Social media can be dated back to as early as the year 1997. The first social media platform is considered to be one named Six Degrees. It was the first website where people could add each other as friends.
It has been more than two decades since then and social media has definitely grown way bigger. It has improved in both terms of quality and quality.
Which is Best for Business Marketing?
There are many social media platforms today and we are taking a look at two of them here. The two in question here being Instagram and Snapchat. They both can be used for different purposes and are among favorites for social media marketing.
Both have a fair share of pros and cons for business purposes. You can even try some of the top social media marketing companies to get the best results. There is a guide to help you decide which one fits your needs the best.
1. Overview
Instagram was founded in 2010 while Snapchat has been around since 2011. Both the platforms have steadily grown over the past decade. Another similarity that they share is in being exclusive to visual content only.
Instagram was downloaded more than 400 million times last year while Snapchat was downloaded 41 million times in just the May of that year. Nearly 70% of the US’ marketers prefer Instagram for marketing purposes. Instagram is indeed a fan-favorite.
2. Audience
Instagram is the bigger platform when it comes to the number of users. It recently hit the milestone of 1 billion users and hosts over 800 million monthly users. Snapchat boasts of an impressive amount of 300 million monthly users as well.
The numbers might be slightly inferior but that doesn’t necessarily act as a total negative. As Instagram is more populated and is favored by more marketers, the competition here is higher. This means you might have to work harder on Instagram.
3. Visibility
The level of exposure your profile gets on a platform can make a huge difference in how your marketing strategies perform. On Instagram, for example, you can opt to have your profile open for anyone to see.
Your profile details, the accounts you follow, and the content you post are for anyone to see. What you publish on here stays permanently unless you decide to remove it.
On Snapchat on the other hand, only the people you add as friends can see your profile. The content, known as Snaps, stays online for 24 hours only too. An Instagram account is also easier to be discovered through mentions and hashtags.
4. Type Of Content
Snapchat and Instagram are completely different in the terms of marketing strategies and content. On Instagram, you can simply market through photos, videos, and other Insta features like stories and polls.
All of them are available publicly. Snapchat too lets you share photos, videos, and stories but only privately. On Snapchat, creating sponsored lenses and monetized content are two of the best marketing strategies.
Plus, if you want to create stylish and creative content, Instagram is your go-to. For raw and unfiltered content, Snapchat is the choice.
5. Advertisement
Both of these platforms have an ample number of advertising features that have proven beneficial for many brands. There are some features that both platforms share while others are platform-exclusive.
Call-To-Action buttons, swipe-ups, and retargeting capabilities are common in both of the platforms. Instagram has exclusive features like carousels, in-app shop, and product tags. AR lenses and sponsored lenses are exclusive to Snapchat.
6. Cost-Efficiency
Budget and expenses play a major role in any type of marketing. The main goal of marketing is to earn more than what you are spending. Instagram is arguably the more cost-effective platform and studies have proven the same.
Snapchat’s advertisements are more expensive than Instagram’s as well. So are the analytics. On the other hand, Instagram provides free analytics services for all its users.
7. Target Demographic
You can choose your marketing platform based on the audience that you want to target for your business. If your target demo is teenagers and young adults, Snapchat should be your priority. Snapchat also has a slightly bigger percentage of female users as compared to Instagram.
While Snapchat provides a great scope for marketing a business growth, Instagram just proves to be the better option. Instagram is easy to use, provides a bigger reach, and is the top priority of many businesses. Snapchat’s marketing scene has less competition which does give it some advantage.
Combining both for a collective marketing effort would be the best thing you could do for your business. But if you have to pick one out of them, Instagram should be your priority.
To make the most out of Instagram for marketing, you need consistently good engagement. A solid fan-following is a must and there are people who can help you with it. Other than posting creative content, you can invest in paid engagement.
There are websites from where you can buy Instagram followers to get yourself a strong boost. If you choose a reliable source, you will safely ensure an engagement boost in a cost-effective manner.
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