By Cassy van Eeden
Facebook and Twitter are considered to be traditional
forms of social media. However, marketers that are bold enough to explore
alternative platforms could be met with even greater success.
Why should I use
alternative social media?
Charlie Stewart, CEO of Rogerwilco, notes that: “We are
extremely fortunate that so many new apps and platforms are emerging, because
that gives us many more options as marketers.”
Having more options means having more ways to connect with
your audience, but it also means that you can connect with new audiences that
you may not have reached elsewhere.
Growth hacker and social media specialist Brett Relander,
writes: “While there are certainly advantages 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."
CEO of Just Perfect, Thomas Pays, says, “Ultimately you want
to try every platform and gather sufficient data to see which platform provides
you with the best suitable results.”
What alternatives are
there?
There are literally thousands of social media platforms to
choose from, with new websites and applications being created every day. You do
not need to be on all of them, but it is important to be aware of the potential
that is out there. Once you have explored what is available, it is important to
be selective in choosing platforms that suit your brand.
LinkedIn
Both Pays and Stewart recommend LinkedIn as an effective alternative to traditional social media.
“Because 50% of LinkedIn users have
decision-making authority at their companies, the platform represents an ideal
B2B networking opportunity and is a great way to promote thought leadership
content,” says Stewart.
WeChat
Free messaging and calling app WeChat is also a powerful app that Rogerwilco believes is worth
investigating. “It has enormous capabilities for video and audio,” says
Stewart.
He explains that WeChat
allows marketers to overcome the chance of being excluded or hidden from
newsfeeds. Platforms like WeChat
restrict the way in which brands can communicate with non-engaged audiences, he
says. “They offer the end user a safe haven while presenting brands who are
able to engage with a better opportunity of making their message resonate.”
Pinterest and Tumblr
“Consumers love visual content,” writes Relander, “This is
precisely why Pinterest is such a
successful social media site.”
The reason why Tumblr
– an often forgotten-about marketing tool – is so successful, writes managing
director of Perceptive Flow, Mark Mars, is its functionality. “You can
literally post any form of media you want, from plain text to audio, video and
photos,” he says.
“If you write something compelling for your followers, they
may repurpose it or reference it in their own Tumblr blog, increasing the longevity of the post and the
engagement with it, thus making it both a content marketing tool and a
listening and interaction tool,” he adds.
Have you ever investigated using social media platforms
other than Facebook and Twitter? Are there any you can
recommend? Let us know in the comments below.