Additional ways to get the most out of your social media marketing
Let’s start this newsletter with a simple fact: if you’re in business, you need a strong presence on social media. Marketing through social media is one of the most cost-effective strategies for increasing awareness of your brand, engaging customers and boosting leads and sales. In previous newsletters, we’ve focused on behemoths like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but the social media landscape is filled with many other powerful platforms. They may not be as well-known, but they can be just as beneficial to small businesses as the big social media beasts.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a viral sensation, a mobile messaging app for sharing photos, videos, text and drawings that has more than 180 million users. One of the app’s standout features is that messages self-destruct after they’ve been read. While Snapchat use among younger generations has skyrocketed, there is also a world of functionality opening up to adults who use it as a news service, information network, content creator and messenger. Businesses are also cottoning onto its potential as a marketing powerhouse and money maker by using it to feature user-generated content and adverts to promote new products as well as offer discounts and promotions.
Tumblr
Tumblr is like a cross between a blog and a Twitter feed, a micro-blogging site where you can effortlessly share text, images, videos and audio. When you follow other users, their content will appear in your news feed. The microblog and social media platform has over 280 million blog accounts, and while the majority of users are young, it is popular with all ages, from people in their late teens to the over 60s. Businesses are taking advantage of its reach to create blogs, advertise and study trending topics for ideas.
Pintrest
Pinterest is the digital version of a photo album, scrapbook or bulletin board where users find, organise and share pictures, ideas and other exciting things. People typically save images they found on the web to different relevant category boards such as home and garden, clothing and apparel, art and hobbies and health and beauty. The social media site was launched in 2010 to a small group of people and now has 300 million monthly active users. Approximately 70% of users are women, while 40% of new signups are men. Companies of all shapes, sizes and genres use the site to share images and details of their products and services and offer exclusive content.
Reddit is a social news website that claims to be “the front page of the internet”. It combines web content, social news, a social network and forums into one platform, attracting an audience of more than 330 million users. Businesses can take advantage of Reddit’s reach with paid ads, by curating viral content and talking about what they do in a non-sales way.
Medium
Medium is a great place to exercise the grey matter, an online publishing platform of long-form, well-written and thoughtful niche content. It attracts more than 60 million monthly active users, and the overwhelming majority are graduates. Increasing numbers of businesses and brands are using Medium to publish their blogs.
No matter your business goals, social media can help you achieve them. If you haven’t already, it’s about time to jump in. The next step is to work out which networks are going to be most profitable for you. If you need advice on the best way to navigate the social media jungle, give us a call anytime. We’ll be happy to help.
