The potential of social media platforms is hard to overlook. You can share your photos and videos, post blogs, stream a video, and more. With such huge benefits provided by the social media platforms, it is evident that you should use one or a couple of these to stay ahead of your competitors in 2020.

However, there are lots of social media platforms out there that may sometimes overwhelm you when it comes to choosing one out of this humongous list. As a digital marketer, you will need to choose the best platform to make a statement and experiment with the immense opportunities that it provides.

Therefore, you may ask the best way to choose a social media platform that will amp up your brand voice and help you to stay ahead of your competition is. Here is a list of some of the most popular and a few other rising social media platforms to choose based on its features and your need.

Most popular and major platforms

Start with the common social media platforms that most people choose either for personal reasons or for business use.

• Facebook – This is the most popular and largest site on social media for brands to promote their products by sharing texts, images, videos, and links with their friends.
• Instagram – The second most popular social site for business promotions allows not only to buy real Instagram views but also to get more followers organically using Instagram Stories and Live broadcasts.
• Twitter – This is the best site to engage in a conversation and stay on top of the most trending topics.
• Tumblr – This is the site where you can join communities and exchange cultural dialogues to promote your ideas
• LinkedIn – A site for B2B audience and professionals, it helps in expanding connections, showcasing portfolios, and searching and applying for jobs.
• WhatsApp – This is a messaging app that allows sharing texts, images, audio files, voice notes, videos, and documents.
• Snapchat – This visual platform is popular among the young generation and functions just like WhatsApp and Instagram.
• Pinterest – Another highly visual social site that allows brands to create themed boards, add images, and Shoppable Pins.
• Reddit – This site allows users to engage, downvote or upvote and comment on relevant topics.

And, of course, there is YouTube, the largest video sharing site in the world. You can upload or view videos as well as interact with them.

The lesser known ones

Moving on from the significant sites, here are a few social media sites that are lesser know but are equally useful to try out.

• TikTok has created a craze since 2019 because it does not accentuate vanity metrics ad allow sharing 15-second video clips with music in the background that is licensed from record labels and artists.
• Lasso, on the other hand, is Facebook’s take on TikTok and is a standalone app to share short videos, typically for 15 seconds, involving music, beauty, fitness, and others.
• Vero is more like an antidote to Instagram and Facebook and is a photo-sharing app that has no algorithm or ads which highlight the privacy of the users.
• Caffeine is the latest social networking site and extends beyond the peripheries of gaming and includes entertainment and sports space.
• Steemit is another relatively new social site based on blockchain technology and resembles Reddit to some extent with its unique feature of rewarding the users with ‘STEEM,’ its inherent virtual currency.

Choose one among these, depending on whether you want to restrict your social activities to gaming and videos.

The rising ones

There are a few social media sites that are gaining popularity pretty fast due to its notable features. Some of these that have the potential to top the charts are:

• Telegram – One of the best apps for texting this site has the most stringent privacy policy and security, making it different.
• Meet Up – It is expected to make big this year, which allows users to explore events and groups by category and save them from revisiting later on.
• WeChat – This is a free and all-in-one social media app that allows calling, messaging, shopping online, making payments and reservations, booking taxis, and more.
• Tapebook – This new site allows users to engage only through short audio and video files to share talents, live music, travel stories, cover songs, podcasts, or show your teaching skills.
• QQ Messenger – This site allows you to create a short video or capture an area of your screen and share it with your contacts instantly.
• Viber – This free messaging app is fast growing in popularity also allows users to make phone calls using a secure Wi-Fi connection or a data plan.
• Line – This app is reshaping the communication world with its video and video calls feature and text messages. It also comes with a large variety of stickers to express your emotions.

Then there is Tinder that you can use as per your requirements and Whisper, which will change your social media experience entirely. You may also use SinaWeibo to find out the topics that are presently trending on the internet.

The best ones for marketers

Here are a few social media apps and tools that are specifically useful for marketers. The list includes:

• Planoly
• Crello
• Facebook Pages Manager App
• Fastory
• Captiona
• Storyheap
• Hootsuite Composer
• Botletter
• Canva
• Story Slicer
• Apple Clips
• Campsite
• CutStory for Instagram Stories
• Adobe Premiere Clip
• Keyhole
• Hootsuite Analytics and
• Hemingway app.

Most of these apps are easy to use and will help you to create social content that is not only easy to use but also more effective.

Summing it up

With so many social sites to choose from, it is natural that you may be a little inclined to go for the biggest ones. Well, there are good reasons for it. Instagram is a powerhouse for promoting one particular brand, Facebook ensure higher engagement as Twitter, LinkedIn will gain more traction, and Snapchat works best for the young demographic.

Therefore, select your social site depending on the specific niche that will reflect your brand in the best possible way.