Navigating the Social Storm: How to Use Social Media Platforms for Different Business Goals

Ominous new logos. Bans in the EU. Billionaire cage fights.

If ever an industry could be described as tumultuous, tempestuous and in a straight-up tizzy — it would be social media in 2023. It seems like every day brings with it another near-clickbait headline with more hard-to-believe news and gossip. And really, at this point in our lives, having lived through the last five or so years, we’re pretty much ready for anything. 

But if you’re a newly launching business, hungry startup, or seasoned corporation looking to stay relevant in changing times — it can be difficult to navigate the rough and rowdy waters of social media. Well lucky for you, you’ve got a life-preserver. Heck, you’ve got a life raft. Double heck, you’ve got a lighthouse! Because you’ve got an entire team of us marketing mavens and social sorcerers here at Ameba Marketing, and we’re going to give you a rundown on which social media platforms are the most effective for different business objectives, and how to use them to make a splash with your marketing campaigns.

Still the big kahuna of social media channels, Facebook is still where you will find the majority of your audience, with just under 3 billion monthly active users. It’s also got the most solid framework for advertising of the big channels. This is a great place for building, reaching out and connecting with your community; sharing and obtaining reviews from your customers, spreading the word about upcoming events and releases, plus interacting with Facebook groups — a perfect targeted audience. If you’re looking to legitimize your business, establish your brand, and launch your marketing strategies, do it here first.

Facebook by the Numbers
Average User Age: 29.9% of total users are between 25-34
Average Time Spent on Platform Daily: 30 minutes
Highest Performing Content: photos/videos

What began as a simple photo-sharing app, Instagram has since grown into a branding powerhouse with engaging features that make it perfect for educating your audience, boosting sales, and setting up effective partnerships with influencers of all sizes. With 2.35 billion active users a month, Instagram has honed in its user experience with tools like Stories, Reels, Lives plus direct sales functionality. And it works amazingly well with a wide range of businesses — from direct-to-consumer retailers, non-profit organizations, to tech companies — every brand can use Instagram to tell a story, and build a loyal following.

Instagram by the Numbers
Average User Age: 61.2% of total IG users are between 18-34
Average Time Spent on Platform Daily: 30.1 minutes
Highest Performing Content: photos/videos

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has gone through a massive upheaval as of late, and continues to develop and transform by the day. With 450 million monthly active users and a less visually oriented appeal, X is not for every business out there. But for companies with an established voice, X is darn near perfect. X can be used for sharing opinion pieces, thought leadership articles, and reacting to the latest news; plus, if you need to garner attention from high profile personalities like local politicians, news outlets, and community leaders — X marks the spot.

X by the Numbers
Average User Age: 42% of users are between 18-29
Average Time Spent on Platform Daily: 34.8 minutes
Highest Performing Content: Images with text

What started as a place for short-attention span, endlessly viral, and bite-sized clips of dance moves — has transformed into an essential marketing tool for brands of all sizes. Looking to build a brand from scratch, quickly and effectively? Look no further than TikTok. It currently is estimated to have around 1 billion users, and although it has been mired in some controversy (with some politicians attempting to ban its usage) TikTok is still a wildly engaging app that your business can make the most of in 2023. The competition is pretty fierce around these parts, so make sure your content is funny, clever, and instantly compelling to get as many eyes on it as possible.

TikTok by the Numbers
Average User Age: 21% of users are between 18-24
Average Time Spent on Platform Daily: 45.8 minutes
Highest Performing Content: lipsyncing videos

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta went all in on Threads, a copycat direct competitor of X, in early July. Garnering 100 million new sign ups in what seemed like hours, Threads seemed poised to nix X in the first week. But several key technical issues (the app can’t be deleted without deleting your Instagram account, users cannot switch between different profiles within the app, and privacy concerns make it unavailable in the EU), Threads quickly lost around three-quarters of its user base. Meta is actively trying to improve the app, so we’ll see what the future holds. But don’t let that discourage you — Threads is proving to be useful for building targeted sectors of your audience, connecting with your followers, teasing product launches and more.

Still ground zero for all things video, YouTube continues to be a powerhouse of a social platform for reaching a huge audience worldwide. Longer-form video content reigns supreme here, but YouTube Shorts is also very effective for bite-sized, short-form video pieces. Utilize YouTube to drive traffic to your website, focus in on an endless amount of niche audiences, and take advantage of the platform’s stellar analytics to see who’s ingesting your content. You can also tack your brand’s message onto creator’s with a wider reach by advertising on their videos. In short(s), if you can produce quality video content to spread your brand’s message, values and culture — YouTube is the place to do it.

YouTube by the Numbers
Average User Age: 15-35 (highest reach)
Average Time Spent on Platform Daily: 45.6 minutes
Highest Performing Content: short form video clips

We hope our overview of the current social media landscape helps you tailor specific strategies, playing to each platform’s unique strengths, to achieve all of your business goals. And if you need a little help navigating those stormy waters — why, that’s exactly what we’re here for. At Ameba Marketing, we are experts on all things marketing, all things branding, all things PR…well, let’s just say ‘all things’ and leave it at that shall we? Have a chat with us over an espresso, and see just how social we can be!