With Q4 underway, we’re taking a look back at the past quarter to see what changes took place in the social landscape, and how platform growth, earnings and revenue over the past few weeks could affect the space in the future.

1. Need to
Know
Most established social
channel; broad reach
in US & global. Very
advanced targeting;
paid ads necessary.
Started by a high
school dropout; now
owned by Yahoo.
Blogging platform for
the creative set.
How People
Use It
How Brands
Use It
Who’s On
It
What It Can
Help
Achieve
Major KPIs
Content
Types
Everyone, with a majority
of Millennial users living in
U.S., India & Brazil.
However, teens are using
it less, and differently
(more for networking)
Teens and Millennials.
56% users are 18-34.
Popular amongst the
fashion, art,
entertainment, food &
creative set.
Go-to social network for
many demos. Browsing
the feed; keeping up with
friends; sharing
news/photos; sharing &
discovering content;
planning events. Also
used for customer
service.
Curating & creating
content that provides a
window into their
personalities, interests,
etc. Riffing on pop
culture, trends, humor,
etc. Following others
who inspire them.
Publish high quality
visual content, often an
extension of brand
campaigns. Elicit
engagement from fans
& non-fans. Can do
very robust demo &
interest targeting.
Increasingly as a
sounding board for
customer service.
Maintain branded
Tumblr page & curate
experience through
reblogs & original
content. Engage with
Tumblr influencers. Some
convergence with
Yahoo advertising.
Awareness
Brand Equity
Purchase Intent
Trial (Mainly Entertainment)
Traffic (for Publishers)
Reach New Audiences
Awareness
Brand Equity
Brand Engagement
Traffic
Video, strong visuals
(print quality) with less
than 20% text on image;
link and carousel ads
Text, photo, quote,
link, chat, audio,
video. Photos and GIFS
tend to perform best.
Impressions, Video Views
CTR, CPE, CPF, Likes,
Comments, Shares
Engagements,
Impressions, Follows,
Clicks, Views, ER
MAU 1.55 Billion
N/A - Tumblr tracks
audience based on blog
network & dashboard
Paid
Media
Yes - Robust
Yes – Getting more
robust
* Updated November 2015Social Platform Cheat Sheet
Facebook made
community growth a
priority on IG. Very high
engagement rates
relative to other channels.
70 M photos /day
Millennial parents,
Millennials, teens, and
early adopters.
Audience is getting
more mainstream.
Showcasing their lives in
unique, artsy, or
adorable ways. Lots of
selfies and food. Getting
inspired by what others
are sharing, including
friends, brands &
influencers.
Publish high quality
photographic and video
content & engage with
fans. Leverage
influencers to create
branded content.
Awareness
Brand Equity
Brand Engagement
Traffic
Purchase Intent
Strong visuals - artistically
created, specific look &
feel with “filters”
15-second looped videos,
ink and carousel
Likes, Reach, Impressions,
Eng. Rate, Hashtag use,
Clicks, CPC
400 Million
Yes – Getting robust
Very well established
w/ strong ad products
& potential for wide
reach, though
audience is more niche
A fairly wide audience,
with pops in:
Tech, Marketing,
African American,
Entertainment, Politics
Many are spectators
rather than active
participants, discovering
content, articles & news.
Others use it for 1:1
engagement with friends,
peers, celebrities &
brands. Lots of customer
service inquiries.
Real-time participation in
cultural events. Publish
high quality visual & text
based content. Ask
questions & have 1:1
conversation with
consumers & influencers.
Host Twitter chats &
parties. Respond to
customer service inquiries.
Awareness
Brand Equity
Purchase Intent
Trial (Mainly Entertainment)
Traffic (for Publishers)
Reach New Audiences
140 character limit
Text based, image
content, videos & GIF’s
Retweets, @replies, Likes,
Followers, Impressions,
CTR, CPF
Hashtag use
320 Million
Yes - Robust
200 Million
Mobile app, catering to
the <25 demo. Expiring
images & videos, 24
hour “stories” and a
Discover tab
13-34 year olds,
nearly 100MM daily
active Snapchatters
and growing
1:1 photo/video
messages that expire
after 24 hours. Daily
storytelling to friends via
24-hour “story” feature.
Access publication
sourced stories
Behind the scenes,
exclusive content.
Content must be
entertaining, organic,
and on the fly.
Working with
influencers to
engage fans.
Views, Screenshots,
Replays, Filter Usage,
Filter Impressions
Yes – Discover, Stories,
Geofilters, Lenses
Images, videos,
drawings, emojis,
text
Awareness
Brand Equity
Brand Engagement
Young Audiences
Owned by Twitter.
Launched the short-
form video craze. Very
influencer driven.
Nearly all mobile.
Early adopters,
Millennials and teens.
Hardcore content
creators.
Consuming &
sometimes creating
fun, interesting 6-
second videos.
Following influential
content creators.
Creating 6-second
videos - one-off’s or,
increasingly, whole
storylines in 6-sec
episodes. Leverage
influencers to create
brand content.
Brand Equity
Brand Engagement
6-second videos
Revines, Comments,
Loops (# of times
video is played)
Est. 200 Million Vines
watched
No
Huge opportunity for
search (81% increase YoY
platform searches,
and for businesses (2/3 of
content saved from Pinners
comes from businesses)
,80% mobile activity.
Mostly US, women 25-
54, but has made a
strides to diversify
including 40% reach of
Millennials online and
influx of male users.
73% of Pinners use
Pinterest to plan for the
future.
Discovering new things &
products; getting inspired;
planning their lives and
purchases.
Publish high quality
content with rich,
keyword focused
descriptions & vertical
imagery. Integrate
Pinterest button on
website & optimize web
content, Create rich &
promoted pins to make
content more
discoverable.
Awareness
Brand Equity
Brand Engagement
Traffic
Sales
Purchase Intent
Strong vertical visuals – with
links back to (& pulled from)
brand website and strong
with keywords for search
descriptions
Impressions, Clicks,
Repins, Likes, Comments,
CPA/C, CPE, CPM
100 Million – a new record
achieved this quarter
Yes – Robust with
Buyable Pins
Owned by Google.
2nd most popular
search engine. 6
billion hours of video
viewed per month.
Questionable value as
a “social network” but
not irrelevant. Mostly
used to bolster SEO.
Everyone.
Especially
Millennials (72%),
GenX (58%), and
teens 14-17 (81.9%)
Over 2.2 Billion G+
profiles b/c anyone with
a Gmail account has a
profile. However, few
actually interact with
content on the
platform.
Watching videos,
uploading videos,
following video
creators (now
celebrities in their
own right).
Often used for
promoting one’s
personal businesses
or career.
Occasionally
following brand
content.
Distribute TV
commercials and other
video content, and
create unique web-
based video content.
Leverage influencers to
create video content.
Paid media - pre-roll,
banners, in-video,
TrueView etc.
SEO
Less commonly
used as a content
distribution channel,
and when it is, it’s
used mainly by
publishers or tech
brands.
Awareness
Brand Equity
Purchase Intent
Trial (Mainly Entertainment)
Reach New Audiences
Traffic
Search Optimization
Short & long form
video
Video Views,
Video Completion
Rate, Likes,
Comments
Clicks, Comments
+1’s
Text-based content.
Can include visuals,
videos & links back to
brand website
1 Billion 4-6 Million
Yes - Robust Yes - Thru Google