There’s a large part of the population who believe that there’s a battle for social supremacy going on between Facebook and Google+. There are things their Boards and management are planning about which we know nothing. However, for the business owner and marketer, there’s really no need to dwell on it or when one of them will become dominant, as it’s likely to never happen. You see, their demographics are very different now, and they may be that way for some time to come.
Facebook is much more of a place for friends and family to trade information about the restaurants they like or who they’re dating. It’s a family and friends sharing of daily life activities. Then there is Google+. It seems that there is a 69% skew toward male users of Google+, and a large number of them are geeky or tech oriented. Facebook is much more mature, and has taken on a demographic closer to the population. It’s more balanced male-to-female and more diverse age-wise. Google+ is still skewed toward the younger user.
What’s a marketer to do? Well, first we don’t have to make a decision if our market niches are diverse. If we’re marketing everything from camping gear to body lotions or weight loss, Facebook is still a major marketplace. If you’re focused on tech stuff, Android, iPhone, etc., then Google+ is going to be a major marketplace. However, there is still opportunity on Facebook. So, you’ll want to keep up with what’s going on with social site demographics, but right now there is little reason to decide to leave one to market on the other.
You’ll want to keep marketing on both, but use the demographics to allocate your resources, both time and money. Since Google+ is still evolving and not selling ads, it’s obviously a good place for your brand and products and services marketing. You’ll want to maintain a Facebook presence as well, but perhaps it’s more branding than direct sales if you’re in the tech niche. Also, you may have budget concerns, so Facebook Ads may be a non-starter.