Social media is an important part of any internet marketing campaign. An active, engaged social media presence will both boost your brand and increase your site’s ranking in the search results. When you think of social media, what comes to mind? If you’re like most business owners, your first thought is probably Facebook. As the biggest, most popular social media platform, Facebook is the first social media choice for most brands.
But is Facebook the best choice for you? Not always. There are tons of other social media platforms available, so let’s think outside the box.
Thinking Beyond Facebook
A small social media platform can have a big effect. There’s usually less competition, so you can stand out from the crowd. Also, smaller social media platforms will often have more distinct audiences. You can connect with a group of people interested in your products and who are motivated to buy.
From a marketing standpoint, you’ll usually get the best results when you’re the big fish in the small pond.
Niche Social Media Platforms to Explore
You already know about Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Here are some other social media platforms you’ll want to know about, as well as specific strategies for success:
Google+
Google+ debuted in 2011 to great fanfare and excitement. Then, well, not much happened after that. The platform failed to replace Facebook or really even compete with it. If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think about Google+. But the platform has hundreds of thousands of monthly users.
Plus, Google+ is much better than it used to be. Two major new improvements are Communities and Collections:
Communities are similar to Facebook groups. Members post and share content. There’s usually a lot of interaction between members. There are communities for just about any major topic you can think of, from the NFL to Batman and more.
Collections are groups of posts with similar topics. Google+ users can follow Collections to easily see the latest news on their favorite topics. Anyone with a Google+ account can create a Collection.
Both Communities and Collections are a great way to reach an audience that is already interested in your industry.
Medium
This is a popular publishing platform. Visitors to Medium will find thousands of blogs and other written material. Essays, blogs and more are all popular on Medium. You can read poetry, scientific articles, fiction and plenty of other material. New material is posted all the time – you’re certainly not going to run out of stuff to read.
Many people don’t necessarily think of Medium as a place to market products or services. But you absolutely can. They have upwards of 30 million unique visitors each month. There’s likely an audience interested in your product or service.
You want to avoid any type of direct sales. Instead, concentrate on providing information on your industry. These can be similar to traditional how-to guides and blog posts. But with Medium you can also feel free to add humor, creativity and other fun elements. You’re primarily writing for people who are reading for entertainment.
Don’t worry too much about finding exposure if you’re not a well-known name. Medium’s unique algorithm curates content by topic. Plus, Medium readers can easily share and promote content they like. It’s not unheard of for the right topic to get thousands of views in just a few days.
“The Front Page of the Internet” has grown increasingly mainstream over the years. If you’re not familiar, Reddit is a content curation site where users “upvote” content they like. The content is incredibly wide-ranging and organized into topic-specific “subreddits.”
With over 240 million monthly visitors, Reddit is extremely far-reaching and influential. Content featured on the top of Reddit often finds its way into mainstream media and popular culture. But you have to approach Reddit in a certain way. Users will reject your brand if they feel they’re being marketed to.
Instead, create value for Redditors. Find subreddits related to your industry, then be active in the virtual community. Comment regularly. Post original content. Be generally active. If you’re friendly, helpful and don’t come across as “salesy,” people will likely respond well. Redditors have often shown a willingness to seek out and support companies they like – just don’t push marketing on them.
Go to the World Beyond Facebook
You’ll still want a Twitter and Facebook page. Potential customers expect to find those for basically any type of business and it could be off-putting if your brand isn’t on those platforms. However, the other social platforms above can be a great addition that could reap big benefits. You’ll want to check out each. Search for the smaller communities within those platforms that are related to your industry. An active community can be worth your marketing time and effort.
We recommend testing out each platform one at a time. Give yourself a month to build up your profile and see how your audience responds. Smaller social media platforms can lead to big gains by connecting your brand to interested, motivated customers!
Have a question about which smaller social media platforms will work best for your brand? Describe your product or service in the comment section and we’ll help steer you in the right direction.