Answers to commonly asked social media questions as 2022 wraps 

With layoffs at Meta, a leadership change at Twitter and everyone’s scrolling thumbs developing callouses thanks to short-form video, our clients are asking lots of smart questions about whether to shift their social media strategy in 2023. 

Among the inquiries: 

• Should I get off Twitter? I hear Elon Musk is running everyone off. 
• Should I do more on Twitter? I hear Elon Musk is making it cool again. 
• Should I be on TikTok? That’s where the kids are. 
• Actually, wait. Why is everyone on TikTok so old? 
• Is anyone on Facebook anymore?  

• Instagram: reels, stories or images? 
• What the heck is Mastodon?  
• Are you on BeReal? 

Our firm manages just shy of $10 million in gross media buys annually in addition to crafting and monitoring organic social media for a roster of 120-plus clients who want to reach young people, old people, people who make a lot of money and people who don’t make much money at all. Regardless of who they’re trying to reach with social media, all our clients want the same thing – to make the best use of their time and money. 

So here’s what we tell them: Audience + Action ÷ Budget 

That’s shorthand for: 

1. Figure out where your audience is, platform-wise. (Or ask us to help you figure it out.) 

2. Decide which actions you want them to take. (Fill out a form, click on a link, tell others about you, etc.) 

3. Weigh Nos. 1 and 2 against your budget. 

For example: Say your audience is on Instagram and TikTok, and you want them to get to know you, become a fan, tell their friends about you, sign up for your newsletter and purchase things from your website. Your budget for social media is $5,000/month.  

Knowing that you have several priorities (two social platforms with multiple advertising options each), plus several potential calls to action, and also understanding that your budget is limited, our advice would first be to narrow your scope. Focus on one social platform. Choose one CTA. Go for quality, not quantity, and create great organic content. Enhance with a paid strategy primarily so people see it. 

With a bigger budget, you can reach more people on more platforms and across a wider swath of your marketing funnel.  

OK, but what about Elon and TikTok?  

OK, we did promise to offer some specific advice to all of the day’s burning questions.  

• Should I get off Twitter? I hear Elon Musk is running everyone off, including possibly himself. 

• If your audience is on Twitter, stay on Twitter. It’s a highly affordable platform with lots of engagement. Plus, there are great deals for advertisers right now while Twitter tries to beef up its Q4 earnings. 
• If your audience is leaving Twitter for political or other reasons, leave.  
• One thing to consider is how your brand might fare with changes to Twitter’s self-monitoring of harassment and other potentially problematic content. Just this week, for example, advocates for content moderation raised flags when Twitter disbanded its Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group that addresses hate speech, sexual misconduct and other problems on the outlet.  

• Should I do more on Twitter? I hear Elon Musk is making it cool again. 

• See above. Cool is subjective.

• Should I be on TikTok? That’s where the kids are. 

• Yes, if your audience is on TikTok. But TikTok’s audience is not just kids. TikTok’s advertising platform reports that 60% of its U.S. audience is between the ages of 16 and 24. And according to Pew, 37% of teens use TikTok, second only to YouTube. 

• Actually, wait. Why is everyone on Tiktok so old? 

• They’re not, though many of the viewers are trending “older.” According to TikTok, 26% of its users are between the ages of 25 and 44.  
• Also, when you think about the cost for being on TikTok, the biggest hurdle is content creation. Just because the videos are short does not mean they are easy or inexpensive to make. Don’t be the person who makes that false assumption. 

• Is anyone on Facebook anymore?  

• The short answer: Yes. And not just your parents posting political memes. For most of our clients, Facebook is the highest-converting digital advertising platform short of Google – even when the intended audience is under the age of 30. 
• In 2022, the largest slice of Facebook users are people between the ages of 25 and 35, according to Statista. About a quarter of Facebook’s users are 18–24 years old. People 65 years old and older represent just 4.8% of Facebook’s users. 
• On the other hand, what people are doing may not reflect what they say they are doing. When asked about their Facebook usage, young people are increasingly telling pollsters that they are engaged with the platform. According to a recent Pew Research study, the number of young people using Facebook has declined from 71% in 2014–15 to 32% in 2022. 

• Instagram: reels, stories or images? 

• Reels and stories. Instagram’s own data shows that more people are swiping left to right than they are scrolling down through the feed. So if you want your content to be seen, you need to focus on the opportunities at the top.  
• For advertisers, you can fortunately now add click-throughs and other features to reels and stories that you couldn’t do earlier this year.  

• What the heck is Mastodon? 

• They were elephant-type-looking creatures that roamed North and Central America 10,000 years ago or thereabouts.  
• It’s also a social media platform that functions a bit like Twitter and saw a surge in popularity when people began leaving the latter earlier this fall.  
• It does not support advertising. 

• Are you on BeReal? 

• BeReal bills itself as uncurated social media. Everyone on the platform takes a selfie and a photo of their surroundings when prompted each day. You’re not supposed to stage or filter anything so the experience is more “real.” 

• People are finding ways to curate their BeReal realities. 
• Brands that want to keep it real can create an organic profile and connect with people, but they can’t buy ad placements. Yet. 

In summary … 

You know how your financial planner will tell you not to pull your money out of the stock market during a recession? We believe the same general principal holds true for digital media. People predicting End Times for social media may well be peering into a future without Meta or Twitter. But social media isn’t going away. 

Regardless of how the platform operates, what it’s called or who owns it, people will always find ways to communicate and express themselves digitally, media companies will monetize those conversations, and brands will sit in the middle as advertisers.  

Smart organizations will continue to do so thoughtfully, ethically, creatively and economically. We’re happy to help with your social strategy – organic or paid – if you want to be real, be reels or be everywhere.