4 Platforms Which Could Bring Your Marketing Strategy Up To Date

In today’s business climate it has never been more important to be ‘down with the kids’!
There comes a point in every adult’s life when they realise they are no longer in tune with modern culture. Symptoms might include hearing a particularly unenjoyable series of “songs” on a radio station, topical references that sail over your head, or the re-emergence of a trend that you remember from its previous incarnation.
For most of us these visible signs of ageing are of little concern. Unfortunately, that’s not the case if you’re involved in marketing a business. In the business arena, being down with the kids is crucial for maintaining a public profile and establishing channels of communication that younger consumers will actually use. With Facebook and Twitter already in the maturity stage of the product life cycle, below are the social media platforms beloved by today’s youngsters…

1. Instagram. Snapped up by Facebook in a $1 billion acquisition, yet boasting a 16-24 year old customer demographic that its parent site can only dream of, Instagram is estimated to receive 100,000,000 unique visitors each month. In essence it’s a platform for sharing photos and sub-15 second videos across other social media platforms. That makes it hugely powerful for visually-driven firms like fashion retailers or car companies – Nike and Louis Vuitton hold two of the most popular Instagram accounts. Over 90 per cent of users are under the age of 35.
2. Pinterest. Beaten in popularity only by Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, Pinterest is the online equivalent of a cork board. Users can pin almost anything to their personalised Pinterest board, from shopping lists and web links through to photos and videos. Users regularly browse each other’s Pinterest pages seeking inspiration since each board is effectively a collection of ideas and suggestions. Getting your products or services onto one person’s board can create a chain reaction of interest from other users, particularly since pins can contain links to a retailer’s website.
3. Reddit. Back in the early days of the internet bulletin boards were all the rage. Reddit is a contemporary descendant of those BBS (bulletin board systems), hosting text-based posts and links to external sites. These are ranked according to popularity in pre-defined areas of interest called subreddits, covering topics such as gaming or world news. While the scope for promoting a company on Reddit is limited, subreddits are full of useful advice for entrepreneurs and small business owners – particularly the small business subreddit. Entertaining and original content will always be well received, and Reddit’s typical user profile (a wealthy 25-44 year old male) is a dream demographic for many firms.
4. Tumblr. Hosting 250 million individual blogs, Tumblr represents a magpie-like amalgam of other social media sites. This microblogging platform has content displayed in a timeline, with significant value as a tool for driving traffic to particular websites. There are no limits to the size of blog posts on Tumblr, but a comparatively unintuitive interface means Twitter has three times more unique monthly visitors. Twitter’s blue bird logo is also a far more common sight on externally-hosted web pages than Tumblr’s white-on-blue “t” – suspiciously similar to Facebook’s icon.

There are numerous other social networking platforms, but many have a specific focus like dating or finding people with shared interests. These offer relatively little to the business community, and it’s safe to say a presence on Tinder or Rando won’t do your company any favors. Instead, concentrate on establishing a presence on as many of the above sites as possible, alongside the Big Four of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. A strong social media presence is an increasingly essential tool for engaging with the next generation of consumers and financial decision-makers.
Like all respectable businesses, we too have a social media presence! Connect with us today on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.