Top Converting Social Media Platforms of 2024

A lot can change in one year, especially in digital marketing. Last year we put together a resource on the best converting social media platforms of 2023, and while much of the information remains relevant, things have shifted somewhat.

Platforms that were once thought irrelevant for advertising are now changing the landscape, and other platforms are losing their effectiveness. If you want to make money on social media this year, the following guide on the top converting social media platforms of 2024 should tell you where you need to put your advertising budget.

Social Media Platforms With the Highest Conversion Rates This Year

As always, each social media platform has its strengths and weaknesses as far as advertising is concerned. That’s doubly true in eCommerce, where shoppers are heavily relying on trust signals and value propositions both on the ad and in your store, in order to checkout successfully.

That being said, we have last year’s data and it paints a pretty clear picture as to the platforms that are converting the best:

TikTok

With its massive user base and respectable 1% industry wide conversion rate, TikTok looks like the place to be in 2024 as far as social media advertising is concerned. While it still lags behind in certain select niches (typically ones that lean commercial or industrial), normal retail businesses are thriving on the platform.

Why does TikTok convert so well? It’s a combination of factors really.

In the past I’ve written extensively on TikTok’s AI algorithm, and while some would say the platform is getting a bit more “corporate” and saturated, it still enjoys probably the best organic content serving system of any social media right now, and that intuitiveness extends to its ads.

Ads on TikTok look natural. They are often fun and engaging and aren’t trying to be overly salesy. Many feature ordinary TikTok users and are casual, which is attractive to younger buyers specifically. With the help of its algorithm, broad match targeting becomes extremely effective, which means you can create relatively “top of funnel” ads on TikTok that still get really high conversion rates, which flies in the face of the traditional marketing funnel system.

Do yourself a favor and make TikTok advertising part of your 2024 marketing strategy.

Pinterest

I’ve gone to bat for Pinterest for years. As a long time user of the platform, I always believed it had a lot of potential, specifically for eCommerce.

A few years ago, when its organic algorithm was still very favorable, I considered it one of the best places online for raw organic marketing.

It seems Pinterest invested a lot of time and money into shifting things in the other direction, and while I was at first dubious, it seems to have paid off. Pinterest is enjoying record growth right now, and is now considered one of the best places to advertise for eCommerce brands in 2024.

For eCommerce businesses, Pinterest ads get a wild 1% to 8% conversion rate across all industries on average. This is a far, far cry from only a few years ago, when Pinterest was the industry laggard at a measly .3% conversion rate on average.

Why the stark about face?

First, Pinterest has gone to great lengths over the last couple of years to improve its basic feed, prioritizing quality content and seamless visuals over everything else. While it did try and trend hop a little with its own version of Shorts / Reels, it has remained largely true to its original intent of being an image board website with social elements.

However, as eCommerce has exploded, its natural features have lent itself well to being a shoppable platform. Pinterest has its own kind of SEO (much like TikTok…), which means users can optimize pins in order to get found in the organic searches within the platform.

As we know with Google, where there’s an organic search component there is plenty of room for advertising.

However, unlike Google, Pinterest’s user base (and searches) seem to revolve around shopping. This means that virtually all user related data on the platform has some kind of eCommerce bent to it. Thus, to do ad research one need only look at the free Pinterest Trends tool, find some high volume keywords that are going parabolic due to a trend or seasonality, and run ads to products that match those trends.

This simple formula is giving Pinterest a massive leg up in the industry. As a business, Pinterest grew over 10% year over year in 2023, while many tech companies were shuttering their doors. In 2024, make Pinterest advertising a part of your strategy if you are in a Pinterest-friendly niche.

Twitter (X)

Historically, Twitter (X) has not been a great place to advertise. However, since Elon Musk took it over and shifted the focus of the platform (for one, to actually make it profitable), there has been a change.

Right now, Twitter is actually beating out Facebook on average conversion rate.

There are likely several reasons for this. First, there is a very specific kind of user on Twitter and therefore brands that are still willing to advertise there likely have a strong grasp of what their users are looking for. Recent changes in the way ads are served also means users are much more likely to see ads that resonate with them, whereas in the past Twitter had some of the worst ad targeting of any social media platform.

The second key reason why Twitter is improving here is its shift in user demographics and purpose. For many years Twitter was more of a social app where news, politics, and sports were some of the dominant topics of conversation.

Since Musk’s takeover and transformation to X, the entire platform has changed significantly. There is more of an emphasis on brands and brand interaction, entertainment, videos and other media, and fun in general. While the platform has lost users, the users it has gained are more likely to purchase and trust X as a platform more than the previous user base. This leads to a higher chance of clicking on ads and converting.

Facebook

In any conversation of social media advertising, you can’t ignore Facebook. While its user base is slimming down and its conversion rates are not as stellar as they were in past years, the platform still has a solid shoppable intent. Facebook users are well accustomed to ads at this point, as well as browsing through Facebook Marketplace to find odds and ends.

Facebook’s strength is still in its robust targeting options and ability to reach certain demographics that other platforms can’t touch. Specifically, Google and TikTok.

Even with its decline, the platform still enjoys one of the largest social media user bases, and much like Google itself, Facebook (or Meta, rather), enjoys a wide distribution network. Facebook ads can be seamlessly served on Instagram and WhatsApp, with all that implies in terms of stories, reels, and in-feed ads, and everything else.

The fact that Facebook Shop is still widely used and trusted, and that you can advertise your product catalog, makes this an attractive option for eCommerce businesses. Of course, Pinterest and TikTok have shop catalog functionality too now, however Facebook comes with the largest suite of targeting options and a user base that, on average, enjoys more disposable income.

Unlike Pinterest and TikTok, Facebook is also the place to be for B2B advertising on social media as well. There’s still plenty of reasons to utilize Facebook advertising if you are in the eCommerce space.

Is Conversion Rate The Right Key Performance Indicator?

It’s difficult to say, as everyone’s goals are different when it comes to advertising. Let’s compare some of the most important KPIs in order to see why platform conversions are typically among the most valuable:

ROAS: While ROAS, or return on ad spend, is often looked at as the definitive metric in terms of ad performance, it can vary wildly across industries and even across ad groups within the same campaign.

Here’s how you interpret the value of ROAS:

• ROAS > 1: You’re earning more revenue than you’re spending on the ads, indicating a profitable campaign.
• ROAS = 1: Your revenue is equal to your ad spend, meaning you’re breaking even.
• ROAS < 1: You’re losing money on your campaign, as the cost of the ads is more than the revenue they’re generating.

The problem with going with ROAS as your definitive metric is a couple large purchases can heavily skew ROAS. It’s not a bad thing of course to make a few thousand dollars off of only like a $50 spend, but the question is, can you consistently drive that kind of return or was it just a one off?

When ROAS is the key metric, it helps to observe it month over month for at least a few months running. That way you can better gauge if the campaign is profitable or not.

Revenue: Another important KPI is revenue, naturally. However this also can be somewhat misleading because the revenue you generate is heavily tied to the amount of ad spend you are using and your ROAS as well. Just because a campaign isn’t driving a lot of revenue doesn’t mean it’s not working. You simply may need to up your ad spend.

Conversion Rate: Looking at your rate of conversions can tell you a lot about how a campaign is performing and whether or not it is valuable for you. Number of conversions and the rate at which those who click on your ad convert will not only show what channels are performing the best for the amount you are spending, but where you might want to think about increasing budgets (or in some cases pulling back). The same ad won’t convert the same on different platforms, and some platforms seem to have a limit to how well they convert because of the shoppable intent of the platform.

What is shoppable intent? Basically, it’s the likelihood that someone on the platform will click on an ad and buy. Last year, platforms like Facebook and TikTok had high shoppable intent – these platforms are seen as places to be social but also places to shop, in other words. This influences how well someone will convert regardless of what’s being sold or how nice the creatives are.

Engagement rate, click-through-rate, and other KPIs are also important, but it’s easy to see why social media conversion rate is the industry standard for judging whether or not a social media campaign is truly successful.

What About Other Social Media Platforms?

There are plenty of places online to advertise. If you want to focus on a large amount of conversions and a high return, the options above are going to be your best bet.

However, depending on your niche and target user base, there are other platforms that are worth considering. Instagram of course is still viable, as is Linkedin, which is also growing as a platform.  YouTube and Twitch are great places to advertise if you are selling personal tech items, however you have to weigh the costs of higher CPCs and also the need for higher quality creatives here.

If you’re looking for an easy to manage place to advertise where you are likely to see great CPCs and plenty of conversions, TikTok and Pinterest are your go-to platforms this year, depending on your niche of course. As always, do your homework and look at all of your KPIs, and formulate a smart targeting strategy before throwing ad spend at anything.