Increase Your Brand Awareness Using These Social Media Platforms That Brands Often Overlook

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Did you know that there are at least 133 social media platforms? Obviously, with so many platforms, it's not practical to be on all platforms. Therefore, it is essential for you to choose the networks that make sense for your strategy.

Instead of focusing on the most common social media platforms (think , , and ), we're going to discuss some extremely valuable social networks that brands quite often overlook. Let's discuss their benefits and how they can help you connect with your customers, stimulate and increase leads and, therefore, sales.

1. What type of business do you have?

Are you a brand (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C)? You want to establish a social media presence where your primary target audience is. A B2B company, for example, does better with networks like , where you can build a digital relationship with key people within the organizations you want to do business with. B2C businesses (especially those with physical products) can thrive on an image-based site like or , where super fans can start threads.

Related: Harnessing the Power of Social Media

2. Which channel best matches your social goals?

Knowing your audience is key, but so is being aware of your social goals. Are you looking to interact with customers and get feedback? Do you want to present your offers? Or are you just looking to sit in chat rooms to hear what the masses want? There is a single platform for each of these needs. Below are five such platforms and how each can align with your social media strategies.

3. What channels are competitors using?

You know what the saying goes: keep your friends close, keep your enemies close. An easy way to see which platforms might work best for you is to simply research which networks your current competitors are active on. You will be able to see their engagement, popular type of content and how often you should post. Instead of trying to gain as much space on social media as possible, focus instead on what works for others.

Now move on to platforms that brands often overlook and why they should be considered to increase your brand awareness, reach your target audience, and drive sales.

Related: How to Succeed on Social Media Using Your Competitors

The largest professional network in the world: LinkedIn

Most professionals use LinkedIn, but are you using it to build brand awareness? As of July 2022, there were 849.6 million users worldwide, with the top users being Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials.

The platform gives you a powerful search engine to do market research and find out who's who in your industry. It lets you connect directly with peers you want to collaborate with. It also acts as a lead generation funnel through features like the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator program. Here you can learn and get resources, such as how-to guides on building a strong newsletter list and tips on developing content ideas to grow your audience.

You also have the option of building...