With a new year comes a fresh start; and what better way to start 2020 as a digital marketer than with a fresh slate to experiment and capitalize on unique opportunities to get ahead of your competition and amplify your brand voice? Inspired by an infographic from the team at Red Website Design, we’re unpacking five rising social media platforms to get on your radar to achieve just this:
TikTok
TikTok has captured the world’s imagination in 2019. Surpassing the 1.5 billion download threshold, it’s spawned a new generation of influencers, launched tracks that quickly graduated into viral status before our eyes, and given brands a new opportunity to engage with Gen Z and millennials.
If you’re unfamiliar, the app revolves around sharing 15-second video clips often set to music that is licensed from artists and record labels. TikTok doesn’t emphasize vanity metrics, rather it prioritizes personalized viewing experiences. For this reason, the vast majority of users and brands agree that platform is much more community-led, collaborative, positive and proactive compared to other channels. From the artist’s standpoint, this translates into a platform for promoting their music and for general users and brand marketers, a unique opportunity to test and experiment with new creative approaches to their content.
In this vein, TikTok’s SIS principle is the platform’s guide to virality; creating something that is simple, imitable, and suspenseful. To help get you started, check out our highlights of TikTok metrics you need to know and how to navigate the analytics dashboard. For inspiration as you begin crafting your own TikTok experience, browse our recap of the app’s Top 100 videos of 2019.
Lasso
Lasso was quietly launched in November 2018 — via a tweet from a product manager on the team — and serves as Facebook’s take on TikTok. Much like its competitor, it serves as a standalone app for short-form (also up to 15 seconds), entertaining videos spanning beauty, music, fitness and more. For creative flair, users can take advantage of a variety of camera tools and effects from the in-app camera to customize their content, overlay music with choices from a sizeable library, and participate in conversations with the community through hashtags and challenges.
The app’s algorithm curates a feed of recommended videos where users can tap through hashtags in order to view content or browse through a page of themed collections based on their interests. To sign into Lasso, you must first go through Instagram or Facebook. Once you’ve authorized the app and allowed access to your profile page, photos and videos, you can scroll through videos that autoplay as you navigate. If you stumble on one you want to share, you can cross-post to your Facebook Stories with the capability to do the same on Instagram to come later.
Vero
If you don’t remember Vero, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Serving as the antidote to Facebook and Instagram this photo-sharing app is built on a no ads, no algorithms model. The idea stemmed from founder Ayman Hariri’s mission to create a social network for people wherein users do not need to sacrifice their data to advertisers and where creators are supported to make productive and meaningful content people genuinely care about.
“We think that people’s privacy is priceless, that their data is priceless. [Other networks] have taken advantage by putting a shiny object called free in front of users, when really free is nonexistent…“What we strive to do is remind people that what’s important is connecting with other people with similar interests, because you can learn something, you can be inspired.” said Hariri in a recent GQ interview.
Following its quiet launch in 2015 and after seeing substantial growth in 2018 (roughly 500k users in 25 hours) the app went dark leaving many questions unanswered. As of late, the app is finding its way back in the spotlight and looking to tackle something its competition has been unable to: the subscription model.
Caffeine
Started by former Apple designer Ben Keighran, Caffeine is the newest social broadcasting platform on the block and as of November has emerged out of a two-year beta.
To date, the company has raised $146 million from lead investors like Fox, Andreessen Horowitz, and Greylock Partners, and aims to rise above the crowded streaming landscape, including its main competitor Twitch, by expanding beyond the confines of the gaming. Specifically, the app is looking to cater to more viewers and creators by tapping into the sports and entertainment spaces.
“If you can become the place where teenage America wants to go to watch not only live Fortnite but also live X Games, live Coachella, and things like that, you can eventually become the place for their movies and TV shows, too,” said Keighran in a statement shared with Fast Company. To achieve this goal, Caffeine has already secured partnerships with Fox Sports, the Big East Digital Network, ESPN X Games, Red Bull, Dream Hack and FaceIt.
Regarding its interface, consider Caffeine a hybrid between Netflix and Spotify. Via the homepage, you’re provided with a variety of content based on what’s trending and what matches your interest and who you’re following with some suggested items from the algorithm. Audience interaction is also key. Through real-time comments and emoji reactions, the app’s commenting system is very much an interactive chat with the goal of forging relationships based on shared experiences.
Steemit
Founded in July 2016, Steemit is a blockchain-based social media platform modeled loosely on Reddit.
A major difference between the two? Steemit rewards users with the native virtual currency STEEM when they curate or curate popular content. STEEM can be used to earn votes on the platform to purchase actual gifts. Credits can be purchased with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and shared with others on the platform.
In the company’s own words, “Steemit has redefined social media by building a living, breathing, and growing social economy – a community where users are rewarded for sharing their voice. It’s a new kind of attention economy.”
If videos or gaming are more your cup of tea as opposed to writing, you can check out D.tube where you can earn STEEM by publishing videos or voices, music and sounds with D.sound.
For more information on getting started on Steemit, browse these beginner guides:
Join 100,000+ fellow marketers who advance their skills and knowledge by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.