you will regularly have graphics coming in for your Twitter page. 

Kimp Tip: Twitter Spaces is slowly catching up. It is where you would be able to make engaging audio conversations with your customers. Twitter Spaces is another platform to keep an eye out for as a marketer or entrepreneur. And now with Twitter rolling out analytics tools to hosts, it is a good time to invest in this platform. 

4. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the perfect platform for any brand looking for a professional space to reach out to their business audience. From polls to meaningful brand connections, this platform has a lot to offer. 

Merits 

• For B2B marketing, this is one of the best social media platforms so far. 
• LinkedIn is a great place for networking. So, if you are all in for collaborations with competitors, this would be the place. 
• The platform lets you establish your brand image and draw potential investors. 
• Brands big and small use LinkedIn to showcase their thought leadership. 

Limitations 

• Though it is a fast-growing platform, the current diversity in user demographics is limited. 

The above four are well-established social media platforms. Along with these, a few more names have been slowly gaining traction in recent years. Let’s look at such social networking sites that do not get the attention they deserve or are still in their early stages of popularity. 

5. Clubhouse 

Clubhouse offers an experience like that of a podcast but in the form of two-way communication. It makes conversations simpler for brands and improves their user engagement. 

With most social media platforms live sessions are the only options for brands to have real-time conversations with customers. Clubhouse expands this and provides the facility to create audio chat rooms. 

Merits 

• Clubhouse is a great place for marketers and entrepreneurs to connect with like-minded people.
• It promotes a healthy environment for virtual brainstorming sessions. Brands can obtain valuable insights from these sessions. 
• Businesses can present their ideas to customers or even introduce them to new products and services. 

Limitation 

• Not many people are there on the platform yet.
• Audio chat is the only content supported as of now. Brands should work harder to come up with creative and engaging topics for discussion. 

6. Discord

People often associate Discord with gaming communities. But times have changed. Though it is less than a decade since this platform came into the scene, a lot has happened recently. Marketers find this to be a unique platform to strengthen their brands. 

Like Clubhouse, Discord allows voice chat rooms along with text chat support. Brands can open Discord servers to connect with their vendors, investors, or even customers. It has slowly become one of the most interactive internet forums for brands and customers to meet. 

Merits 

• Discord makes a great place for brands to gather customer queries. 
• It provides detailed insights about traffic sources and member activities. 

Limitations 

• Brands should prepare themselves to handle negative comments and hate speech. Come up with strategies to smoothly resolve such disputes before you start marketing on Discord. 
• Not all brands would find the limited features here to be relevant to their marketing efforts, as of now. 

7. Pinterest 

Considering that Pinterest has over 459 million monthly active users, it is quite surprising to see brands underestimate the power of this platform. But Pinterest is perhaps the first place people think of when they are hunting for new ideas. It is the place for brands to connect with customers looking for inspiration or even products to purchase. 

Merits 

• Pinterest is a great place for brands to learn about upcoming trends in their industry. Audience-based trend prediction is also possible with Pinterest. 
• Here brands can create mood boards to strengthen their marketing efforts. 
• Businesses like ecommerce firms benefit from carousel and other content formats Pinterest supports. 

Limitations 

• Brands need to have accurate audience niches for Pinterest to make a difference in their marketing. 

Kimp tip: Having a strong graphic design plan will help your brand shine on Pinterest.  Text Overlays also work really well on Pinterest. Get in touch with Kimp and get the best images and text overlays designed for your brand’s Pinterest page. 

8. Twitch

Like Discord, Twitch was also a platform mainly for hobbyists, gamers in particular. The rapidly growing audience makes it a worthy target for marketers today. 

Merits 

• Twitch works well for brands cashing in on influencer marketing strategies. 
• Twitch has a narrow audience segment, mostly young men and women. So, brands targeting such specific niches can benefit a great deal from this platform. 
• Brands can use the space to entertain and engage their audience for better audience retention. 
• Twitch makes it easy for brands to interact with their audience. You can take your audience behind the stage and let them know how your brand gets things ready for them. Brands can also use the space to stream live events to allow customers from all over the world to virtually take part. 

Limitations 

• Influencer marketing on Twitch might be expensive for small brands with limited marketing budgets.

Now that you know about a handful of social networking platforms to place your efforts this year, you should also consider the upcoming SMM trends. With this information, you will be able to refine your marketing strategies to have them aligned with your business goals. 

Social Media Marketing Trends You Cannot Ignore 

• Ecommerce is no more just about website and app-based purchases. More and more buyers now shop through Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. The growing popularity of social commerce reiterates the need for a strong social media marketing strategy for your brand. 
• More and more businesses are now showing interest in influencer marketing. Even small businesses canto find small-scale influencers to collaborate with on a low budget. 
• Competition is building up rapidly on social media platforms. Several businesses now find paid advertising to be a necessity to make a difference in SMM. 
• According to a study by CISCO, by the year 2022, 82% of internet traffic is likely to be video traffic. And this gives your business one more reason to start working on a strong video graphics strategy. The cost of getting videos curated for your business will be a long-term investment for your brand. 
• Audio content is also growing explosively. So, it is time to consider expanding your marketing efforts to networks like Clubhouse and launch branded podcasts. Did you know that Podcast cover designs are also possible with Kimp’s Graphic service? 
• User-generated content now holds a prominent position in the marketing strategy of big brands. Even global players like KFC, Adidas, and others rely on this idea. Social media is a great place to gather user-generated content by allowing people to tag your brand.  

With enough said about the social media platforms for marketers to target, you should also understand that this is a very active space. There are always new trends and new features introduced on all these social media platforms. 

So, continuous social listening and active social media presence will make a big difference for your brand. 

Leveling Up Your Social Media Marketing Game With the Best Graphics From Kimp

If you haven’t already noticed, graphic design trends that work today on social media might not exactly work tomorrow. Posting a few times a week is important to keep up with the fast pace of these social media platforms. To support your text copy, you need images, videos, and a creative mix of other content types. To make sure that you can focus on the engagement in your post, leave the design job to Kimp’s graphic design teams.

Sign up for a free trial today.