Businesses of all sizes consider social media an easy and effective way to reach their audiences. Facebook and Instagram remain the most popular social media channels (with a combined 4.9 billion monthly active users and annual ad revenue of $50.3 billion in 2021).
To reach the most audiences, marketers should consider new and reemerging social media channels to engage with their target audiences.
What about TikTok and Pinterest?
TikTok and Pinterest present new and creative advertising opportunities for a wide range of businesses looking to reach beyond audiences on Facebook. TikTok, although controversial, is increasingly popular for younger demographics of global audiences, while Pinterest users consist of a wide age range with high purchasing intent.
Go Deeper
TikTok
TikTok has become the fastest-growing social media channel, with a projected 1.8 billion monthly active users by the end of 2022. The relatively new channel is a gold mine for engaging short-form content. It uses an exploratory algorithm that benefits specific topics and trends (rather than follower counts), making it a great opportunity for emerging brands to get their message across.
One of the biggest appeals of advertising on TikTok is its young user demographic. 18 to 24-year-olds make up 43% of all active TikTok users, while users 55 years and older make up less than 4% of all users. It’s also a rapidly growing channel with its own set of emerging influencers who possess a wide reach and present collaboration opportunities obtainable for smaller, emerging brands.
Despite the growing number of advertisements and sponsored content across the channel, TikTok has retained an image of authenticity through wildly diverse content from users with small follower counts. Brands can produce content that wouldn’t normally perform well on other channels. Businesses are encouraged to focus on viral trends and creativity over high-production value, and “algorithm-defying” tricks making TikTok an optimal space for businesses to become trailblazers in their industries.
TikTok ad campaigns require a $50 daily spending minimum, making it the most expensive social media ad channel. However, given its emerging status, reach among a young demographic, and low production cost, TikTok still has the potential to be a better campaign investment when compared to other social media channels.
Pinterest has been making strides to improve its channel through search optimization, video capabilities, and useful discovery tools like Pinterest Trends. Despite the emergence of rival social media channels and 60% of its audience consisting of women, Pinterest has sustained steady growth, especially among men and Gen Z, which experienced a 40% growth year over year within the channel.
Pinterest has proven itself as a valuable channel for consumers to discover and share products with its visual search results, simple engagement options, and an audience with a high average purchasing intent. 97% of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded, providing businesses with a great opportunity to leverage branded content toward users who are already searching for similar pins.
Advertising on Pinterest is affordable and easier to use than other social media channels. The channel also allows business accounts to choose from several campaign objectives and ad types, including creating Rich Pins, which can redirect users to product pages, articles, app installs, or recipe pages and allow businesses to track and retarget traffic using website pixels.
The big picture of using TikTok and Pinterest
Advertising through TikTok and Pinterest can help shape brand identity and provide a better understanding of target audiences and the content they engage with.
Likely Impact
- Reach new audiences
- Strengthen brand awareness
- Increase website traffic
- Improve social listening
Bottom Line
TikTok and Pinterest are valuable channels for established and emerging brands to improve their organic strategy and paid ad campaigns. As social media channels adapt and evolve to gain new users, it’s important for businesses to keep up to date with the perceptions and limitations of each channel to know which will be the most effective to reach their target audience.
If you would like to explore how our Social Media Quick Start service can help you, we can get you set up and rolling on social media platforms across the board!
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