Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Just about every company has a social media presence on at least two or three of these “big 5” social media platforms.
But they're not the only place to connect with your audience.
There are other apps and websites out there in the social media world.
They may not be as massive as Facebook or Twitter, but some of them are surprisingly widely used.
That means they're full of potential customers, at least if you're going after certain audiences.
Reddit, Quora, and Tumblr are all great places for market research, as well as for connecting with your target audience.
They're not the most widely used platforms for advertising and marketing, but when used correctly, you can get a ton of mileage out of them.
An article from Entrepreneur explains what these platforms are, and how you can use them to connect with consumers.
With more than 250 million users, it's pretty surprising that Reddit isn't getting more love from marketing managers.
This content-focused social platform is entirely dictated by user activity — separated into content-specific communities called “subreddits.”
There, users can post content and “upvote” or “downvote” other posts to make them appear higher or lower on the page.
This format is ripe for effective branding, as the platform allows businesses to put up sponsored posts that turn up in different subreddits.
The posts look similar to native content, making users more likely to interact with them and your brand.
Quora
Quora is an easy-to-navigate, question-and-answer social media platform.
Users can post questions about a wide range of topics, as well as provide answers to posted questions, making this a great way for organizations to interact with industry influencers and boost those organizations' image.
Any marketer can use this platform to gain a reputation as an industry expert by posting and answering relevant questions, as well as connecting with other people in the niche who can help spread the word about this person's company.
Even better, Quora has 190 million monthly users — and it's growing.
Tumblr
Although Tumblr isn't necessarily the social media powerhouse it once was, it still hosts 358.9 million blogs — and that makes the platform one marketers shouldn't dismiss.
Tumblr allows individual users and organizations to publish and distribute both visual and written content easily.
And as a marketer, you'll find it simple to follow blogs and “reblog” their content on your own page.
Marketers can leverage these benefits by building long-term connections with users and encouraging them to reblog brand content.
You can find five more places that are off the beaten path over at Entrepreneur.
CHALLENGE Yourself to Profit!
Free Download: Build Your Profit-Generating Online Business With This Free Blueprint
Sign Up, follow the easy steps and You'll get the tactics, strategies & techniques needed to create your online profit stream. It's free!
