Facebook makes up 78% of all social media traffic; Twitter is a measly 5%. Despite the market share, a study by Social Twist says using Twitter for marketing is the better bet.
After analyzing more than one million links on both platforms, researchers found that Facebook’s shared links average only 3 clicks, while Twitter’s embedded tweets generate 19.
Click-through rates, or the number of clicks per advertised link, aren’t the only factors to keep in mind when choosing a social media platform. If you're deciding between Facebook and Twitter, consider the following pros and cons of each, compiled by PC World:
Twitter Pros
There are 165 million registered users and 100 million tweets sent a day, according to Bloomberg.
With a split screen and view pane that allows users to share videos from 16 different media providers, the new Twitter layout is good for marketing. Businesses can effectively share updated videos on their Twitter profiles, instead of just repeatedly tweeting messages.
Twitter's audience is more sophisticated in terms of using technology and social media. Social media professionals inhabit the Twitter world, and the level of user-sophistication only continues to get better with each tweet.
Twitter is easy to use on third-party applications through features such as scheduled tweets and searches.
- With only 140 characters, a lot of tweets leave readers hanging. They have more questions about what they've just read; this suspense factor taps into their desire to click on more links.
Twitter Cons
The Twitter universe is comparable to a cocktail party, where people lightly take part in numerous conversations, skipping from one to the next. Twitter party attendees are always looking for instant satisfaction, a buzz that’s more appealing than the one they just encountered. Needless to say, conversations have gaping holes in the middle, often leaving Twitter users hanging with just bits and pieces of conversations, and leaving them with more questions than information. This is as much a con as it is a pro.
Twitter’s security is unreliable. Malwares are easily spread when users click on URL’s loaded with viruses.
Twitter has the Fail Whale that has become annoyingly familiar to users. Businesses must take into account the frequent moments when the server is down or over capacity.
Facebook Pros
There are 600 million Facebook users compared to 165 million Twitter users.
Facebook is considerably more reliable than Twitter; outages are rare.
There are a number of multimedia tools available on Facebook that can be good for your business, including videos, links, and photo albums.
Facebook Cons
The fact that there are so many Facebook users can a positive point, but it can also be a negative one. Many of the users are not target consumers, and businesses must plan their strategies accordingly. Since Facebook is a less-focused medium than Twitter, businesses have to put more effort into their outreach to ensure clicks.
If Twitter is a cocktail party, then Facebook is like a college dorm. Masses of people mill about and become familiar with one another’s faces; they don’t actually get to know one another until months pass. As such, Facebook may not be the right environment for your business to sell a product.
Twitter may have a significantly smaller user-base than Facebook, but it requires less time for actionable exposure, offers more return on investment, and reaches a more specific audience and consumer base. The amount of distraction on Twitter is also far less than the amount of distraction on Facebook, where businesses can end up lost at sea.
To learn more about choosing between Facebook or Twitter for your business, read the original PC World article on Entrepreneur.
