Facebook vs. Twitter. Which is “more” Important?

I sent that Tweet earlier today and a few folks asked me to elaborate.

The reasoning is pretty simple – it has more active users, it’s used by a much broader audience and provides brands with ways to advertise their presence.

And to be clear, I’m a fan of using both Facebook and Twitter, but this discussion is about which is “more” important.

[Note: this is very high level and lacking lots of detail.]

The Scenario

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you’ve come to me and want some help building an online community for [Insert your name] Coffee Shop in Greensboro, NC. The catch is that you only want to use one social network and are deciding between Facebook and Twitter.

Here are a few reasons I’d suggest Facebook over Twitter.

By putting your coffee shop on Facebook you can not only (quickly) connect with people you know, but you can also create a Fan page that allows you to interact and share information with people that become a fan. Once the page is created we can also run some ads promoting the page which will help attract people to the page. That isn’t an option on Twitter.

You’ve already mentioned that your target audience is the 25 – 54 demographic, and by using the ad console I can tell you that there are 96,080 people in Greensboro using Facebook that fit your target. For a very low cost we can run a series of ads on the site that will help attract new fans to your page.

You also mentioned a special promotion that’s planned for October and that it only targets females. After taking out the males from the previous number you are left with 54,820 people; we can run a new series of ads that specifically targets this group. Again, targeting these folks isn’t really an option on Twitter.

Oh, and you also might like the fact that you can create a group on Facebook that will allow you to schedule and invite people to events. Groups also allow others to help promote your event – another feature you might like. This isn’t an option on Twitter.

You should know that I’m a big fan of Twitter and think it can be used to benefit your coffee shop, but in terms of the biggest impact for your time/money I think Facebook is your best option.

Ok, feel free to stop playing the part of coffee shop owner.

Facebook, in my opinion, simply has more options. There’s no doubt that Twitter is a great tool, but this conversation is about which is “more” important.

PS – I would have explained how you could easily used both Facebook and Twitter had this been a real scenario.