We’re all suckers for traditional social networks. Digital marketers once found bliss in re-evaluating their Facebook strategies countless times to expand their reach when reaching our full audience was so much easier. However, times have changed; Twitter and Facebook have especially turned sour with changes to their algorithms (poor EdgeRank). You might be a Facebook veteran with hundreds of likes, or a Twitter wizard with thousands of some-what active followers, but why should that stop you from reaching your arms deeper into the digital world? What if you don’t have the reach you once had or are considering targeting more niche audiences? You don’t need to sit on these new changes; be creative and search for new places to start the conversation. Here’s a list of some lesser known social networks that might help you target and leverage specific audiences to help grow your brand and help you get more business.
Fancy (http://fancy.com/)
Fancy is a retailers dream. Akin to Pinterest and other social networks that focus on visual content, Fancy allows you to collect and save images you like, although Fancy is far more specific in what is actually allowed on the site. Instead of sharing pictures of rainbows and kittens, Fancy is a platform for sharing products. From glowing toilet seats to 24-carat gold rubber ducks, (and maybe some more normal stuff), Fancy lets people know how badly you want stuff while actually letting you buy it right away (as if we needed the it!). If you’ve got some unique products and know how to make them look good in photos, make use of Fancy to get your cool stuff out there.
Medium (http://medium.com/)
Medium is one of my favourite services to date, mainly because it’s actually a service that represents what blogging actually is (or used to be; all opinion, of course). Yes, this blog post is informative and helpful while retaining some of my opinions about useful social networks, however the term ‘blogging’ was supposed to represent a more personal conversation about life and it’s experiences. It’s supposed to be more frequent, and less…well, less of what it is now: content marketing. Don’t get me wrong; content marketing is wonderful and useful when actually done with genuine thoughtfulness, however seeing so many pieces written by digital marketing agencies with the sole purpose of converting you makes me miss what writing on the web was once about.
Back to the network. Medium changes things by becoming a service where you can write attractive, easily-digestible content on a robust platform very easily. It’s about the story, not what’s necessarily being sold to you or nudging you to act and become a conversion. Medium isn’t just a place for article writers and storytellers; it’s a place for day-to-day updates in a similar vein to Twitter except with more context. As a business, choose Medium as a place to post real, relatable content that help humanize your brand. If you don’t have a blog living on your website (although we do recommend it), you could use Medium as another outlet to provide thoughtful updates about the experiences of yourself and your staff.
ListGeeks (http://listgeeks.com/)
Lists have always been important. You probably don’t do too much shopping without one. You probably also follow and update your workflow according to one, too; we get it, they’re invaluable in helping us remember. But what use could a social network based around lists have to offer your business? Sounds lame? Well, ListGeeks gives you a place on the web to create public and personal lists that tell others how your rank and order services, products, people, events and more. Imagine: creating a list that helps prove your knowledge in a niche and where viewers can comment and agree (or disagree) with your choices, generating free buzz around any topic. ListGeeks lets you share data in a fun, attractive way, an alternative to infographics and boring ole’ text. Although there are quite a few other sites like ListGeeks, I love their look and functionality despite their beta status.
Storify (https://storify.com/)
Looking for content to make an interactive experience? Use Storify to pull content from other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to create a custom story about your brand or your campaigns. Not only does Storify add a visual element to your blog entries or posts, it allows you to send emails and reach out to various audiences with likeable content that sticks. If you’re interested in highlighting how happy customers are with your business’s services or products, Storify can do you right by properly framing them.
