Social media is a valuable tool for businesses to boost brand authority and online reputation. But with so many platforms out there, how do you find the most useful and relevant ones for your brand?

Currently, there are more than 3.8 billion active social media users. These users spread across a wide range of different platforms, each with unique interfaces and opportunities for businesses to engage with users.

Not every social media platform will work for every business. With hundreds of platforms out there, it can be hard for business leaders and marketing managers to decide where to invest time and effort. You need to work out which platforms will earn the best results, and then spend time on them. That means understanding what platforms are popular right now, and why.

Here’s a list of the latest social media platforms and how they each work. Explore these options to find the ones that will most benefit your organization and help you to reach your target audience.

TikTok

TikTok is now hugely popular. The video-sharing platform has taken off in a big way, particularly with younger users. It has 800 million monthly active users and is growing rapidly, making it a useful platform for businesses across the corporate landscape. TikTik marketing can be hugely beneficial for a variety of reasons.

The Benefits Of TikTok For Your Business

• Global Reach: TikTok is available around the world, so you can reach a broad international audience when you use this platform.
• Cross-Platform Integration: TikTok videos are often posted on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. When you use this platform, there’s potential to get noticed on a variety of other social media sites.
• Strong Potential To Go Viral: Many TikTok videos or ideas go viral and become international phenomenons. If you have an imaginative creative team and a strong following, you could go viral. This helps boost brand recognition and authority. As such, TikTok is a great addition to your content marketing strategy. There’s potential for content to go beyond just the platform itself and get picked up by a range of media outlets.
• Access To A Young Audience: As 41% of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 21, you have access to the young generation when you use this innovative platform. Younger consumers are impressionable and fashion-conscious. Exploit these traits by sharing trendy videos and collaborating with celebrities. If you’re marketing to Gen Z and millennials, you need to know TikTok.
• It’s Fun: TikTok doesn’t just help you to grow your brand authority and generate leads; it’s also fun to use. Create videos for TikTok and participate in challenges. TikTok challenges allow users to undertake a task in an inventive way. They then video it and then share the results. This is a great, fun activity for your team.

Here’s How Your Business Can Start Using TikTok To Its Advantage

• Participate In A TikTok Challenge: TikTok Challenges are a great way for businesses to engage with users and make new connections. You can take part in some trending challenges. This also gets your name out there, both on the platform and in the wider business landscape.
• Create A Branded TikTok Challenge: Once you’ve built a following, consider hosting your own branded TikTok Challenge. Make sure the idea is safe and easy to complete, then issue the challenge and watch the videos roll in. If you want to entice TikTok users to participate, offer a prize for the video with the most views, or just the funniest.
• Build A Sales Funnel: Use your company’s TikTok account to funnel users through from interested bystander to paying customer. Promote products on the site, or show how your services could help in certain situations.
• Use TikTok Ads: Thanks to blossoming popularity, TikTok now offers businesses the chance to advertise on its platform. Target your ads toward your core market. Then, measure the return you make on your investment. You could promote your TikTok Challenge, or a video that gets users into your sales funnel.
• Work With TikTok Influencers: As with any social media platform, TikTok has a wide range of influencers who have vast, loyal follower counts. Consider partnering with them, either by paying them for sponsored posts or providing them with review products. Many influencers also operate on a range of other platforms, so they will be able to give you strong value and extensive reach.

Lasso

One of TikTok’s top competitors is Lasso, a short-form video sharing platform owned by Facebook. Like TikTok, it has an app and is marketed towards younger users, so it could be a useful platform for companies that are already seeing success on TikTok and other video sharing sites.

The Benefits Of Lasso For Your Business

• Integration With Facebook: The main advantage of Lasso over TikTok is that it is integrated with Facebook. You can share video content across the two platforms. As such, streamline your social media strategy if you use this platform in conjunction with Facebook.
• Access To The Data And Expertise Of One Of The World’s Largest Social Media Companies: Facebook also owns Instagram and a range of other, smaller social media platforms. It’s one of the titans of the social media market. Therefore, the platform will always have the latest trending features and reporting techniques, unlike other smaller platforms which might take longer to adapt. Facebook sets the trends in the social media market, so Lasso will always be ahead of other platforms.
• Similar Purpose To TikTok: With just 70,000 users, Lasso is significantly smaller than TikTok. However, it has a similar interface and purpose to its larger rival. As such, if you’re already using TikTok and creating video content for your website, then you can easily understand how to create quality content without starting a completely new strategy.

Ways to Give Your Business an Advantage by Using Lasso

• Cross-Post Content From Instagram And Facebook: If you share engaging videos on Instagram and Facebook, you can quickly share the content on Lasso as well. You save time and effort.
• Share Quirky Videos: Lasso has a much smaller reach than TikTok, but it still has a percentage of the market. Try to engage and connect with it. Create quirky videos and engage with competitions on the platform.
• Experiment With Video Content: If you just started to create video content for your company, use Lasso to experiment with new content. Find out what works and what doesn’t. When you feel more confident and comfortable, start working on larger platforms and grow your video content marketing strategy.
• Use Filters To Show The Lighter Side Of Your Company: Lasso has a wide range of quirky filters and effects. Easily add them to your videos to show the human, fun side of your organization.

Telegram

For instant messaging fans who miss MSN messenger, Telegram is a great alternative. This quirky app allows you to instantly send encrypted, secure messages. With over 400 million active users, the app has extensive reach and is ideal for internal business communication or quickly contacting customers.

The Benefits Of Telegram For Your Business

• Extensive User Base: With 400 million active users, Telegram is a popular messaging service used by a wide range of individuals around the world.
• Available On A Range Of Platforms: The free app is available on iOS and Android, as well as PC and macOS. As such, anyone can quickly download it and start using it. It is also completely free, with no adverts or interruptions. This provides a more appealing interface than others that have distracting ads or ask you to pay a premium to get extra features.
• Secure Messaging: One of the main advantages of Telegram is that it’s encrypted and secure. You don’t have to worry about information being leaked or hackers finding out your business secrets.
• Quizzes And Stickers: As well as fast, secure messaging, Telegram has thousands of quizzes to play and quirky stickers that can be added to messages.

Here’s How Your Business Can Start Using Telegram To Its Advantage

• Make Internal Communication Fun: In today’s society, in which many team members are working remotely to stop the spread of Coronavirus, it can be hard to get together and catchup. You can use Telegram to make internal communication more enjoyable, both in terms of general messaging and sharing quizzes with your team members.
• Secure Your Customer Communication: Customers who want instant answers to questions or customer support might be concerned about the security of other common apps such as WhatsApp. Telegram doesn’t share adverts and is completely secure. Customers can rest assured it will provide them with fast, safe messaging.

Meetup

While not technically a social media solution, Meetup is an event hosting platform. It’s designed to let strangers connect with other likeminded individuals in their local area. Users can create groups, then meet up in the physical world or connect using other social media platforms. As such, the platform is great for businesses looking to connect with users, host physical events or pull them through to another platform.

The Benefits Of Meetup For Your Business

• Cost-Effective: Organizers need a pro subscription to host events, but these cost only $30 per month if billed every 6 months, or $35 dollars if you pay every month. With the number of features and functions you get for your money, and the popularity of the platform, it’s well worth the money.
• Easy To Use: It’s remarkably easy to host groups on Meetup and sort users into different categories. You can use it privately, or advertise your group to a wide range of users.
• Available On Desktop And As An App: You can use Meetup online or on your mobile device, so you can take it everywhere with you.

Here’s How Your Business Can Use Meetup To Its Advantage

• Organize Work Events: Coordinating a large workforce and hosting physical events can be tough, especially if you’re all working remotely and getting back to meeting in real life after months of virtual conferencing. Meetup is an ideal solution to help you get large groups of individuals together.
• Host Product Launches: If you’re planning on launching a new product after the lockdown, and want to plan a big celebration, then Meetup is a great way to find guests and share details with invitees. You can also get them all to share their contact details with you after the event and then start communicating with them on a messenger platform to keep your relationships alive and make the most out of your event.
• Get Back Into The Swing Of Life After The Lockdown: The lockdown has left many companies struggling financially, so you can use Meetup to host events that will rejuvenate your company and get it back on the road to success.
• Increase Your Brand Authority: Even if users choose not to attend your events, or aren’t interested in them, they will notice your company’s branding and name on the events you host. As such, you can boost your brand authority and reach when you use Meetup.

Conclusion

The social media market continues to evolve and grow. Keep your finger on the pulse to make sure you constantly engage with your target market on their favorite platforms.Some platforms won’t work for your niche, but others might be useful. In some cases, there are innovative ways you can make social media work for you.

Additionally, brands must continue to get creative about how to market during COVID-19. Use this list to find the latest social media platforms that will benefit your organization. Use these to engage with existing clients and future satisfied customers.

Author Bio: Hannah Stevenson is the Content Marketing Manager at UK Linkology. She is a former journalist who now dedicates herself to writing quality content that helps clients to grow their businesses.