When it comes to designing social media marketing campaigns, many brands tend to limit their campaigns to the Big Three; Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. While there are certainly advantages associated with limiting your social media marketing to those sites where you know your audience tends to spend time, you should also consider that you could be missing potential business if you are not willing to consider alternative social media networks.
Tumblr is one of those social media networks that first became associated with teens, but you should not make the mistake of thinking that Tumblr does not have anything to offer your brand. You might be surprised to discover that Tumblr now boasts 217 million blogs. If you are targeting consumers between the ages of 13 and 25, you should definitely consider developing a presence on Tumblr because in that demographic, Tumblr happens to outpace Facebook. As is the case when developing a presence for any social media platform, it is important to take the time to understand the audience that tends to flock to Tumblr. Spend some time browsing Tumblr so that you understand the language, etiquette, features, and opportunity. One of the main benefits of Tumblr is that it gives you far more options in terms of media format. For instance, you can post photos, videos, audio, and text.
While there has been controversy regarding whether Google+ will ever be able to compete with some of the big social media networks, the fact that Google+ can make a difference in terms of your rankings cannot be denied. Among the other strengths offered by this platform is the fact that it is so clean and easy to use. This makes it much simpler to connect with customers and spread your message. In addition, due to Facebook's organic reach algorithim changes early last year Google+ has emerged as a high value organic network for us. Virtually starting from scratch, we were able to achieve 1,000,000+ views of our content on Google+ in only 8 months.
Instagram has become increasingly popular and is set to become even more so among brands now that Instagram has revealed that they will now be supporting sponsored posts. Make no mistake about it; sponsored posts indicate that they have been paid for, but given that Instagram is taking care to make sure that such posts appear natural, there is a tremendous amount of potential here. Ads aside, Instagram is an excellent network to build engagement as well as drive action. We've seen it work well for magazines, airlines, car manufacturers, CPG and more.
Haven't heard of this one yet? You might not be alone, but you can rest assured that Ello is making an impact. Ello has made a point of stating that it is ad-free, but that does not mean that opportunities do not exist with this social tool. The original goal of Ello was to create a private network, but you can gain access via email. So, if it's ad free, where exactly is the opportunity for marketers with Ello? By thinking outside the box, you can leverage the unique approach of Ello to forge a dynamic relationship with your customer base. Keep in mind that social media marketing is increasingly focusing on customer engagement. The key to succeeding with this type of social media platform is to focus on more than just the pitch. You need to focus instead on building that relationship.
More and more social media sites are now focusing on image-based content and with good reason; consumers love visual content. This is precisely why Pinterest is such a successful social media site. In fact, this site now has tens of millions of users. One thing to understand about Pinterest is that the majority of the active users on this site are women, but if you are marketing to women, this site can prove to be a goldmine. Among the biggest benefits of this site is that when you post a new image, Pinterest will include a link automatically back to your source. This can create a tremendous amount of referral traffic to your website.
Vimeo is similar to YouTube, but the difference is that it tends to be geared more toward creative professionals. So, if you are trying to reach that demographic, this is definitely a good place to focus your attention.
Although it differs from the traditional social media network, the question-and-answer site known as Quora offers the ability to help you gain a reputation as an expert in your industry. Keep in mind that you need to be able to provide answers that are accurate, well-thought-out, and helpful.
Branching out beyond the Big Three in social media can present a number of advantages for your social media marketing campaign, including the ability to reach different audiences that may spend time on those sites. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to social media marketing. Diversifying your resources in a wise manner regarding which social media marketing platforms to utilize can help you to create a larger audience and possibly even connect with prospective customers that you might not otherwise be able to reach.