When you hear the phrase “social media”, which of the platforms come to mind?
For us, it is Facebook and Twitter. It is undeniable how these platforms have millions of active daily users. However, these two networks represent only one type of social media platform. There are different types of social media platforms that you can use for personal or business use:
Let’s find out these different social media platforms and how useful they are for business owners to reach more audiences.
Social Networking Platforms
Social media users are most familiar with social networking platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These platforms connect people and encourage sharing information– may it be for discussion or personal content.
You can share your thoughts, upload photos and videos, curate content, create groups based on interests, and participate in lively discussions. How can these social networking platforms help your business?
- Gain More Audience through Ads: Social networking sites have more extensive and more diverse communities than other social media platforms. You can advertise your brand to gain more engagement with your target audience. These platforms are incredibly rich in demographics data that enables businesses to reach the right people without investing a hefty amount on ad budget.
- Engage: You can connect with your friends and followers, find people with the same interest through groups and hashtags, and build connections.
- Research: You can search for information about your target audience and use social listening tools to track conversations around specific terms. It can help business owners understand and provide better services to their audience.
Networking platforms are built around their users and what’s important to them.
Social Review Platforms
Before you purchase a product, what do you do first? Do you head for the company or product reviews? Consumers are more informed now than ever.
Yelp and TripAdvisor are some of the review sites that users head over to know more about their quality and functionality. It removes the guesswork that goes to search for the product you want or desire. If you want to know if the product is right for you, check out their reviews.
Both good and bad reviews will help your business by:
- Solving problems: It allows you to engage with the viewers and solve potential problems experienced by your customers.
- Understand the customer’s perspective: Online reviews tell prospective buyers and business owners about their customers’ satisfaction and experience. You can use this to identify and improve your lapses.
Apply social review platforms to your business. You can benefit from the reviews your customers give.
Image Sharing Platforms
Visual content captures the attention of the audience. Infographics, illustrations, and images engage with the audience. They are filled with the needed information. Instagram, Snapchat, and Imgur are some of the social media platforms developed explicitly for image sharing.
As the saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words. Use these platforms for your business to:
- Become an inspiration: You can inspire and engage with other users through the images you create and share through the platforms.
- Encourage user-generated content: Image sharing platforms help businesses that use photography to engage with their audience. You can run campaigns and encourage people to take a snap or share a picture with your product.
Create, curate, and share visually enriching images that speak for themselves to create conversations.
Video Hosting Platforms
Today, video hosting platforms have revolutionised the way people watch videos on the Internet. YouTube and Vimeo have helped creators connect more to their audience. Their recent improvements in technology and connectivity have paved the way for changing how people watch, create, and think about their content.
They even optimised their features for live streaming. You can use video hosting platforms for your business to:
- Engage: You can engage with your audience through your video and in the comment section of your uploaded video. It allows you to know the people who are watching your content.
- Share phenomenal content: Build communities through your creations and have your content shown to millions of people.
Community Blogs
Self-hosted websites are a lot of work. Although an image or post is not complicated, shared blogging platforms make it easier for every user. Tumblr and Medium are community blogs that allow people to express their thoughts and help connect with their readers.
You can use blog platforms to:
- Create or repurpose content: If you have a blog, you can repurpose some of your content or older posts and share them on these platforms. By this, you are exposing your content to a new audience.
- Develop an authoritative voice: Start using community blog platforms to determine your voice, reach out to readers, and have a clearer vision of representing your brand.
These community blog sites provide you to reach a wider audience and allow you to express more.
Discussion Platforms
Although we used to see heated discussions on Facebook or Twitter, there is a designated platform for discussions. Quora and Reddit are platforms specifically designed to create an insightful conversation with their users. So, how can discussion platforms help your business?
- Answer questions: Quora holds a lot of questions from different topics and interests. If you can answer your niche or brand questions, you can establish a thought leader and drive more traffic to your website.
- Research: Reddit hosts several sub-communities. If you do a little research, you can find people in the same niche or field as you and engage with them. You can also discover what they are curious about. At this point, you can use their interests in your content marketing strategy.
You can freely ask questions or make a statement to start a discussion. People who have the same interests as you will read and interact with you on the question thread.
Sharing Economy Networks
Sharing economy networks is the new trend nowadays. It brings people who have something to share with the people who need it. Rover and AirBnB are some examples of sharing economy networks.
These are communities that give out opportunities through pooling resources on a larger scale. However, it would not be possible without technology.
Final Thoughts
Social media platforms come in several features according to their purpose. But the best thing is you can use more than one of these platforms to help your business. You have to determine what you want to know which platform works best, and what to do.
If you want to use these social media platforms for your business, check out their best practices. Integrate these practices so that you can make the most out of your social media marketing.
