Top Converting Social Media Platforms of 2023

So you want to expand your marketing efforts and begin making some money with social media?

We’ve put this guide to the top converting social media platforms of 2023 so you know where your business can make the most impact.

Why Go For Conversion Rate?

There are plenty of reasons to be on social media. Brand building, engaging with your followers, customer feedback, A/B testing products, increasing traffic to your blog.

At this point, social media marketing should be a core part of your holistic marketing strategy, no matter what industry you are in.

However, we understand how important revenue streams are, and if there is one good reason to invest time and energy into social media, it’s to increase revenue.

This is why conversion rate is the metric you want to look at.

Social Media Platforms With The Highest Conversion Rates

Not every social media platform is ideal for eCommerce and has a reliable conversion rate. While ads can be served on literally every social media platform, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are all profitable.

It is somewhat dependent on the niche you are in, of course. You also have to take brand equity into account, as a brand that already has a dedicated following can go pretty much anywhere online and achieve a healthy ROI through advertising.

Generally speaking, however, you’re going to want to go where the conversion rates are highest across multiple industries. The gold standard eCommerce social media platforms, in other words.

Before digging into each individual top converting social media platform, I should throw out an important disclaimer. Unless your ad strategy is mapped out correctly and if the ads are properly optimized, you’re still not likely to achieve a healthy ROAS.

Those who are familiar with how Facebook ads used to work back in the day, for instance, probably remember how easy it was to toss a couple dollars into a random product ad and get a 20x ROAS. Those days are long gone: if you want your social media ad strategy to pay off, you have to be smart and strategic.

Also, results vary across platforms depending on the audience being targeted, so some brands are better off on TikTok even if Facebook still retains the conversion crown.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at each platform and highlight why they convert so well:

Facebook

Despite the popularity of TikTok as well as recent changes to Twitter that make advertising somewhat smarter, Facebook still enjoys its place as the top converting social media platform.

But why? People still use Facebook?

Apparently so.

While it might not be where Gen-Z hangs out, or where we source our memes from (thank you Twitter), Facebook is still on a majority of mobile devices and is widely used by people of all ages to stay in touch with family and friends, read up on the latest news, and follow brands.

Facebook not only has a massive user base, ads on the platform still convert higher than anywhere else on average.

This is due in part to the advanced targeting options that are on Facebook. While Meta has scaled back some of the more detailed targeting options in recent years, there are still plenty of ways to capture very specific niche audiences in your ad groups.

If you are able to put together creatives and messaging that resonates with your target audience, you can get really solid traction with Facebook advertising, because you can get so granular with the targeting.

Instagram

Under the same umbrella as Facebook, but with a slightly different audience.

The Instagram platform caters to a younger, more hip crowd than Facebook in general, while enjoying most of the same targeting options. Since the platforms are connected, you can often serve the same ads on Instagram as you would on Facebook in the same campaign, although this isn’t always the best route.

Instagram is another one of the top converting social media platforms of 2023 due to its extensive user base as well as the visual nature of the platform. Ads served on Instagram flow seamlessly in the feed, so they are not all that intrusive.

Marketing on Instagram is the way to go if you are in fashion, jewelry, and similar retail niches. For more commercial and industrial advertising, you will want to stick to Facebook.

TikTok

Insanely popular, TikTok is the place you want to be if you are an eCommerce business trying to scale with the help of social media.

While the platform is top in terms of popularity, it isn’t yet top in conversions or ROAS.

This is due to a number of factors.

There is more disposable income on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The user base on TikTok skews young, which means not everyone has as much money to go around, especially for higher ticket items.

The Gen-Z crowd is also less responsive to ads in general. This means you have to work harder for less conversions on TikTok.

Your creatives have to be on point and your messaging has to be perfectly crafted for your target audience if you really want to drive revenue with TikTok advertising, which is one reason why so many businesses are turning to influencers and TikTok ad agencies to do the heavy lifting for them.

Even with all of these hurdles, TikTok is still one of the best places to advertise on social media if you want conversions, dwarfing the likes of Reddit, Linkedin, and Twitter. If you have a hot product and a creative agency behind you, there is money to be made on TikTok.

Pinterest

Last but certainly not least, Pinterest is another great social media platform for consistent conversions in eCommerce. While not nearly as effective as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, Pinterest does have its place.

In certain niches, according to Pinterest, the platform enjoys the highest eCommerce conversion rates of any social media platform, with 50% of Pinners having made a purchase off of a promoted pin. How well that translates to your own brand and products is another story, but there can be no question that Pinterest is a perfectly viable advertising outlet in certain niches.

If you want to get into Pinterest advertising, I would recommend the following niches:

• Furniture
• Fashion, especially women’s fashion
• Wedding dresses or wedding planning
• Home decor
• Gardening and landscaping
• Jewelry
• New Age, including crystals, tarot, Wiccan, herbal, and astrology products
• Health and wellness, including herbal supplements
• Fitness equipment
• Cooking

These would be your main areas of focus, as they comprise the bulk of the content found on the platform. There are of course exceptions, but this is a good starting point.

The reason why Pinterest advertising is so effective is because, much like Instagram and TikTok, the ads mesh well with the visuals. There isn’t much of a distinction between a normal feed post and an ad on Pinterest, so if the messaging is correct, the person scrolling through their Pinterest feed is likely to just click the ad without even realizing it is one.

Other Social Media Options?

If you are looking for high conversions, the platforms above are where you want to put the bulk of your attention. However, if you already have a foothold on these platforms and want to expand your reach, there are a few other options worth considering depending on your niche.

• Reddit: High conversion rates in select eCommerce industries. Ads should be super niche since Reddit is a platform based around small niche topics, which the ads are then served to.
• Snapchat: Decent conversion rates and not as much competition as other platforms, with great targeting options. Not as large of a user base as the top contenders but a respectable choice if you want to unearth a new revenue stream in 2023.
• Twitch: While very niche, this can be a lucrative advertising platform if you are in the gaming, electronics, sporting, or similar niches. Pretty much the diametric opposite of Pinterest in terms of target audience, if that helps.
• YouTube: Conversion rates are fairly reliable on YouTube and most industries are able to be targeted due to the wide range of interests on the platform. Creatives here need a bit more polish than other platforms, and CPCs are usually higher as well, but could be worth it depending on your brand recognition and how popular your products are.

If you want a reliable and straightforward social media revenue stream, Facebook or TikTok are probably the best options. However it never hurts to expand your marketing horizons.

Will the social media landscape look the same way next year in terms of conversion rates? It seems that things are shifting faster and faster every year, and with platforms like Twitter being vocal about wanting to draw more advertisers, it is entirely possible this list could shift by next year.

The best thing to do if you are an eCommerce store trying to take advantage of these social media platforms is to establish a strong foundation on a solid platform like Facebook and slowly expand or pivot based on how the market changes.