Social media is big. It’s humongous. And more important, it’s dynamic.
Social media has been in a constant state of evolution for a very long time. Today, we find that Facebook, Twitter and Instagram aren’t the only social media platforms that are making waves online.
Here are four new social media apps that are changing the landscape of social media marketing. Get on these today and ensure you don’t miss out on what could be 2019’s biggest social media development:
- TikTok
Video has become one of the most shared social media content today. 58% of all social media users state that they prefer visual content like videos over any other form of content online. In fact, 74% of users actively share videos by brands on their personal circles, bringing companies new prospects every day. It’s no wonder that Beijing-based company ByteDance decided to go the video way when they developed a social media app.
TikTok is a video platform where users can post short videos of themselves lip-syncing to their favourite tunes. So popular is TikTok that it has massive followership that’s larger than the followership of Snapchat and Twitter combined; that’s over 524 million users!
For marketers, TikTok is a goldmine of prospective customers.
Teenagers, aka Gen Z, account for the bigger user group on TikTok. With Gen Z as the source of a market that values upwards of $44 billion, TikTok is certainly the place to be if you want your brand to be very successful and profitable.
- Vero
In his post about Vero, social media influencer and ace digital marketer Neil Patel called the app “revolutionary and a game changer.” He said it was a truly social app, and indeed, it is the first of its kind.
A social media app that focuses exclusively on creating memorable experiences, Vero is (for now) an ad-free platform that allows users to create and post various types of content. The app doesn’t use any algorithms or formulae to recommend friends, posts and brands to users. The entire experience is completely organic and driven by the user’s own preferences, time investment and search.
This makes Vero an exceptionally wonderful platform for companies who are too small to get noticed on bigger, algorithm-driven platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The quality of your leads improve too – people who like or follow you, have consciously searched for your account. This means they really want to learn about your products/services and will likely be more responsive to your marketing.
What makes Vero better than other social media apps is privacy. Its security settings are top-notch, and both customers and companies never need to worry about data breaches and profile hacking.
- Lasso
While Facebook is still one of the most preferred social media channels for users and advertisers, it is an app that is currently on a downward spiral. In 2015, 71% of the world’s teenagers reported having an account on Facebook. In 2018, this number dropped below 51%.
In a bid to recapture these lost customers, Facebook has released a new app – Lasso.
Similar to the looped short video app, TikTok, Lasso allows users to record themselves as they dance, lip-sync and generally go crazy. With many fun filters and stickers that users can add to their videos, Lasso makes for an entertaining platform.
While it doesn’t offer any special USP over TikTok, Lasso does have the advantage of being a Facebook-run app. This gives users the added benefit of having Facebook’s wide range of features at their disposal. Advertising will also be top-notch because of this, giving companies plenty of freedom to implement their marketing campaigns.
Facebook is also working on connecting Lasso to Instagram. So, by the end of 2019, users will be able to automatically sync their Lasso videos with their Instagram accounts.
- Byte
Anybody remember Vine? The video blogging app that was developed by a company Twitter acquired back in 2012?
It’s okay if you don’t. We don’t either.
Vine was a failed app, to begin with, and it didn’t reach the success it was expected to. Yet, it does have a sizeable user base even today. This is one of the main reasons why its creators decided to redesign and relaunch Vine in a new avatar. This avatar is called Byte. Currently, in the closed beta test stage, Byte has generated massive interest from seasoned social media marketers.
Just like its predecessor, Byte is a short video posting platform, where users can post a 6.5 seconds video. The only difference is that the videos on Byte will be on a perpetual loop. With looping videos being one of the most-favoured types of videos online (in fact, one of Instagram’s most famous features is the infinite loop), there are many who believe Byte will revolutionise the short form vlogging universe for good.
Conclusion
The social media arena is undergoing a massive transformation. To remain in the spotlight, brands must be quick in changing the way they work and adopting the latest apps and technologies.
With experienced social media marketers by their side, brands can create compelling content for their various channels, new and old.
Feature Image Credits: Pixabay
Author bio:
Nisha Prakash is a blogger specializing in social media marketing and content management. She is an avid runner and a bibliophile.