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4 often-overlooked platforms for social media marketing – PR Daily | PR Daily

The social media marketing world does not end after Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The “big four” encompass about 90 percent of all social media marketing. According to a recent UMass-Dartmouth study, 91 percent of Fortune 500 level companies use Twitter, 89 percent use Facebook, 63 percent use Instagram, and 98 percent use LinkedIn.

However, a slew of niche social networks could help your social media marketing efforts.

Let’s look at the audiences you’ll find there, their potential uses for brand managers and which businesses might gain the most from them.

1. Quora

The stats:

Quora is essentially a Q&A site, so this is a great place for brand managers to establish authority by answering customers’ questions—and teach them about their products or services. A few simple queries can tell you what people are interested in.

2. Pinterest

The stats:

Long tail-pins last indefinitely, and that means long-term engagement and traffic. Also, according to research, 87 percent of pinners have bought a product because of Pinterest. Finally, it drives a lot of traffic. According to Shareaholic, around 5 percent of all referral traffic to websites comes from Pinterest—second only to Facebook.

3. Reddit

The stats:

Reddit isn’t a marketing play, as most social networks can be; it’s a community play. Microsoft uses Reddit as a customer service channel. It’s not marketing Xbox; it’s answering questions and addressing concerns about the product line. Redditors (site users) have a long history of calling out companies that try to market (the traditional way, at least) on Reddit. So, you have to take creative approaches, such as AMAs—“Ask Me Anything” sessions.  That concept started on Reddit, and it’s a great way for brand managers to interact on the platform.

4. Nextdoor

The stats:

There’s already a fair amount of “brand spam” on Nextdoor, with companies pitching their products right in the feed—which seems out of place. What really works well here, though, is government and nonprofit content. The city of Minneapolis offers regular posts about hyper-local events and programs, such as street sweeping and its 2020 strategic plan.

Arik Hanson is principal of ACH Communications. A version of this post first ran on the ACH Communications blog.

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