Social media is that dominating force in the modern world that can change minds, catch more business, increase sales or build and shape a brand or business.
Have you fallen prey to spending hours on Facebook, or waking up at midnight to check for Tweets?
This is because of the impact social media has on all of us these days. Over the years, social media sites have also proven to be effective platforms for marketing.
Below are a few interesting stats for the top 17 popular social media sites.
The concepts behind “social networking†aren’t anything new – ever since there have been humans, we have been looking for ways to connect, network, and promote with one another – but they’ve taken on an entirely new meaning (and momentum) in the digital age. Where we used to have handshakes, word-of-mouth referrals, and stamped letters, today’s relationships are often begun and developed on LinkedIn, Google +, and Facebook.
That means savvy business owners have to know and use a variety of social platforms to stay relevant, not to mention take advantage of emerging opportunities. Below, you’ll find what I consider to be the 17 most important channels and tools you need to be aware of.
1. Facebook
Considered to be synonymous with “social media†by some, Facebook is the one site where you’re likely to find friends, colleagues, and relatives all floating around. Although Facebook is mainly centered around sharing photos, links, and quick thoughts of a personal nature, individuals can also show their support to brands or organizations by becoming fans.
This is the biggest social networking site with the largest number of users. There are more than 1 million small or medium sized businesses advertising here and it is estimated that larger companies are spending as much as $100 million on Facebook advertising per year.
Visit this site: Facebook
2. Twitter
Perhaps the simplest of all social media platforms, Twitter also just happens to be one of the most fun and interesting. Messages are limited to 140 characters or less, but that’s more than enough to post a link, share an image, or even trade thoughts with your favorite celebrity or influencer. Twitter’s interface is easy to learn and use, and setting up a new profile only takes minutes.
Twitter is loved for spreading the word via tweets. This site has revolutionized social media. Approximately 81 percent of Twitter’s advertising revenue comes from mobile and there is a $200,000 cost estimated for a 24-Hour Promoted Trend on Twitter.
Visit this site:Twitter
3. LinkedIn
One of the only mainstream social media sites that’s actually geared towards business, LinkedIn is to cyberspace what networking groups once were to local business communities. It’s great for meeting customers, getting in touch with vendors, recruiting new employees, and keeping up with the latest in business or industry news. If it matters to your company or career, you can probably do it on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn helps to build professional networks and engagement with other users. It is the world’s largest professional network being used for this purpose. Today, it has over 332 million users and each second adds two new members, all of which attracts marketers.
Visit this site:linkedin
4. Xing
Another professional networking and recruitment site, Xing has the global presence and focus that LinkedIn lacks. Although it can be mistaken for a job search portal, the site actually has a number of features and communities that make it easy to develop relationships with suppliers, colleagues and even thought leaders within industry.
Visit this site:xing
5.Reddit
Reddit is a social networking site used for entertainment purposes, where registered members share content and direct links. It has 174 million monthly unique visitors.
Visit this site:Reddit
6. Google+
Social media’s big up-and-comer has really arrived over the past few years. By combining the best of Facebook and Twitter into one site – and backing it by the power of the world’s largest search engine, Google has given users a social site that has a little something for everyone. You can add new content, highlight topics with hashtags, and even separate contacts into circles. And, a G+ profile only takes a few minutes to get set up.
This site has 300 million monthly active users and is used for relationship marketing. It has over a 53 percent positive interaction between Google+ users and brands.
Visit this site:Google plus
7.Flickr
This image and video hosting social network has over 3.5 million images uploaded daily by users and offers massive online photo storage.
Visit this site:flickr
8. Tumblr
This platform is different form many others in that it essentially hosts microblogs for its users. Individuals and companies, in turn, can fill their blogs with multimedia (like images and short video clips). The fast-paced nature of Tumblr makes it ideal for memes, GIF’s, and other forms of fun or viral content.
This microblogging platform is used for sharing photos, videos, audio, quotes, text or anything that you’d like to market. It has more than 420 million users and 217 million blogs created, making it a favorite.
Visit this site:Tumblr
9. Pinterest
Serving as a giant virtual idea and inspiration board, Pinterest has made a huge impact on social media in the last few years. Especially popular with women and the do-it-yourself crowd, it lets you share pictures, creative thoughts, or (especially) before-and-after pictures of projects that others can pin, save, or duplicate.
Pinterest marketing is another social media tool helping brands to grow rapidly. There are over 70 million users of Pinterest of which 80Â percent are women and 20Â percent are men. Over 9 million users have connected their accounts to Facebook.
Visit this site:Pinterest
10.Twoo
This Belgian social network site is geared for the 25 and under crowd all over the world. Alongside normal social features like posts, updates, and photo sharing, it also boasts online games and chat features that make it popular with younger users who want to stay entertained while connecting with each other.
Visit this site:Twoo
11. YouTube
As a video sharing service, YouTube has become so popular that its catalog of billions and billions of videos has become known as “the world’s second-largest search engine†in some circles. The site has everything from first-person product reviews to promotional clips and “how-two†instruction on virtually any topic or discipline. Users have the ability to share, rate, and comment on what they see.
YouTube is expected to generate $5.6 billion in gross revenue in 2016. Currently, there are 6 billion hours of video watched on YouTube per month and 1 billion videos watched over mobile phones per day.
Visit this site:YouTube
12. Instagram
If you’re looking for a quick, convenient connection between the camera feature on your smart phone and all your social profiles, then Instagram is the answer. Not only will allow you to share via Twitter, Facebook, and the Instagram website, you can choose from a variety of photo filters and invite friends to comment on your photos or ideas.
Marketers know the usefulness of Instagram marketing and use Instagram to market products and services. It is a wonderful platform to share visual stories.
There are more than 300 million monthly active users on Instagram, of which 75 million are daily active users. Instagram is widely being used for business marketing.
Visit this site:Instagram
13. WhatsApp
The WhatsApp concept is simple: send text-style messages to anyone else using the platform, but without paying data charges. That straightforward idea has already gathered more than 700 million fans, making the app the world’s most popular messaging platform.
Visit this site:Whatsapp
14. vk.com
Promoting itself as Europe’s largest social media site, vk.com is essentially the Russian version of Facebook, with the same kinds of profiles, messaging, and games you would expect. Like Facebook, vk.com allows users to enter both personal and professional information about themselves, and to follow or show support for organizations and businesses.
Visit this site:VKontakte
15. Meetup
Meetup is a perfectly-named platform, because it’s perfect for organizing local groups around specific interests. There are meetups centered on just about everything, from music to hobbies, and get-togethers are almost always open to newcomers. That makes it perfect for exploring an interest and making new friends at the same time.
Visit this site:MeetUp
16.Snapchat
Snapchat is mobile app that offers a fun, visual way to chat with your friends as an alternative to regular SMS text messaging. You can snap a photo or a short video, add a caption or a drawing and then send it to one or multiple friends.
All snaps automatically “self-destruct” just seconds after they are viewed by the recipient, making it the perfect app for quick instant messaging by photo or video.
As long as your mobile device can access the Internet, you can send and receive snaps from anywhere.
To get started with using Snapchat, you need to download the app for iOSÂ or Android to your mobile device.
Visit this site:Snapchat
17.Vine
Vine is mobile video-sharing app owned by Twitter. One of the most convenient things about Vine is that its videos can be directly embedded inline on Twitter when shared through a tweet — or even embedded on a website. Videos play on autoloop and are limited to a maximum of six seconds, but that doesn’t stop it from being such a powerful social network. Many prefer it over Instagram video.
Visit this site:vine
