The world of digital marketing, and social media in particular, moves incredibly fast and it can be hard to keep up. While you don’t need to jump on board with every new trend, innovation or technology, it’s a smart move to at least familiarise yourself with the latest developments. After all, knowledge is power in this industry more than many others.
The following are 3 ‘new’ (i.e. not platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram that most digital marketers are already using) platforms, tools and apps taking the social media marketing world by storm. You might have heard of them, but not know anything about how to use them in your marketing campaigns. To avoid getting caught out, take a couple of minutes for some vital social media education…
- Snapchat is unique in its concept – a picture message or video on this platform is permanently deleted after just a few seconds. You might think that this is a serious limitation for brands – but it really isn’t. Brands can seize the opportunity to make each second quite literally count, using the time restriction as an angle to their messages. For example, a brand can send a tantalising sneak peek of a brand new product or an exclusive invitation to an event taking place on another platform.
- This platform has been around for a while now, but it’s only recently started to be seen as a serious contender to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Once a site primarily known for its humorous GIFs (still a major part of Tumblr’s appeal), it’s now starting to be embraced by brands as a viable marketing tool. One key way that brands can use platforms like Tumblr is to give customers a peek into the culture, ethos and stories around their brands, offering everything from tutorials and ‘how-to’ sessions to recipes and other social storytelling.
- Vine. Comfortably in the top 10 social networking platforms used by teenagers in particular is Vine, with around 24% of U.S. teens using it. This short-form video sharing service has a similar feel to Instagram, but allows the user to film short, separate instances that can be linked together in a six second video that loops continuously. Its videos are directly viewable from Twitter, yet another reason why digital marketers should be taking Vine very seriously as an effective, wide-reaching marketing tool. It has the same potential as any other video sharing platform when it comes to engaging customers, with the possible advantage that is hugely popular right now.
What new tools, platforms and apps is your brand using to engage and connect with digital-savvy customers? Do you think it’s worth investing time and money in these new ‘trends’ – which could be replaced by a new fad at any time?
