With Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram leading the social media world, you may believe these are the only social media networks your brand can use. However, this is far from the truth. Yes, these networks may be the most popular—Facebook surpassed 2 billion users on June 30, 2017 and YouTube is slowly but surely climbing beyond 1.5 billion users—but they are not always the most advantageous choices for your brand.
With the wonders of the Internet, brands have a multitude of social media networks to choose from. When organizing your social media strategy, consider taking advantage of these seven overlooked social media networks.
1. Quora
Quora allows users to ask questions about anything, from theme parks to quantum physics. Community members can then craft responses to these inquiries. Quora also enables users to include links, media, and text formatting in their answers to create genuine, relevant, and accurate responses.
Since links are allowed in Quora answers, many users take advantage of the SEO backlink capabilities from this social network. However, this is not the only reason to consider using Quora.
As you answer more and more questions on Quora and engage in thoughtful dialogues with community members, you begin to build awareness for your brand. Additionally, you can also link your Quora account to other social media networks for increased brand exposure.
Use these quick tips when using Quora for social media marketing:
Craft genuine, thoughtful responses.
Ask questions and interact with the community.
Include media, links, and text formatting in your answers.
Upvote other responses and comment where appropriate.
Be nice, be reasonable—or be downvoted.
Answer questions ASAP.
Have a complete Quora profile.
2. reddit
In recent years, reddit has become a brand’s best friend. With the abundance of specialized topics and conversations, along with “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” opportunities, the site known as “The Front Page of the Internet” offers brands the ability to interact directly with targeted audiences. As of January 2018, reddit boasts 250 million users worldwide.
When on reddit, users can share content, ask questions, engage in conversations, and more. Within the platform are subreddits, also known as communities, which are dedicated to topics ranging from broad genres to incredibly specific segments. Brands can identify the various subreddits they’d like to engage with and share their content, interact with members, and more.
While reddit is skyrocketing in popularity, the barrier to entry is a bit tricky. The site’s design and navigation are purposefully a bit old-school and the community guards the site’s terms, rules, and language closely. It may take time for your brand to become established, but once you do, the payoff is huge.
When using reddit for your social strategy, keep these tips in mind:
Search for subreddits. More often than not, there’s already a subreddit created.
See relevant content by sorting by “best.”
Don’t feed the trolls! No need to involve your brand in reddit wars.
Learn and use proper reddit etiquette.
If sharing content, be sure it is genuine and relevant—not spammy or pushy.
Follow users who engage with your brand or publish interesting content.
3. Pinterest
Believe it or not, Pinterest is still an overlooked platform. Plagued by the (false) reputation of catering only to mommy bloggers, DIY-ers, and foodies, Pinterest only has 175 million users as of January 2018. However, this social media platform presents a wealth of opportunities for brands of all kinds.
Pinterest enables users to create boards around various topics and share content (in the form of pins) to those boards. Users can also interact with other boards, content, and community members through likes, sharing (re-pinning), and commenting.
To maximize your presence on Pinterest, follow these tips from Hootsuite:
Create a business account on Pinterest.
Have a complete profile with an image, links, and brand description.
Divide your pins up into relevant and topical Pinterest boards.
Interact with other pinners on the platform.
Curate content from other pinners onto your boards.
Add Pin buttons to your blog content for greater engagement.
4. LinkedIn
Although meant for business networking and professional content, LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for brands in all industries. With 250 million users and counting, LinkedIn is actively tweaking their platform to appeal to more users. Recently, the platform paired up with the online learning platform, Lynda, to offer users access to exclusive content with the goal of expanding their knowledge and skills.
However, if considering LinkedIn, be sure your audience uses this platform as well. While it is skewed to a more business-minded audience, these individuals still have personal interests and passions. For instance, if you run a food brand, connect with chefs, self-declared foodies, beverage retailers, and other relevant professionals while sharing your branded content on LinkedIn Pulse.
These niche communities can be found in LinkedIn Groups. Join the groups which make sense for your industry and start a conversation!
To use LinkedIn properly, follow these steps:
Create a business page and complete the various sections.
Post content regularly.
Engage with users in groups.
Follow relevant industry professionals, businesses, pages, and Pulse authors.
5. Medium
Medium is a multi-faceted blogging platform. Users can launch a blog without any technical knowledge. All they need to do is write. In addition to the content publishing aspect of the site, Medium has become an incredibly social platform. Users are sharing ideas, opinions, tips, and so much more through their content. Brands and individuals alike can leverage this opportunity by publishing their own content and interacting with others through commenting, reading, sharing, and starting conversations.
Medium can be used by brands to distribute content, build a community of fans, and generate website traffic. If interested in using Medium as part of your social media strategy, use these tips from Buffer:
Repost your content on Medium.
Read and comment on other Medium content.
Link back to your website.
Fill out your Medium profile in its entirety.
Create a publication around your brand.
Experiment with content formats and media.
6. Tumblr
Tumblr is commonly referred to as both a social media and blogging network. You can use it for one or the other, or both purposes. Founded in 2007, Tumblr is a simple blogging platform that enables users to share content from videos to statuses, blog posts to GIFs. As more and more users flocked to the platform, brands began to see the power in this overlooked social media network.
Although not a top platform, Tumblr boasts more than 69.1 million blogs and growing. Brands with younger audiences or in the various lifestyle industries find excellent results from adding Tumblr to their social strategies.
To start leveraging Tumblr, keep these tips close by:
Personalize your brand page and content.
Allow users to reply to your content and start a conversation.
Follow relevant blogs in your industry or from prominent members of your audience.
7. Slack
Remember AOL Instant Messaging? Slack is an instant messaging platform for the digital age. Initially created as a tool for internal workplace team communication, brands have developed Slack communities around specific topics, industries, and discussions. For instance, Buffer has a vibrant Slack community which discusses everything from remote work to the latest social media trends.
If you’re considering using Slack to form a social community for your brand, follow Buffer’s advice:
Set specific channels within your Slack community.
Allow members to provide feedback and make suggestions.
Have definitive community rules.
Designate community leaders to moderate the platform.
What under-utilized social media platforms does your brand take advantage of? Share your insight below.
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