Facebook or Twitter: It”™s become the Coke or Pepsi debate of the social media age. Picture posting-happy parents who fervently believe that Facebook is the best invention since sliced bread while product-pushing wannabe gurus swear up and down that Twitter is the only social media channel that matters.
Turns out both camps are right. Kind of. A new study by Social Twist found that strictly by the numbers, Facebook is the clear winner. The social media giant accounts for 78 percent of all social media traffic. The much-loved Twitter, on the other hand, only accounts for a puny 5 percent. However, the same study found that Twitter is the clear winner when it comes to social media marketing.
Researchers were given the tedious task of combing through more than 1 million links on both Facebook and Twitter to determine which channel generated the most clicks. Twitter kicked Facebook”™s behind with an average of 19 clicks for embedded tweets. FB”™s shared links average a mere 3 clicks. But numbers and click-through rates aside, what makes Twitter a better marketing tool than Facebook?
Having run campaigns on both platforms for different clients, I”™ve found what makes Twitter more effective than Facebook is the sheer ease that comes with tweeting. The short, 140-or-fewer character messages naturally lend themselves to quick and easy conversations with our followers/clients. Therefore, Twitter campaigns can be simply integrated with blogging or article marketing campaigns. Another easy aspect of Twitter is speaking to just the right audience. On Facebook, it”™s often like screaming over a crowd of people in hopes that someone out there is listening. On Twitter, though, you can pick tweeps to follow (and who will hopefully follow you in return), insuring a tighter control over your audience. Twitter is now being regularly scanned by deal hunters, food lovers and fashion fiends all on the hunt for a new product or great bargain, meaning your promotional tweets will likely be found by the right group. Tweeting and following the tweets of our contemporaries is another great way to stay current on the latest happenings in our specified industry, a perk Facebook doesn”™t come close to having.
This being said, I”™ve had a blast utilizing the multimedia ease and freedom that comes with marketing on Facebook. Also, successful Facebook campaigns can be traced very easily and the platform”™s built-in tools are extremely helpful for eliminating the guesswork.
But let”™s turn it over to you, dear readers. Facebook or Twitter? Do you agree with the numbers? Sound off below!
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