Which social media platforms attract *and* hang on to users?

Social media in 2016

If you’re going to make the investment in social media, you want to know that your brand gets the visibility you expect from those channels. You can control what your follower see, but you can’t control how often your followers interact with a given social media channels. So, how do you know that you’re working with an attentive audience?

SurveyMonkey Intelligence, which provides metrics to thousands of mobile apps, decided to measure just that. They measured churn rate by looking at people who used the app in one week but didn’t use it again the following week.

Who won?

Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram reign supreme in this category. You can also see associated Facebook apps, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, heading up the middle of the pack. On the other hand Twitter, Vine and Periscope all have churn rates well over 20 percent. This might explain why Twitter’s reported growth has stagnating recently. While they are still pulling plenty of new users, many are leaving at the same rate.

There’s no denying Facebook’s power, and this is just another stat confirming that you can’t miss out on Facebook. It also reinforces that paying to play here can be worth your money. It’s still a cheap branding exercise, since Facebook ads are fairly inexpensive. With the right kind of business, you may be able to cultivate leads and sales that justify the investment as well.

Snapchat may still seem like an odd choice to you, but there’s no denying that it commands real attention. As a corporate brand, it can be tricky to advertise on Snapchat. Those who can put a human face to their brand (see: Gary Vaynerchuck, or The Points Guy, among others) should be exploring the opportunities provided by the platform. If you have had prior success with visual content or video content, you can find a following here. Otherwise, look at options for sponsored content and the Discover feature.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

What about poor Twitter?

Speaking of visual content, it’s a good time to figure out that part of your content strategy so you can be on Instagram. As one of the fastest-growing social channels of last year, you can reach a lot of eyeballs here, and those eyeballs browse the channel religiously. Much like parent company Facebook, Instagram uses an algorithmic timeline, so paying to play may be worth it to get the attention you want. Influencers can also bolster your brand, if you can connect with a few in your industry.

What about poor Twitter? Well, as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. Just because Twitter is bleeding users doesn’t mean those users are from your audience. Just keep an extra sharp eye on your engagement numbers, and double down on ways to give your audience a better experience with your posts. Be the reason your followers come back to Twitter week after week!

#SocialMedia