Coupled with reports that show 93 percent of marketers place a high value on social media as a business growth tool and more than 50 percent who claim it has improved their sales, I'd say every business should be allocating time, energy and resources toward social media marketing. However, social media marketing efforts can span far beyond the core four: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. But, by branching out into unexpected, lesser-used social media networks, you have the ability to reach fresh audiences, improve your brand credibility, and even drive traffic to your website. The platform is based on people asking the Quora community questions across all arenas -- professional, personal, travel-related and so on. Therefore, be cognizant of what you're adding to StumbleUpon, and prioritize content that will encourage users to click to another page on your site or take an action, which will improve that analytic data. Brands and users can find groups that fit their interests, mission or core values, and participate in the discussion and post images directly targeted toward those individuals. Users can also create their own group or simply post to their personal account. Images posted to the platform can include links back to your website, descriptions and more, ensuring your brand provides context to the Flickr community that encourages them to click through. Just create a business profile and add your links -- including landing pages, products, and content marketing initiatives -- to your profile. Users can also incorporate paid social campaigns and promote pins to targeted audiences, which helps accounts grow their reach and increase traffic.
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It’s no surprise that social media marketing is crucial to business growth in 2018. After all, we’re living in a digital world — one where there are 2.62 billion social media users worldwide, according to Statista. Coupled with reports that show 93 percent of marketers place a high value on social media as a business growth tool and more than 50 percent who claim it has improved their sales, I’d say every business should be allocating time, energy and resources toward social media marketing.
However, social media marketing efforts can span far beyond the core four: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. In fact, these popular platforms see such high users yet have such stringent algorithms that it can be hard to ensure your followers see your organic content, much less that your content helps you capture new consumers.
But, by branching out into unexpected, lesser-used social media networks, you have the ability to reach fresh audiences, improve your brand credibility, and even drive traffic to your website. I rounded up the most useful yet underused social media platforms to quickly and easily increase your brand awareness online.
1. Quora
Your brand identity is more than just a logo design — it also encompasses your core values, tone, mission and even who is communicating that information to consumers. This idea is why Quora is such an underappreciated yet valuable platform.
Instead of a business-based social network account, Quora empowers professionals to create profiles surrounding their expertise. Users can add education history, areas of knowledge, professional resume, current occupation and even a head shot and bio to showcase their proficiency.
The platform is based on people asking the Quora community questions across all arenas — professional, personal, travel-related and so on. You, as a user, can answer questions relevant to your industry, products or services offered. If the answer is helpful, people will upvote your answer and more users will see it. But, perhaps the best aspect of Quora is the ability to link keywords to applicable pages — including your own website. And in my personal experience, a truly informative answer to a relevant question with a link to my business DesignRush.com has driven meaningful traffic that converts.
Pro tip: Don’t just promote your own website for traffic. Instead, focus on your credibility within the community and don’t be afraid to answers relevant questions that don’t link back to your website. Plus, 45 percent of consumers will unfollow a brand with too much self-promotion. Mastering Quora is a balancing act, but the general community engagement…
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