The social media evolved into many aspects, but the on that stands of utmost importance among them all to media companies is the performance of certain topics and behaviors across various platforms.
For example, without any doubt Facebook, Twitter and Reddit are the primary choice for people who want to discuss politics. However, no one bats an eye on current affairs on picture-focus platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.
This overall is also defining the way people prefer to use the famous social media platforms and how can media companies target the audience present there for more traffic referrals.
As rightly stated by Neil Vogel, the CEO of DotDash that the trick is to really align with the algorithms that you like. DotDash is now home to many niche websites, like TripSavvy, The Spruce, Byrdie, MyDomain, LifeWire, Investopedia and others, but Vogel openly claims that Google is a strong traffic distributor and publishing partner for majority of its content.
The scenario completely shifts towards the other side when Instagram is now considered much better for Byrdie, a beauty brand, and MyDomain, a lifestyle brand.
Same goes for publishers who focus on politics and hyper-partisan news as Facebook is literally a heaven for them - according to Newswhip (a social media engagement tracking firm).
However, there are always going to be exceptions in case of topics that weren’t well aligned with the platform but still perform really well. A more common example of such a scenario can be Overheard, whose content is mostly in words and yet they have millions of followers across multiple Instagram accounts.
If we look at the way the social media sites work, we’ll begin to realize that the core function of each platform actually elevates certain topics.
Visual courtesy of Axios based on Parse.ly data.
Read next: 12 Tools That Can Help You Manage Your Social Media (infographic)
For example, without any doubt Facebook, Twitter and Reddit are the primary choice for people who want to discuss politics. However, no one bats an eye on current affairs on picture-focus platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.
This overall is also defining the way people prefer to use the famous social media platforms and how can media companies target the audience present there for more traffic referrals.
As rightly stated by Neil Vogel, the CEO of DotDash that the trick is to really align with the algorithms that you like. DotDash is now home to many niche websites, like TripSavvy, The Spruce, Byrdie, MyDomain, LifeWire, Investopedia and others, but Vogel openly claims that Google is a strong traffic distributor and publishing partner for majority of its content.
The scenario completely shifts towards the other side when Instagram is now considered much better for Byrdie, a beauty brand, and MyDomain, a lifestyle brand.
Same goes for publishers who focus on politics and hyper-partisan news as Facebook is literally a heaven for them - according to Newswhip (a social media engagement tracking firm).
However, there are always going to be exceptions in case of topics that weren’t well aligned with the platform but still perform really well. A more common example of such a scenario can be Overheard, whose content is mostly in words and yet they have millions of followers across multiple Instagram accounts.
If we look at the way the social media sites work, we’ll begin to realize that the core function of each platform actually elevates certain topics.
- Cameras make up the central format of Instagram as it then allows users to see and showcase desirable lifestyles.
- Snapchat falls into the similar category of camera oriented apps but it doesn't showcase "likes," and provides a 1-to-1 communication rather than going publicly to everyone.
- Text forms the central format on Twitter, where users can receive and share quick bursts of information in real time.
- Whereas Google is all about results, allowing users to go through sources in order to find the specific information they are looking for.
But what’s the way forward?
As explained above, the trick will be to produce high quality content which should be able to remain effective on more social media channels. It’s about time that media companies shift from Google and Facebook as the future lies in more private networks.Visual courtesy of Axios based on Parse.ly data.
Read next: 12 Tools That Can Help You Manage Your Social Media (infographic)
