Social Media Marketing All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 4: Profiting from Mid-Size Social Media Channels

In This Chapter

• Using Ning to build communities
• Growing visually famous with Snapchat
• Building business with music on Spotify
• Topping off a rich-media blog with Tumblr
• Vying for video with Vimeo and Vine

New social media channels and apps seem to spring up faster than weeds. Minor channels may burst on the scene and die quickly, or grow up to become the next blockbuster innovation in social marketing. In this chapter, we look at some of the mid-size social media channels.

These channels aren't quite large enough to justify their own chapters yet, but their user bases qualify them as reaching more than niche markets, discussed in Chapter 3 of this minibook. Some you may have heard of; others may elicit the reaction, “I don't have a clue.”

Take a look to see whether any of them make sense for your business. With adroit marketing, you can gain an edge in brand visibility and reach, long before the channel becomes crowded with marketing copy-cats. In particular, if you're looking for younger audiences, you can establish your social credibility by being there first.

Deciding Whether to Invest Time in Mid-Size Social Media Channels

Consider each of these minor-league social media channels through the lens of your business. Can you piggyback on their moment of fame — bringing some glory to your business — before they become so bloated with competing businesses that your company becomes just another ant in the anthill? The criteria ...