Best Social Media Marketing Platforms for Businesses in 2023
Social media marketing has become an essential part of any successful business's digital marketing strategy. With billions of active users across major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more, social media presents a huge opportunity for businesses to reach, engage with, and convert potential customers.
However, with so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming for businesses to determine which social platforms to focus their efforts on, and which tools work best to manage their social media marketing. In this comprehensive guide, we compare the top social media marketing platforms for businesses this year across a range of factors to help you identify the right solutions for your needs.
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing Social Media Marketing Platforms
When evaluating social media marketing platforms, here are some of the most important factors for businesses to consider:
Audience demographics: Which platforms does your target audience use? Different demographics gather on different social networks.
Ad capabilities: What are the advertising options and targeting capabilities on each platform? How easy is it to create, optimize, and analyze paid ads?
Analytics: What analytics are offered to help track performance and engagement? Are they easy to use?
Content options: What types of content can you publish on each platform? For example, some allow short videos or live streaming.
Management tools: Do they offer social media management and scheduling tools to save time? What automation rules are available?
Customer service: Can you provide customer service directly on the platform? How does each platform facilitate conversations?
Budget: What is the cost to advertise on each platform? Are there budget minimums to consider?
We'll explore how the top options stack up across these factors in this guide.
Top Social Media Marketing Platforms for Businesses
With over 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook remains the largest social network worldwide. It's a critical platform for consumer-facing businesses to have a presence on.
Key strengths:
Massive audience size and detailed targeting options
Powerful ad platform including video and lead-generation ads
Business Pages allow deep customization and analytics
Native shop functionality for e-commerce
Limitations:
Organic reach has declined over the years
Young users migrating to other platforms
Can be difficult to build genuine engagement
Overall, Facebook's targeting capabilities, installed user base, and ad platform make it a must-have in most businesses' social media marketing mix.
Instagram is the go-to platform for visually focused brands. 90% of users follow at least one business on the app.
Key strengths:
Ideal for consumer products, restaurants, travel brands
Built-in mobile shopping features
Popular Stories and Reels short video formats
Robust ad targeting and analytics
Limitations:
Focus on visual content is not ideal for all businesses
The time investment needed to create engaging content
With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is a vital part of a social strategy. Both organic content and advertising on Instagram can drive brand awareness and sales.
YouTube
The world's second-largest search engine, YouTube presents massive marketing potential through video ads and content.
Key strengths:
Over 1 billion hours of videos are watched daily
Video ads enable creative storytelling
Powerful targeting based on keyword searches
Opportunity to go viral
Limitations:
Producing quality video content can be resource-intensive
Maximizing organic reach takes consistency
Difficult to build genuine engagement
YouTube advertising and channel management require an investment, but the platform's massive reach makes it worth it.
The go-to network for real-time conversation can be highly effective for brands aiming to build an audience of engaged followers.
Key strengths:
Public conversations that are easy to discover
Ideal for news, events, and trends
Promoted ads and trend-jacking opportunities
Metrics help identify influencers
Limitations:
Strict character limits for messages
The high volume of low-quality content to sift through
Difficult to build genuine engagement
Twitter requires consistency, but brands that actively engage on the platform can develop loyal advocates.
With a professional audience, LinkedIn is ideal for B2B companies, recruiters, and thought leaders to distribute content.
Key strengths:
Largest professional network
Targeting by job title, industry, skills
Company pages to showcase expertise
Sponsored content and In Mail ads
Limitations:
Not ideal for consumer brands
Organic content reach can be low
Messaging limits without a premium account
LinkedIn's focus on professionals makes it a must-have channel for B2B brands looking to generate leads.
The visual bookmarking site drives over 2 billion monthly searches, providing promotion opportunities for brands creating lifestyle content.
Key strengths:
Highly engaged community
Shoppable pins make products discoverable
Effective for lifestyle, fashion, and beauty brands
Audiences ready to purchase
Limitations:
Light ad targeting capabilities
CAT (creators, artists, and tastemakers) content rules
The time investment needed for high-quality pins
Pinterest is worth having a presence on for visual brands. Promoted pins can help drive web traffic and increase purchase intent.
Top Social Media Management Tools
Managing multiple social media accounts, developing content, monitoring mentions, and running ad campaigns is a massive undertaking. Thankfully, sophisticated social media management tools exist to streamline the process. Here are some of the top options:
Hootsuite
The social media management pioneer, Hootsuite offers powerful options for businesses.
Key features:
Manage unlimited social profiles
Content scheduler with bulk upload
Team workflow collaboration
Social media monitoring and analytics
Social ad management
30+ integrations
Pricing:
Free plan for up to 3 social profiles
Pro plan $49/month per user
Business plan $599/month with multi-user support
Sprout Social
An end-to-end social media management tool with robust analytics.
Key features:
Publish and schedule posts across 20+ platforms
Social listening, monitoring, and reporting
Team inbox for managing messages
Audience analysis tools
Ad campaign management
100+ integrations
Pricing:
Standard plan $99/user/month
Advanced plan $149/user/month
Premium plan $249/user/month
Buffer
A popular scheduling and analytics tool for social media managers.
Key features:
Bulk schedule posts
Analyze post engagement
Tailor posting times per profile
The team features for collaboration
Ad campaign management
75+ app integrations
Pricing:
Free plan for up to 3 social profiles
Pro plan $15/user/month
Business plan $99/user/month
Agorapulse
A feature-packed social media manager with in-depth analytics.
Key features:
Schedule and publish to 7 social networks
Audience analysis tools
Social inbox to manage conversations
Campaigns organize teams and reporting
Ad performance tracking
100+ app integrations
Pricing:
Starter $49/month for 1 user
Team $99/month for 3 users
Agency $199/month for 12 users
Social Media Marketing Tips to Boost Results
Simply creating social media accounts for your brand is not enough - you need to actively manage them to see results. Here are some top tips for improving your social media marketing:
Develop a Cohesive Strategy
Map out your goals, ideal audience, planned content, and target metrics across each platform. Keep the strategy focused while allowing room for experimentation.
Create Visually Engaging Content
Photos and video content see much higher engagement across social platforms compared to text-only posts. Prioritize visually striking images and descriptive captions.
Post Consistently
Algorithm changes mean brands need to publish regularly to stay top of mind. Maintain a consistent posting schedule you can sustain long-term.
Interact With Your Audience
Don't just broadcast content. Respond to comments, ask questions in captions, and develop real conversations with your community.
Use Hashtags Strategically
Include relevant hashtags to help users discover your content. Identify low-competition hashtags in your niche for engagement.
Advertise Strategically
Leverage each platform's advertising capabilities. Start small to test different objectives, audiences, and ad formats.
Track Performance
Monitor key metrics like reach, engagement, followers, conversions, and ROI using each platform's analytics tools. Optimize based on what's working.
Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media Marketing
What are the benefits of social media marketing?
Some key benefits include:
Increased brand awareness - Build brand visibility and recognition through social content.
Improved brand loyalty - Develop stronger connections with customers online.
Lead generation - Drive traffic to your website from social. Capture leads with ads.
Lower ad costs - Social ads are relatively affordable compared to other paid channels.
Rich analytics - Track engagement, optimize content, identify influencers.
Improved SEO - Social signals help boost website rank in search engines.
How much time should be spent on social media marketing?
This varies greatly based on factors like your business size, resources, and goals. Most brands should spend at least 5+ hours per week developing content and community management for each of their active social platforms. Outsource help if needed.
What types of content perform best on social media?
Photos and videos generate much higher engagement across social platforms compared to text-only updates. Posts that spark conversation also perform well. Mix educational content with personal looks behind the scenes.
How often should you post on social media?
1-2 times per day is an effective posting frequency for most brands on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Pinterest and LinkedIn can be a few times per week. Test different cadences and see what timing works best for your audience.
How do you calculate social media ROI?
Track metrics like website traffic, conversions, and sales from links in social posts. Compare the revenue earned to the costs of content creation, advertising, management tools, and staff time to determine your overall ROI.
Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Mix
Determining which social media platforms to invest time in marketing on depends heavily on your target audience, industry, and content format capabilities. Most brands should focus their efforts on 2-4 platforms where they can reach the right people and publish relevant content consistently.
YouTube and Facebook tend to be universally beneficial for brands in all industries given their massive reach. Instagram is ideal for visual lifestyle brands. Twitter works for news and real-time updates. LinkedIn builds awareness among professionals.
Take the time to analyze your audience's behavior and preferred platforms. Experiment with organic content and ads on a shortlist of leading networks. Optimize your efforts based on performance and engagement. With a strategic social media marketing approach, you can build connections with customers and drive real business value.
Conclusion
Developing an effective social media marketing strategy requires identifying the right platforms and tactics for your brand based on your audience, industry, content formats, and business goals. With billions of active users across the top social networks, the marketing opportunities are immense.
Focus on 2-4 leading platforms where you can deliver value and engagement consistently over time. Take advantage of built-in tools like ads, analytics, and management capabilities. Craft compelling visual content tailored to how each platform's audience consumes information. Monitor performance and optimize efforts based on what resonates best.
Done well, social media marketing enables brands to build lasting connections, increase awareness, generate leads, and drive website traffic and sales. Determine which options align closest with your needs and start developing your social presence today.
