marketing

Small Business Social Media: The Next Horizons

When you think of social media sites, FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn probably are the first three to come to mind. Dig a bit deeper and you’ll probably add Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat to the list. But there are several other social media platforms that are flying under your radar — but may still take your small business places that you’ve never been before.

Yes, there are untapped resources on the horizon. You may have heard of some; others may be a complete mystery. But all of them offer something different to your social media strategy.

If you’re looking to stay on the cutting edge, check out some of these lesser-known social media sites.

YouNow

Live streaming is becoming an increasingly important way for people to communicate and share in events. Facebook Live has seen upwards of 3.5 billion broadcasts over the past two years, and the numbers are only growing.

YouNow takes advantage of that trend. This platform is dedicated to live streaming and encourages its users to participate in live Q&As and video chats with people across the globe. At the moment, the company boasts more than 100 million user sessions per month and 50,000 housr of live video every day.

Quora

Do you want to establish yourself as a leading authority in whatever-you-do? Join a Quora community. Users are encouraged to ask and answer questions about nearly anything, and since the posts show up in Google search results, even people who are not active on the site can find you.

Simply sign up, search for your area of expertise, and start answering the questions people are posing. You can even link your answer to a blog post on your website to drive traffic and increase your business exposure.

MySpace

Yes, we know that MySpace fell from grace when Facebook showed up on the scene, but it’s actually not dead. MySpace has become a music-focused social media site, and the remaining users are incredibly loyal. (They’d have to be!)

The diminished traffic may actually work in your favor, because there’s not as much competition for marketing space and attention. Small businesses in a creative field such as music or art may just find a following on this still-kicking social media site.

About.me

About.me is less of a social media platform and more of a way to display all of your social media profiles in one area. It allows your audience to see who you are and what you do in one coherent snapshot. You can include links to your website, blog and social media pages. The basic version is free; you can go pro for $79 a year.

Reddit

Known as “the front page of the internet,” Reddit has been around since 2005. The platform is divided into communities called subreddits, and when we say there’s a subreddit for almost anything, we mean it. There are plenty of ways you can use Reddit for your small business, from paid ads to content curation to hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) to introduce yourself to the site or low-key brag about a new product you’ve created. It’s also a fantastic place to do market research. Be careful, though — the site has a way of sucking you in!

Plug Into Lesser-Known Social Media

Social media is crucial for your small business, and each platform offers something a bit different than the next. As the year draws to an end, make a resolution to broaden your horizons in 2019 by stepping out of your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn comfort zone and seeing what else is on offer!

As great as social media can be, there’s no denying it can get time-consuming, especially as you begin to add more platforms to the party. Mischa Communications has the solution! Get in touch today and we’ll show you how we can help shoulder your social media load.