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Which Social Media Platform Is Best For Influencer Marketing?

Influencer Marketing
Which Social Media Platform is Best For Influencer Marketing?

The global consumption for social media has significantly surged in the last decade and has continued to shape the way we promote brands and ideas. As of 2023, there were 4.9 billion active social media users worldwide. More and more brands are using influencer marketing to promote services and products. 

Because traditional mass media advertisements now have digital counterparts, brands no longer have to solely depend on big celebrities to amplify their messages and boost sales. Today, influencer marketing is one of the best ways to reach your target audience.

The Strength of Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing is the collaboration between brands and online content creators for promotional purposes using social media channels. There’s a lot of clout happening on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Tiktok, with influencers driving traffic to their sites.

Influencers establish a relationship with their followers and can influence product choices based on this connection that’s built on trust and shared interests. Because of its strong impression, response and sustained online presence, influencer marketing has become a major part of digital marketing.

What Are The Pros and Cons of Each Social Media Platform For Influencer Marketing?

Choosing the right social media platform for your campaign is crucial. The right choice will depend on your budget, your audience, your industry, and what kind of content you want to create. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the most popular social media platforms.

Instagram:

  • Pros:
    • Visual appeal: Ideal for visually engaging content, including photos and short videos.
    • Large user base: High potential reach with over a billion monthly active users.
    • Diverse content options: Features like Stories, Reels, IGTV allow influencers to diversify content.
  • Cons:
    • Algorithm changes: Frequent updates to the algorithm can impact organic reach.
    • Saturation: High competition can make it challenging for new influencers to stand out.

YouTube

  • Pros:
    • Long-form content: Ideal for in-depth reviews, tutorials, and storytelling.
    • Searchability: Content has a longer lifespan and can be discovered through search.
    • Ad revenue: Monetization opportunities through Google AdSense for eligible creators.
  • Cons:
    • Production time: Creating high-quality videos can be time-consuming.
    • Competition: The platform is saturated, making it challenging for new creators.

TikTok

  • Pros:
    • Virality: Content can quickly go viral, leading to rapid audience growth.
    • Short-form videos: Appeals to shorter attention spans, fostering engagement.
    • Algorithm-driven: Content discovery is driven by an algorithm that promotes new creators.
  • Cons:
    • Limited content duration: Short videos may limit the depth of content.
    • Younger audience: Primarily popular among younger demographics.

Twitter/X

  • Pros:
    • Real-time engagement: Ideal for timely promotions and discussions.
    • Shareability: Content can easily be retweeted, reaching a broader audience.
  • Cons:
    • Character limit: The character limit may restrict the depth of content.
    • Short lifespan: Tweets have a shorter lifespan compared to other platforms.
    • Information overload. With less monitoring than ever, the platform can easily become an information overload, causing your messages to be ignored.

LinkedIn

  • Pros:
    • Professional network: Ideal for B2B influencer marketing and industry experts.
    • Thought leadership: Enables influencers to position themselves as industry leaders.
  • Cons:
    • Smaller user base: Limited reach compared to more mainstream platforms.
    • Formal tone: Content needs to align with a more professional tone.

Facebook

  • Pros:
    • Diverse content: Supports various content formats, including images, videos, and articles.
    • Robust ad targeting: Facebook Ads offer precise targeting options for influencer campaigns.
  • Cons:
    • Organic reach decline: Changes in the algorithm have reduced organic reach.
    • Aging user base: Younger audiences are less active on Facebook.
  1. Pros:
    • Virality: Content can quickly go viral, leading to rapid audience growth.
    • Short-form videos: Appeals to shorter attention spans, fostering engagement.
    • Algorithm-driven: Content discovery is driven by an algorithm that promotes new creators.
  2. Cons:
    • Limited content duration: Short videos may limit the depth of content.
    • Younger audience: Primarily popular among younger demographics.

It’s crucial for brands to carefully choose the platforms based on their target audience and campaign objectives. Many successful influencer marketing strategies involve a multi-platform approach to maximize reach and engagement. Additionally, staying updated on platform trends and algorithm changes is essential for adapting to the evolving social media landscape.

What Is the Most Profitable Social Media Platform for Influencers and Advertisers?

In the US, YouTube tops the social platforms at 28.7% when it comes to the number of consumers following influencers online. It is closely followed by Instagram at 28.4%, and then TikTok (20.5%), Facebook (14.6%), and Twitter (4.6%). (Source: Statista)

YouTube topping the list may be attributed to the rise of video content consumers, especially the significant surge since the pandemic. Viewership now encompasses not just entertainment but also education, work, and communication. And whether it’s a short endorsement clip or a 30-minute full feature content spot, videos have proved effective for advertising to audiences across various demographics.

Facebook still has the most users, with 2.9 billion active users. This is followed closely by YouTube and WhatsApp. Because of this, complementing your influencer marketing efforts with a strong Facebook presence can be a good strategy.

Which Social Media Platform Do Influencers Use Most?

If your brand is looking to get started with influencer marketing, you’re likely wondering where the best places are to look for influencers. Typically, the social media platform that most influencers prefer is Instagram. Research has shown that over 500,000 influencers report that Instagram is their preferred social media channel

However, all top social media platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, have many active influencers and audience members you can reach with promotions. No matter which social media channel you want to use for promotions, you can get excellent results on any of them. 

Which Platform Is Best for Influencer Marketing?

Instagram is a great social media platform for influencer marketing because it provides a wealth of different types of content you can post, such as:

  • Reels
  • Stories
  • Pictures
  • Carousel posts
  • Videos

Each of these types of content can give your brand’s promotion a unique feel and can be tailored to your specific needs. 

However, as mentioned before, all social media platforms can be effective for influencer marketing. For instance, YouTube would be the best option if your brand wants to promote with long-form videos. On the other hand, if your brand wants to promote through image and video-based content, Instagram would be a great option. 

Each social media platform provides unique qualities that could make them preferred by different brands and influencers. Choosing influencers and platforms that align with the content you want to create will be the best option for influencer marketing campaigns. To help choose the right influencers, an influencer marketing platform like Lionize can help. 

How To Measure Influencer Engagement?

A high engagement rate means that a good percentage of the influencer’s audience are interacting with the content. To measure this, you divide the total number of engagements by the total number of followers.

The average influencer engagement rate is 1 to 3.5%. Beyond 3.5 to 6% is considered high, and above 6% is very high.

Depending on the tier of the influencer, the average engagement rates may vary. Mega influencers on Instagram (over 1M followers) may have a lower average engagement rate of 1.4% for sponsored posts- but that’s still 14,000 engagements compared to a nano influencer (less than 10k followers) at 4%, which only translates to 400 engagements.

It is not just about the number, though. Influencer marketing also involves the connection between the influencer and the audience. Smaller influencers can have stronger connections with their audiences, which gives them more influence over purchasing decisions. 

For example, let’s say you sell supplies for alcohol ink painting. An expert in alcohol ink painting with artist-followers would likely be a better choice for your brand than a mega influencer who doesn’t have an audience that is interested in art. 

What Are The Tiers of Influencers?

Here are the different tiers of influencers that you can utilize depending on your campaign’s needs, product niche, and target audience.

●    Nano: 0K – 10K

●    Micro: 10K-100K

●    Mid: 100K – 500K

●    Macro: 500K – 1M

●    Mega: 1M+

Influencers also serve as brand ambassadors, so they have to be carefully picked based on how they reflect your brand values. In the end it goes back to credibility that leads the audience to trust your brand long after they hear about it from the influencer.

What Platform Is Most Used For Influencer Marketing By Industry?

The most popular social networks for marketers and best influencer platforms for creators who want to have more collaborations are YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok.

Instagram is most used by brands overall because it is versatile and can be easily used for many types of campaigns.

You can choose the best social media platform to amplify your particular brand’s presence based on the top influencers in your industry. Here are a couple of examples:

●   Automotive: YouTube, Instagram

●   Beauty: YouTube, Instagram

●   Business/Corporate: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

●   Fashion: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook 

Are You Ready to Implement Influencer Marketing? 

There are a number of things that make influencer marketing a favorite tool of brands and marketing agencies. It’s targeted, measurable, ROI efficient, relatable, and convincing. If you’re interested in using influencer marketing software to easily find and manage influencers, Lionize can help. Our software searches through thousands of influencers to find the perfect fits for your brand, niche, and target audience. Book a Discovery Call to see how we can help you nail your next influencer marketing campaign.