Rachael Mockalis
With so many social media platforms to choose from, marketers might wonder which will work best for their audience. While Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok may be the most popular and trendy, you might wonder about platforms like Snapchat and Pinterest.
While Snapchat and Pinterest have significant followings, you may be unsure which work best for marketers. So let’s take a look at these platforms, how you can use them for marketing, and which is best for you.
Snapchat
Popular amongst younger audiences, Snapchat has over 280 million active users worldwide. If you’re looking to appeal to millennials and Gen Z, then Snapchat could be a lucrative avenue.
Benefits
Like any social media platform, Snapchat has numerous benefits. Depending on your marketing team’s main goals, you may find the platform’s benefits suit your needs.
Snapchat was one of the first platforms to introduce a story feature. These stories are available for 24 hours, then vanish unless saved. Through this feature, you can test images and videos to see how they work amongst your Snapchat audience without letting them clutter any sort of feed or page.
It also allows you to explore vertical video content. Since vertical ads follow the popular vertical videos, audiences are more likely to view these ads to completion. If you’ve been considering utilizing the more natural feel of vertical videos, but aren’t sure if it’d work for your audience, testing it on Snapchat is a great opportunity.
Target Audience
To gauge which audience you’re most likely to reach on Snapchat, you need to take a look at who’s using the app.
- Snapchat skews slightly female. 54% of Snapchat users are female, while 41.9% are male.
- Snapchat is popular with younger audiences. 69% of U.S. teens say they regularly use Snapchat, and the app’s user base consists primarily of teenagers and young adults.
- Snapchat’s user base is more likely to make impulse purchases. 60% more likely, in fact. If your product is conducive to impulse purchases, then Snapchat is a great place to advertise.
Though Pinterest may not seem like an advertising powerhouse, it’s actually one of the most versatile, affordable, and impactful marketing tools available to businesses.
Benefits
The largest benefit Pinterest boasts is its high purchase intent. Unlike most other social media platforms, Pinterest users often come to the app specifically to shop. With a robust visual story and clear aesthetic, you can appeal to users’ specific visions and find your way on their boards. Moreover, this focus on visuals can help you showcase your products—especially if you’re a small business or artisan.
You can also use these visuals to promote your blog posts. The focus on visuals means a well-taken photo can draw people into your website and help drive traffic to your website. Pinterest allows you to add a URL to your pins any time you make a new one.
It can also help you perform market research, effectively checking in on what your competitors are producing and how much their audience likes their products.
Target Audience
Of course, the key to success on any social media app is making sure you have the right audience for success. So let’s take a look at Pinterest’s demographics:
- Pinterest skews heavily female. With a user base consisting 71.1% of women, Pinterest is ideal for those targeting this audience.
- Pinterest users have a wide age distribution. With 32% of users between ages 18 and 29, 34% between 30 and 49, and 38% between 50 and 64, you’ll find a sizable market for most age groups. Whether you’re targeting a specific age bracket or appealing to a larger age spread, Pinterest is a great platform.
- Pinterest is popular with mothers. According to certain research, 80% of US mothers who use the internet use Pinterest.
Conclusion
In truth, if you’re looking for one perfect social media platform for all advertisers, then you’re searching in vain. It’s difficult to declare one platform inherently superior to the other because all platforms are different.
Instead, you need to take a look at your marketing strategy and determine which platforms work best for you, your audience, and your brand. If you’re looking to experiment and appeal to younger audiences, then Snapchat is a better place for you. If you’re looking for more direct conversions and a largely feminine audience, then you’re better looking at Pinterest.
Still, a successful digital marketing strategy often incorporates multiple platforms. Perhaps you should ask yourself not which platform is better, but how you can most effectively utilize each.
