Which Social Media Platform is Best for Influencer Marketing in the US?

Brands have to make difficult decisions when it comes to where they invest time, money, and resources for their influencer marketing programs. 

Yet the social media platform landscape is often hard to predict. Traackr’s 2024 Influencer Marketing Impact Report surveyed 1,000 Millennial and Gen Z consumers in the US, in order to determine which social platforms are the most impactful for influencer marketing.

The Best Social Platforms for Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has the power to impact multiple areas of the funnel — from awareness, to consideration, to sales, to customer loyalty. Below, we share which social platforms are the best for each part of the funnel

Best Social Platforms for Influencer Marketing: Awareness

It’s no secret that influencers are great partners for building brand awareness. That’s primarily where the practice of influencer marketing started — audiences were spending a majority of time on social media, and a large portion of that was (and still is) devoted to consuming influencer content. 

So what exact social platforms are they currently doing that on? Traackr’s data revealed that preferences changed depending on age. Millennial and Gen Z consumers showed slightly different preferences in their social platform choices for consumer influencer content. 

Most Used Platforms for Consuming Influencer Content, According to All Consumers:

1. YouTube
2. TikTok
3. Instagram
4. Facebook
5. X

Most Used Platforms for Consuming Influencer Content, According to Millennial Consumers:

1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. TikTok
4. Instagram
5. X

Most Used Platforms for Consuming Influencer Content, According to Gen Z Consumers:

1. YouTube
2. TikTok
3. Instagram
4. X
5. Snapchat

Tip: Curious to read up on some successful awareness campaigns that were platform specific? Check out Ole Henriksen’s product seeding campaign that it conducted on YouTube, or Craghopper’s creative influencer marketing campaign that it conducted on Instagram (and out in the wild!).

Best Social Platforms for Influencer Marketing: Consideration

Google is no longer the one-stop shop for consumer product discovery, research, and purchasing. In fact, the US Influencer Marketing Impact Report revealed that 53% of consumers look to influencers for product recommendations. 

Even more interesting? Consumers are utilizing different social platforms for product research vs regular content consumption vs product purchasing.

Top Platforms for Product Reviews and Information:

1. YouTube
2. TikTok
3. Instagram
4. Facebook
5. Reddit

Best Social Platforms for Influencer Marketing: Sales

According to Traackr’s influencer marketing report, 61% of the surveyed consumers feel that influencers’ posts have some sway on their purchase decisions. Here are the top platforms that Traackr found that consumers say they use most when buying products.

Top Platforms for Social Commerce:

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. YouTube
4. TikTok
5. Pinterest

How to Find the Right Social Platform for Your Influencer Marketing Program

Although the rankings above can give you a general sense of which social platforms might be good to invest in for your influencer marketing program, it’s important to remember that the best strategies are tailored for your specific brand. 

If you are still not sure how to determine which social platform is best for your brand’s influencer marketing program, here are some tips:

1. Think through and establish your influencer marketing goals. What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to reach? What is a realistic timeline for achieving those goals? How much budget and resources are available to you? All of these will be important in helping you determine which social platform will work best for you. 
2. Research your target audience. Each social platform has a different strength, so it’s important to understand what characteristics your target audience has, and what they care about.  Are you trying to reach Millennials? Gen Zers? Gen Xers? Or a combination of all of them? Is your target audience a mix of genders? What do they care about? Do they want educational, or aspirational, or entertaining content?
3. Evaluate your brand voice/ethos. It can be tempting to jump on every new social platform and trend. But, the truth is that the most effective influencer marketing campaigns and programs are the ones that preserve the brand’s voice and identity. Make sure the social media platform you pick can help communicate and nurture the core tenets of your brand.

“A trend has to be something that aligns with our brand pillars because if we're trying to jump on everything, we’ll lose our unique tone of voice and brand identity that we have worked so hard to create and protect.” - Samantha Hofherr, Influencer and Partnerships Manager at ILIA Beauty

Last, if there’s a platform that you haven’t broken ground in and you think it has the greatest potential to help you reach your influencer marketing goals, it may be time to experiment! 57% of consumers are somewhat likely to try out a new social platform if an influencer that they know and trust posts there. 

Tip: Check out the steps e.l.f. Beauty took to broadening the scope of their influencer marketing by experimenting with the metaverse.

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