If you wish to enhance your social media advertising and marketing technique, it’s essential to know in regards to the several types of social media content material and how or the place you share that content material.
Must you deal with pictures? Movies? Blogs? What about boards? And, after getting your content material, how do you need to roll it out? You can publish on neighborhood overview websites or live-stream it to the plenty. Understanding these several types of social media will make it easier to develop a greater content material technique and know the place to focus your time and vitality.
That will help you out, we’ve put collectively a listing of 14 kinds of social media each marketer must know. From social networking to video sharing and social messaging, there’s one thing for everybody (and each enterprise).
Forms of social media
1. Social networking
2. Picture and picture sharing
3. Video sharing
4. Audio sharing
5. Stay streaming
6. Social messaging
7. Disappearing content material apps
8. Social procuring networks
9. Interactive social media apps
10. Dialogue boards
11. Microblogging platforms
12. Group running a blog websites
13. Social overview websites
14. Social curation and bookmarking websites
1. Social networking websites
Overview: Social networking websites permit individuals to attach with one another via a shared on-line house. Customers can like, share, touch upon posts and observe different customers and companies.
For manufacturers, social media networking websites supply a chance to construct consciousness, create a neighborhood of consumers and followers and drive site visitors to web sites. By creating informative and fascinating content material, manufacturers can domesticate relationships with prospects and followers that result in conversions.
Examples: Fb, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat
How manufacturers can use social networking websites:
- Publish, share and reply to viewers content material
- Immediately join with others. Whether or not as buddies or followers, an engaged social following indicators clout for entrepreneurs and types alike
- Type communities and focus on related information inside them
2. Picture and picture sharing websites
Overview: Research present that visible content material on social media receives extra engagement than written content material. Visible property have additionally grow to be a prime precedence for contemporary manufacturers, with almost 49% of entrepreneurs saying that visuals are key to their technique.
Platforms like Instagram, which has greater than 1 billion month-to-month lively customers, have made it simpler than ever earlier than to curate and share pictures and pictures. Manufacturers trying to implement this kind of social media advertising and marketing ought to deal with high-quality, artistic visuals that inform a narrative.
Examples: Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and Imgur
How manufacturers can use picture and picture sharing websites:
- Publish high-quality, artistic photographs that illustrate your model values
- Curate and promote user-generated content material through branded hashtags
- Have interaction with prospects and followers in actual time
3. Video sharing websites
Overview: Half of all social media customers say they like video to some other form of content material. Very similar to image-based social websites, video hubs like YouTube, TikTok and Vimeo are attracting guests in droves through visible content material.
Why is video so widespread? Nicely, video content material requires much less effort for viewers to soak up. There’s no studying or no scrolling, simply watching. To not point out, movies are optimum for educating your viewers. How-to’s and tutorials are the cornerstones of social video content material.
Examples: YouTube, TikTok and Vimeo
How manufacturers can use video sharing websites:
- Use video to display how your services or products works
- Share buyer testimonials and success tales
- Create useful how-to guides and tutorials associated to your business
- Spotlight firm tradition with behind-the-scenes footage
4. Audio sharing websites
Overview: Audio sharing websites are a kind of social media that grew to become widespread throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Caught at dwelling with Zoom fatigue, individuals had been on the lookout for a neater approach to eat content material, and audio-only proved to be the answer.
Social apps like Clubhouse supply customers a singular approach to join with others and share concepts. This sort of social media continues to be in its early days however exhibits a variety of promise for the longer term.
Examples: Clubhouse, Twitter Areas and Fb Stay Audio Rooms
How manufacturers can use audio sharing websites:
- Share behind-the-scenes content material, like interviews with workers and firm leaders
- Host reside occasions and Q&A occasions with prospects or specialists in your business
- Take listeners on a journey by sharing audio tales or vignettes
5. Stay streaming apps
Overview: Stay streaming apps permit customers to share real-time video with their followers. This content material is usually unedited and genuine, giving viewers a particular behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lifetime of the individual streaming.
The reside streaming market is booming, with greater than 482 billion hours watched in 2020 alone. Stream every thing from live shows to eSports, product launches and past.
Examples: YouTube Stay, Fb Stay, Twitch and UStream
How manufacturers can use reside streaming apps:
- Give viewers a candid take a look at your model
- Construct anticipation for upcoming merchandise or occasions with reside teasers
- Improve gross sales by providing unique offers and reductions to viewers tuning in reside
6. Social messaging apps
Overview: Social messaging apps are a kind of social media that permits customers to speak in actual time. One of the widespread messaging apps—WhatsApp— has greater than 200 billion month-to-month customers!
Whereas they aren’t historically regarded as a advertising and marketing instrument, messaging apps like WhatsApp generally is a highly effective approach to attain and interact together with your target market. Manufacturers can use them to offer customer support, product suggestions and even to make gross sales.
Examples: Fb Messenger, Twitter DMs, Google Enterprise Messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat
How manufacturers can use social messaging apps:
- Use chatbots to reply buyer questions
- Ship out automated coupon codes or low cost gives
- Create a non-public group for loyal prospects and followers
- Use Sensible Inbox to watch all incoming messages and conversations in a single place
7. Disappearing content material apps
Overview: Disappearing content material, often known as ephemeral content material, refers to content material that solely exists for a brief time period earlier than it expires or is now not obtainable. Snapchat popularized this format, however now different platforms like Instagram, Fb and WhatsApp supply related options.
Disappearing content material is an effective way so as to add pleasure and urgency to your advertising and marketing campaigns. It might additionally make it easier to join with youthful audiences who are likely to flock to this kind of social media. Instagram Tales alone have greater than 500 million every day lively customers.
Examples: Snapchat, Instagram Tales and Fb Tales
How manufacturers can use disappearing content material apps:
- Promote time-sensitive gross sales and reductions
- Encourage your viewers to share their very own disappearing content material
- Create behind-the-scenes content material to offer your viewers a peek into your model
8. Social procuring networks
Overview: Social procuring has grow to be more and more widespread lately. Most social media platforms now permit customers to browse and buy merchandise with out ever leaving their app.
This a handy approach for customers to buy, and it supplies manufacturers with a singular alternative to promote their merchandise on to their target market. Contemplating that 60% of individuals say they discover new merchandise on Instagram, and 75% of Pinterest customers say they’re “all the time procuring” within the app, social procuring holds a variety of worth for companies.
Examples: Fb for Enterprise, Shopify x TikTok, Instagram Store and Pinterest Shoppable Pins
How manufacturers can use social procuring networks :
- Create a Fb store and hyperlink it to your Fb and Instagram pages
- Use Pinterest Shoppable Pins to tag merchandise in your posts and permit customers to buy them with out leaving the app
- Add a TikTok Store to your profile and promote merchandise on to your followers
- Tag merchandise in Instagram posts and Tales and hyperlink to your web site or different platforms like Shopify
9. Interactive social media apps
Overview: These kinds of social media apps deal with person interplay and engagement. They encourage customers to speak, normally via gamification, competitions or voting.
For instance, Snapchat’s “Lenses” characteristic lets customers add augmented-reality filters to their pictures and movies. And, TikTok has “Duets” that permit customers to report themselves singing or dancing alongside one other person’s video.
Examples: Instagram Tales, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr and Weibo
How manufacturers can use interactive social media apps:
- Create a branded Snapchat Lens or Filter that your viewers can play with
- Encourage customers to Duet your TikTok video to win a prize
- Keep lively within the remark part of Weibo Tales
10. Dialogue boards
Overview: Dialogue boards are on-line platforms the place individuals can ask questions, give solutions and begin discussions on quite a lot of subjects. For instance, Reddit has communities (known as subreddits) for almost each matter conceivable, from jokes to cryptocurrency.
Manufacturers can go to boards to have interaction in social listening—studying what persons are saying about them and getting suggestions from prospects and potential prospects.
Examples: Reddit, Quora and Stack Overflow
How manufacturers can use dialogue boards:
- Crowdsource product suggestions and concepts in related discussion board threads
- Present buyer help in boards the place your persons are discussing your model
- Take part in related subreddits and reply questions associated to your business
11. Microblogging platforms
Overview: Microblogging is a kind of social media advertising and marketing that permits customers to publish brief updates or messages. Twitter is probably the most well-known instance of microblogging, permitting customers to tweet in 140 characters or much less.
Whereas microblogging was as soon as dominated by Twitter, platforms like LinkedIn and Tumblr have additionally grow to be widespread microblogging websites.
Examples: Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and LinkedIn
How manufacturers can use microblogging platforms:
- Use hashtags to affix conversations about your business or product
- Share information, articles and different content material related to your followers
- Supply buyer help or reply questions in microblogs or feedback
Overview: Group running a blog websites are platforms the place individuals can come collectively to jot down articles, share concepts and collaborate on initiatives. Most neighborhood running a blog websites deal with a particular area of interest or matter, which makes them an incredible useful resource for locating new content material concepts and connecting with different like-minded people. Additionally they are likely to have very engaged customers, which might be helpful for selling your model or product.
Examples: Medium, GrowthHackers, BlogEngage and DoSplash
How manufacturers can use neighborhood running a blog websites:
- Create or curate content material round a particular matter
- Construct relationships with different bloggers in your area of interest
- Generate site visitors again to your personal weblog
13. Social overview websites
Overview: Based on Statista, 36% of customers use on-line evaluations to tell their buy selections. A lot of them additionally belief on-line evaluations as a lot as private suggestions.
Curating, accumulating and fascinating together with your on-line evaluations is crucial to success in lots of industries in the present day. Plus, do you know you possibly can publish on to your Google Enterprise Profile utilizing Sprout Social?
Examples: Google Enterprise Profile, Amazon, Yelp and Fb
How manufacturers can use social overview websites:
- Monitor and reply to evaluations in a well timed method
- Encourage pleased prospects to depart constructive evaluations
- Use unfavorable evaluations as a chance to enhance what you are promoting
14. Social curation and bookmarking websites
Overview: Social bookmarking helps you to save net pages so you possibly can revisit them later. These websites additionally permit customers so as to add annotations, share bookmarks with others and uncover new content material.
Use this kind of social media to curate content material to your crew or prospects. It’s additionally an incredible place to create a content material bucket than you possibly can repurpose throughout your social media channels.
Examples: Pocket (pictured above), Digg, Pinterest and Combine
How manufacturers can use social curation and bookmarking websites:
- Create a content material bucket that your crew can use on social
- Accumulating buyer analysis and insights
- Discover related content material to share together with your viewers and reserve it for later
Which kind of social media is true for what you are promoting?
The kinds of social media websites you employ for what you are promoting ought to be primarily based in your targets. If you wish to enhance model consciousness, think about using a mixture of social networking and content material curation websites. In the event you’re trying to construct relationships with prospects, deal with social networking websites. And if you wish to generate leads or gross sales, think about using social bookmarking or e-commerce websites.
In the event you’re utilizing a number of kinds of social media advertising and marketing in your technique, think about using a social media administration platform like Sprout Social. With Sprout, you possibly can share content material throughout main social channels, interact together with your viewers and observe the efficiency of your social media campaigns from one location. Begin your free trial in the present day!
