Can a Niche Platform Work for You?
Using a niche platform might be just what you need for your next social media campaign.
You’ve heard of them, you know them and you probably use them often. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Pinterest are what many like to call the “Big Six”. These six social media companies have been and continue to be the leading platforms for businesses to promote their social media marketing initiatives on. TikTok, has most recently come a long in the last couple of years and joined this list of popular platforms. For many companies, promoting on these platforms is a no brainer, but what about niche platforms?
Niche social media platforms are not on many people’s radar, but companies should be asking themselves how niche platforms can benefit them.
A definition of niche is “denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.” There are many reasons why focusing on a niche platform can benefit your company’s social media strategy. Here are a few reasons from an article from Swat.io, “6 Social Media Niches with Potential — How to Reach Your Target Group through Niche Platforms”:
- Specific target group: Niche platforms often focus on very specific topics.
- Less competition: The more companies do social media marketing, the harder it is to stand out from the crowd. On niche platforms, the competition is much lower than on the big counterparts.
- Higher organic reach: The organic reach on Facebook or Instagram keeps decreasing. Not so on niche platforms.
- Lower costs: Many niche platforms offer the option of placing ads as well. These often offer excellent value for money.
These four reasons listed above are just some of the many benefits to using a niche platform and why using one can definitely benefit your social media strategy.
From the many reasons why niche platforms can be beneficial to your social media strategy, the most important is how effective these platforms are in targeting a specific audience. “With the popularity of closed, niche networks and group-chat apps, brands now have the opportunity to connect with those highly targeted audiences. The more targeted their audiences are, the higher their conversion rates can be” (Garcia, 2019).
Mixer is an example of a niche platform that had the right idea of catering to a unique and specific audience. “The key here is finding the right platform that allows the user to cut through the noise to achieve their intended goal,” says Anis Bennaceur, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Mixer, a private network for creatives. “No two industries are created alike. Different user needs require different social ecosystems for professionals to connect, engage and collaborate” (Leadem, 2018). Although Mixer’s time has come to an end, it is important to note the significance of understanding how to use niche platforms to be unique and connect with your audience.
Some other examples of niche platforms are Untapped, Houzz, Meetup, Dribble, Reddit, Nextdoor and Twitch.
Many big companies have proven why using a niche platform in their social media strategy is effective. An example of one these companies is Old Spice using the niche platform, Twitch to promote their social media campaigns.
Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products that offer deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. The company made a great decision to use Twitch as a means of promoting their brand and executing their social media campaigns. “Old Spice leveraged [Twitch] this niche market of millennial males to their advantage in a wildly successful campaign where audiences controlled a “live human” for a three-day streaming event” (Brandt & Crouse, 2018).
According to Twitch Advertising reports, using comScore Sept 2017 data, 81.5% of Twitch users are male. Since Old Spice creates products that are specifically targeted to men, using Twitch as a platform to promote their social media campaign proved to be extremely effective. This example shows us that when executed correctly, companies using the right niche platform, can see great results.
So, what do you think? Will your company be thinking about using a niche platform for your next social media campaign? Although popular social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook seem like the way to go, finding a niche platform that specifically caters to your demographic and brand can end up benefitting your campaign even more.
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