When it comes to choosing the best social media platform for your small business’s needs, there are Four major competitors: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. No two are the same and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Many larger businesses can handle a business page on each of these social platforms. Smaller business owners often don’t have that kind of time to devote to social media advertising. Furthermore, even if a business has the time and resources to devote to these various platforms it may not be in the company’s best interest. The success of a particular social media platform depends on the target audience, the product or service the business is selling, and the content they’re trying to share.

Here’s a look at the top four competitors and their advantages and disadvantages.

Facebook

Facebook is the reigning champion when it comes to social media giants. No other platform can boast over 1 billion users. If you want to make sure the greatest number of people have access to your social media site, Facebook is the way to go. Furthermore, 78% of Facebook users are on mobile daily. That means consumers are accessing Facebook on the go. Facebook has the furthest and most diverse reach. It’s ideal for text, images and videos making it extremely adaptable for any social media ad campaign.

Twitter

While twitter doesn’t have the same reach as Facebook, it does have its own unique advantages. When it comes to real time communication with customers, Twitter is the way to go. Because tweets are limited to 140 characters, they are very concise and easy on the eyes. For businesses looking to quickly let people know about the latest news concerning the company, Twitter is a great choice. The downside is that Twitter is text-based, it’s not ideal for businesses wanting to use a lot of video and images in their social media advertising.

Pinterest

Unlike Twitter, Pinterest is extremely image based, even more so than Facebook. It’s ideal for retail because of the huge emphasis on images. One thing to keep in mind with Pinterest is that it’s user base is mostly female (70%). If your product or service is geared more towards women, Pinterest may be a great choice for a social media platform. If however your product or service is geared more towards men, you may want to consider a different option.

Instagram

Instagram is the new kid on the social media block. That doesn’t mean it should be ignored. In fact, 71% of the most recognized brands are using Instagram to market their products/service. A major advantage to Instagram is that it is very well integrated with Facebook. If you’re leaning towards using two social media platforms to market your business, the Facebook/Instagram combo is a very powerful one.

Source:  Reuters