Digital marketing is, in big part, in charge of advertising products and services on social media platforms. And so, marketers need to carefully evaluate how their strategies will pan out through them.
Each one has its demographic, unique characteristics, and strengths and weaknesses. However, as time goes on and new contenders fail and succeed, the question always looms over professionals:
Just how useful is each platform for advertising?
In his interview with Ben Kaplan for TOP CMO, MediaOcean CMO, Aaron Goldman, gives his verdict on six of the largest platforms, based on how well-utilized they are.
Is Facebook dead already? Has TikTok been drained? Are LinkedIn ads even useful? Keep reading to find out what Aaron thinks!
Aaron’s Verdict: Underrated
Facebook has been around for a long time. However, because advertisers have started to focus on many other platforms, and because the space is less saturated, new opportunities have arisen.
Using the tools they have available, you can connect with an audience that has high interaction rates, and generate a big impact.
Though Facebook may not be the hot one that has a lot of buzz, you can still reach a lot of people in multiple creative ways. It has survived this long for a reason.
Aaron’s Verdict: Underrated
Not enough people realize how much you can do on Instagram.
Far from just being a place where you share videos and photos, it is now a commerce environment too. And that's the biggest opportunity.
It has developed a number of assets and tools that have turned it into a platform that has the entertainment, the messaging, and the commerce. The chances are endless.
Snapchat
Aaron’s Verdict: Underrated
Snapchat has features that have slowly pulled people into the VR and AR space, like the map and the filters –the first of its kind among social media giants–.
People have gotten more comfortable with those types of interactions. With them, new, innovative ways of turning that engagement into something creative and actionable for brands and businesses have surged and will continue to increase.
TikTok
Aaron’s Verdict: Underrated
TikTok has got the momentum right now. But it also has all the right elements to combine entertainment and commerce.
While many marketers view it only as a social media platform, it is more importantly an an organic source of creating content and capturing the attention of a very elusive audience.
There's an opportunity for companies to broaden themselves into being fully immersive. It’s just up to advertising experts to hop on the right train at the right time.
Aaron’s Verdict: Underrated
Pinterest is the place where interest and inspiration happen. It’s a mid-funnel experience, where consumers may or may not have recognized a need or been aware of a brand, but are turned on to something.
However, since it doesn’t benefit from the obvious applications of how people think about mass marketing, marketers overlook it.
It doesn’t guarantee conversions, but it gives audiences elements to put together. These, in turn, may inspire them to go further down the road and turn those considerations into a reality. It needs advertisers willing to play the long game.
Aaron’s Verdict: Underrated
LinkedIn has become much more than a professional social network over the years. People gather around this platform as a place to learn and share ideas or what's happening in the world.
And it’s full of information. Hashtags. Keywords. The companies users work for. Their locations. Elements that allow for better segmentation and a more accurate reach to your target audience.
It’s all about finding a creative message that doesn't feel out of place in a professional setting. Then, you can capture a lot of opportunities and convert them to business.
Striking balance
When Aaron Goldman calls a platform underrated, he means it hasn’t been exploited to its maximum potential. He calls for more diverse and effective marketing mixes that best know how to utilize each tool.
He also highlights the collective power that comes from knowing how to complement them and create omnichannel strategies. Finding someone on LinkedIn and retargeting on Facebook, for example.
In short, build a team with experts in each platform to really squeeze all the juice out of them. Find the best ways in which they can enhance each other when designing your strategy.
Together, the perfect balance can achieve what neither of them could achieve on its own. And that’s peak advertising.
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