Lifestyle
& Niche Media: The Art of Targeting Your Audience
Using Social Media to Reach Niche Audiences
By: Katherine Chirillo
Using social
media is a perfect way to reach niche audiences effectively. This is especially
true for smaller brands attempting to compete with larger companies. However,
in order to be effective they must market themselves properly on these
platforms. In the future, brands big and small will not only have to be sure
they promote themselves over several different social media platforms, but focus
on building a strong online community as well. This will be in order to ensure
maximum efficiency.
The consumer has
more control than ever, and this is something they have certainly become
comfortable with. They want to be able to choose what they want, and they want
it to be made for them or personalized in some way. This is not a new concept.
We are all familiar with the saying that “the customer is always right.” So
brands must learn to adapt to their audiences in order to continually reach
them successfully.
In an article
from Conde Nast Publications, Inc. titled Mass
Retailers Look To Social Media For Niche Teen Brands written by Faye
Brookman she states, “Teens and their love of social media are driving changes…
in the mass market.” This is important to note for several reasons. Not only do
consumers have more power, but also some of the most influential are of a
younger age.
The article also
quotes an anonymous buyer for a drugstore chain saying, "We have people
coming in asking for a brand they saw on YouTube, Pinterest or Instagram."
So as I mentioned before, the consumer has now come across a new kind of
authority. They now have the ability to ask for the specific brands they want,
and they are discovering these brands over social media. If these accounts and
postings are done well companies can create a higher demand for their products
in certain communities.
Social media is gaining more and more active users, and these users are not just using one platform. However, who is experiencing the largest growth? According to an article from the Global Web Index written by Jason Mander, “…it’s the smaller and more specialized platforms which are growing at the quickest rates, with Pinterest (+97%) and Tumblr (+94%) recording by far the biggest and most impressive increases.”
An article
from DM News highlights the four common themes that are required for all
strong online communities. These are “1. Content breeds collaboration…2. Keep
it fresh and relevant…3. Engage your audiences… [and] 4. Recruit and monetize.”
All of which are important in different ways when applied to social media.
Some of the more
significant points this article makes focuses on how you must always engage
with your users even if you have reached your goal audience. Keeping your
content interesting and engaging will draw people in, and that involves making
the information relevant to your target demographic.
This is how smaller
companies are able to define their target audience, grab their attention, and
create a larger following in their favor. Using online marketing vehicles allows
them to compete with larger companies, and even chip away at their large pool
of customers.
One perfect example
of a large growth in a small company due to reaching its niche audience through
social media is ginnybakes. This Florida based gluten free snack and cookie
company started up in 2010, and they were named one of the Inc. 5000 fastest growing private
companies of 2015 with a growth of 2,027% (Inc. 5000). Their message is a
combined focus on nourishing your mind and body while concentrating on family. They not only
pride themselves in being organic, kosher, vegan, non-gmo and gluten free, but
active on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and
Google Plus as well.
The focus on
social media has been vital to the company since its creation as the posts go
all the way back to this time period. The posts are also all great examples of
the four common themes presented by DM News. For example, on the ginnybakes
Instagram profile satisfied users promoting the product submitted many of the
images. This level of engagement and collaboration is something not found much
other than on social media. People can discover the products creatively through
friends and bloggers they look up to.
Works Cited
Brookman, Faye.
"Mass Retailers Look To Social Media For Niche Teen Brands." WWD
Mar. 2013: 7. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
Ginnybakes (ginnybakes). "ginnybakes is a line of outrageously delicious cookies..." [Instagram post]. 5 Mar 2016. Instagram.
"Ginnybakes Home." Ginnybakes. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2016. <http://www.ginnybakes.com/>.
Mander, Jason.
"Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social networks."
Global Web Index. 11 May 2015. Web.
MANSUETO
VENTURES. "Inc. 5000 2015: The Full List BY THE EDITORS OF INC." Inc.
5000 2015: The Full List. Inc., 2016. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2015/>.
"Online
Niche Forums Require Fresh Content." DM News 34.1 (2012): 43. ProQuest.
Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
I agree with you that social media is crucial when targeting niche audiences because I have had niche media targeted to me through social media and I have also targeted niches myself.
ReplyDeleteJoey Shamah says that "Social media enables brands that are more relevant [to shoppers] to do well rather than if you just spend millions," (Brookman) i agree with what joey is saying and would also extend it to small and independant businessmen like myself. I have taken to social media to sell things and platforms such as Facebook and Reddit make it very easy to reach niche audiences. There are buy and sell groups for everything on Facebook and Reddit. If I have some vintage camera accessories, I just search for groups the focus on vintage cameras and that way I am able to sell directly to an audience that would buy my items instead of waiting for it to sell on eBay. Selling on Facebook is also great because there are no eBay fees. facebook saw the popularity of these groups introduced basic selling tools for these groups. I also did a lot of action figure selling on the many action figure facebook groups. it is much easier than eBay because I can upload a picture of all of the figures instead of having to list 50 individual figures on eBay.
I have also taken to Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram to try and capitalize on the incredible growth over the past year with Pinterest having a +97% increase in users, Tumblr having a +94% increase in users and Instagram having a 48% of users. (Mander) any sale I make on there is a unique sale that I would not have gotten elsewhere. for me, I don't need buy buttons when I have PayPal because people can pay me on any social platform.
I have also been targeted to my niches such as candy and anime. I was on Facebook and saw that someone shared Japan crates post, and I knew that I wanted to buy it because it is a box of candy from Japan every month which is exactly what I am into. I also get suggestions for shows to watch such as new anime or cartoons. Crunchyroll and Adultswim have great social media prowess.
Works cited
Brookman, Faye. "Mass Retailers Look To Social Media For Niche Teen Brands." WWD Mar. 2013: 7. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social networks." Global Web Index. 11 May 2015. Web.
I agree with Katherine that social media is the way to reach niche audiences. One thing social media does effectively is appeal to fandoms through musicians and young social media stars. Many of these stars work with brands and companies to target younger audiences. I feel like this is why brands are able to use social media so effectively to build a strong online presence.
ReplyDeleteKatherine wrote about an article that discussed how teens loving social media are the cause of change in the mass market. Teens will often see their favorite celebrity or social media star promote a specific brand on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Vine, and they become inspired to use that brand. The fact that people will go into drugstores to buy a brand they saw on social media is the reason why brands will often team up with social media stars. The brands are starting to work with the changes in the market of how celebrity power on brands. In 2015, it was announced that Instagram, YouTube, and Vine stars would be joining “The Amazing Race.” The producers claimed that the contestants having strong social media followings would create buzz for the show in a bigger way (Wells). This is just one example of a brand using social media to gain popularity. This type of branding happens with makeup, fragrances, food, and clothing, as well. Social media stars will Instagram photos with a brand they teamed up with, which gets the brand immediate exposure.
Katherine also discussed how social media is gaining more active users, and the smaller platforms are growing at the quickest rates. An article on Global Web Index states, “…it’s not hard to see how the rise of alternative platforms will have encouraged certain behaviors to migrate away from Facebook – with photos shifting to Instagram, for example, or blogs moving to Tumblr” (Mander). This seems to be because social media apps like Tumblr and Instagram are able to relate to fandoms better than Facebook can. Both of the sites are filled with photos and direct interaction with social media stars and other celebrities. They are a way for these stars to post images of the brands they are using to appeal to the younger audiences who are using them. People are more likely to repost a photo on Tumblr of a social media star who is using a brand, which is good for the star and the brand.
The fact that strong online communities require collaboration, fresh and relevant ideas, engaged audiences, and monetization is the exact reason why social media is so important in getting large audiences to follow a brand. These smaller brands are able to collaborate with social media stars that are built on having new ideas to engage young social media users. These social media stars monetize from collaborating with these brands, while the brands gain immediate exposure from these younger audiences. A makeup YouTuber will work with a makeup brand, while a food Instagram will work with food brands. The simplicity of the branding is how social media is working so well for niche audiences.
It is evident that the focus on social media has grown because of these social media stars and the power of the celebrity. Brands work with social media stars to brand their own products and social media accounts to the niche audiences. The way people are using social media is changing every day, and currently, social media is all about branding products.
Works Cited
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr are the Fastest Growing Social Networks." Global Web Index. 11 May 2015. Web.
Wells, Georgia. "YouTube, Vine and Instagram Stars Invade ‘The Amazing Race’." The Wall Street Journal. Dow & Jones Company, 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 06
Kat,
ReplyDeleteWe definitely see social media being used to reach different types of audiences. We are being advertised to constantly, and there really is no escaping it. It started out with just Facebook ads, but over the past couple years we have really seen a growth in ads on other platforms. the biggest social platforms globally, Facebook is the only one to have seen a decline in the numbers who think of themselves as active users, with a 8% drop. Meanwhile, the chasing pack of YouTube, Twitter and Google+ have all experienced steady rises of between 7-13% (Mander).
Instagram is really good at advertising to key audiences. They have the ability to promote something right there on your feed and you cannot ignore it. By 2017, Instagram’s ad revenues will grow more than four times in size to reach $2.39 billion, according to recent estimates from eMarketer (O'Malley).
Similar to ginnybakes, Triangl swimwear will repost a lot of users pictures that they are tagged in. This increasing the amount of user activity and will increase the chances of user participation.
Snapchat has also done awesome things with advertising to demographics. The customized geotags engage their audience and allows them to connect to them even more.
When I comes to targeting an audience it really helps to have creative ideas. Large brands teaming up with small brands is a creative way to reach key audiences. “The Amazing Race” teaming up with different social media stars allows them to get the publicity they need. Comedians are often discovered on Twitter and YouTube, while aspiring models can be found on Instagram. Michelle Phan, for example, started posting beauty videos on YouTube in 2007. After amassing millions of followers, she became a spokeswoman for the French perfume maker Lancome (Wells).
Social Media is crucial when targeting niche audiences because If you try to blanket everyone with one marketing message you'll lose over half of your audience simply because it doesn't apply to them. Companies need to target who they are after and they will know how to reach them easier and find that they won't have to invest so much into your marketing to get the results they want.
Work Cited
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social networks." Global Web Index. 11 May 2015. Web.
O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time For Brands." 02/05/2016. N.p., 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
Wells, Georgia. "YouTube, Vine and Instagram Stars Invade ‘The Amazing Race’." The Wall Street Journal. Dow & Jones Company, 12 Nov. 2015. Web. 06
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKatherine,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog, and I think what you talked about is fascinating. It only makes sense for companies to go where its users are to market themselves, and most users are now on social media. What is the most interesting to me is the rise of smaller social media platforms. Like you said, platforms like Tumblr, and Pinterest are growing faster then any other social media platform, while the number of active users on Facebook is dropping. However like the article Pinterest and Tumblr are The Fastest Growing Social Media Networks talks about, context is extremely important. Yes, the number of active users on Facebook dropped 8%, but because there is such a smaller sample of users on Pinterest and Tumbr, that it is much easier to see the number of increased active users.
People are moving away from Facebook, and onto smaller social media platforms, and advertisers need to follow their markets. I believe that this has to do a lot with content. People are tired of seeing the same things on Facebook. Many politically tied messages shared by people who are ready to start an argument. A lot of what I do on Facebook is skim right past what people are saying and not really read anything, However, I read everything on my Twitter feed including the advertisements.
Twitter only had a rise of 8% of active users last year according to the infographic in the Pinterest and Tumber Are The Fastest Growing Social Media Platforms, and I am kind of surprised by this. Within the past year there has been a noticeable increase of advertisements on Twitter. Twitter is also very clever with the way that they advertise, the make the advertisements look just like a normal tweet with a profile and everything. By doing this, people are less likely to scroll past it because they do not realize that it is an ad. It happens to me all the time. I will be reading through my timeline, and all of a sudden I am staring at a picture of someone eating a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich. I then realize that this is an ad directly from McDonald’s, and not someone I follow. The only way to tell the difference is in the bottom corner it says “suggested post” where a normal tweet would not have that.
What shocked me in this weeks readings was in the article Instagram Growth and Engagement: 2015 year in Review. This article said that both Instagram growth and engagement was down. Much like Twitter, there has been an increased amount of advertisements on Instagram over the past year, and it is even harder to tell the difference between an ad on Instagram and someone’s post. Because Instagram is all-visual, you are looking at every post on your feed. When an ad pops up I believe that you are much more likely to see is and understand what it is talking about before you even realize that it is an advertisement. However, that the article talks goes on to talk about is there is less user-to-user interaction now on Instagram. According to the article 97.5% of all engagement in the month of December was just likes, not people interacting on the platform.
Work Cited
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks." Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
Saric, Marko. "Instagram Growth And Engagement: 2015 Year In Review." Social Media Today. N.p., 16 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
ReplyDeleteEveryday during my downtime I take to Instagram’s Explore Page to find new clothing, shoes and sometimes makeup products that are out there today. For example, right now I have been on the hunt for new bathing suits for this coming summer. I have come across an Instagram account called “A Bikini A Day” ran by two women who share their love for bikinis with the rest of the world. They wear all different types of brands and swimsuits and post pictures on their Instagram page with the designer tagged so I can easily find designer, whether they are a big or small brand immediately. I have to agree with Katherine’s leading remark, “Using social media is a perfect way to reach niche audiences effectively. This is especially true for smaller brands attempting to compete with larger companies.” Interning for a fashion startup company last summer, I couldn’t stress enough the importance of marketing their small brand on social media, mainly Instagram. Their biggest successful social media marketing strategy is having the biggest reality television stars wear their brand and post a picture on their Instagram tagging the brands Instagram account. For instance Khloe Kardashian, Kendal Jenner both wore one of Alix’s bodysuits and posted it on social media and who bigger than supermodel and reality star like the Kardashian-Jenner crew to reach their niche audiences?
A new and successful way for big and small companies to market their brand is now offered on Instagram with their recent sponsored ads. It is a perfect way for companies to reach their targeted niche audience. This morning when I checked my Instagram feed an ad for women’s fashion company called “Shopstyle” was there and I ended up following their account because they had the type of clothes, shoes and accessories that I love. “By 2017, Instagram’s ad revenues will grow more than four times in size to reach $2.39 billion, according to recent estimates from eMarketer. By then, the mobile-first social network should represent nearly a third -- or 28% -- of Facebook’s total mobile ad revenues.” (O'Malley) This doesn’t come to a surprise to me since Instagram is one of the most accessed social media daily if not the most used platform out there today. By adding ads to their site they have just increased their revenues by an extraordinarily large amount.
In conclusion, I agree with Katherine that it has become vital for companies to focus on their social medias to reach their niche audience. In an article by The Association of Magazine Media, “Magazine media generates more social actions than any other medium, with 9.5 billion actions in 2015, compared to television media in the second spot with 7.5 billion and online media with 6.6 billion, according to Shareablee. For the first time, MPA also reported the top-trending magazine media posts of the year, with data gathered by Shareablee. National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, J-14, Sports Illustrated and Seventeen delivered the top trending magazine media posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in 2015.” (MPA: "Magazine Media Industry Releases Year-End Social Media Report") With these numbers its clear that using social media in our world today is one the most effective ways to reach your audience.
Works Cited
"Magazine Media Industry Releases Year-End Social Media Report." MPA: The Association for Magazine Media. 29 Jan. 2016. Web.
O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time for Brands." MediaPost. 4 Feb. 2016. Web.
I find this blog post very interesting and it is so true that companies now have to shift toward advertising through social media. I know that I follow fashion and makeup Instagram accounts that inspire me to try new products all the time. It is much easier to shop over the social media that you are already using all the time than go to different sites searching. These posts over social media are constantly showing the latest and greatest and goes into detailed videos and posts why the product is a must have. As I read the article on Instagram Ads I found this information tying together with the post nicely that says, “Mirroring more traditional TV spots, Instagram is now letting brands run ads up to 60 seconds in length. To date, the Facebook unit has capped video ads at 30 seconds.” (O’Malley) I have been noticing these ads appear on my Instagram much more frequent than when I had first joined. These ads are usually targeted at things that I would enjoy so I think it is smart on the advertisers behalf to really capture the audience they are looking for. Instagram is one of the very popular social media apps almost everyone is a part of, so naturally companies are going to notice and recreate how they are marketing themselves. Even Instagram is helping advertisers which is a smart joint venture, ““We recognize that advertisers have a variety of creative resources and want to bring more choice to help them reach their business goals,” an Instagram spokeswoman said on Wednesday.” (O’Malley)
ReplyDeleteNot only is it just Instagram, but also many other popular media forms being used by the younger generation is where the focus on sales is shifting. Facebook used to be a staple in the social media world, but as of lately is becoming less popular with all the other platforms being created. “But it’s the smaller and more specialized platforms which are growing at the quickest rates, with Pinterest (+97%) and Tumblr (+94%) recording by far the biggest and most impressive increases.” (Mander) Social media like Pinterest and Tumblr are very creative spaces trying to give its users constant, unique inspiration. Companies are seeing this and finding ways to make their product be the unique item one must have. I could see this shift in advertising happening, and it is only going to get more integrated with advertisements as time goes on.
Works Cited:
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks." Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2016
O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time for Brands." MediaPost. 4 Feb. 2016. Web.
Kat,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you wholeheartedly. One of the many advantages of social media is the ability to zero in on the niche crowds and appeal to them when you want to. Twitter's utilization of hashtags is a perfect example of this. By using hashtags, people on twitter can find and tweet about the things that they personally care about. Their voice can be heard in the same stream as everyone else who is tweeting about the same thing. It's not surprising that advertising agencies are finding it lucrative to use these methods in order to attract a wider audience and get to more people. I see a lot of companies building off of "memes" or internet trends to get people to like them or follow them. These kinds of methods are really unique to the invention of social media.
The one thing about this that really surprised me was how Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social networks (Mander). To me, these two sites seem really second-tier compared to the biggies like Facebook and Twitter. I used to use pinterest and it's a nice site to use, but I never used it in a social media aspect. I liked to make boards of things I enjoyed, but I never felt the need to share it with other or check out other's boards. Tumblr is something I see as a teenage fad - many of the opinions and angst spread around the site can be a cesspool for ignorance. It's a good place for fandom, and I used to use it for that when I was in high school, but I don't really take adults seriously who still use tumblr for anything other than fandom. I didn't take this as sign that pinterest and tumblr are dominating the other social media, because sites like Facebook and Twitter have so many more users that it's hardly comparable.
Instagram is a great tool to use for advertisers since the premise of the app is to share pictures. It's very easy to scroll down instagram and see an ad, ignore it, or click on it if you like it. It doesn't surprise me that most of the interactivity on instagram is likes and nothing else (Saric) because it's the easiest thing to do. If you give a photo a like, you're signifying how you feel about it. It's hard to really engage on a social network that is as simple as instagram. There are pictures and short videos. That's it. Advertisers shouldn't put 30 second ads because people will just scroll by it when they realize it's an ad. With instagram, you have to capture the person's attention from the get-go, otherwise you'll lose them.
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks." Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web.
Saric, Marko. "Instagram Growth And Engagement: 2015 Year In Review." Social Media Today. N.p., 16 Jan. 2016. Web.
All millennials are walking advertisements, so it's imperative that all companies/brands take notice and act accordingly. It's also no secret that social media has now taken over every day life and people my age or younger have made it a habit to let that happen. It's also been a gateway to allowing commercials to be on both the television screen and whatever second screen is being used at the same time. This aggressive approach to using social media to reach out to its niche audiences is nearly perfection. Social media sites and apps can now mold what you see based on your interests, who you follow or what you look up on the internet...its pretty incredible. Each motive we discuss in class about social media always ends with an attempt to create a personal relationship with the audience. I agree with Katherine.
ReplyDeleteSocial, aka Interactive, media is exactly that. It's important to understand how quickly these social media companies have grown in under 10 years and realize how much of an impact it has on every individual's daily life. People enjoy talking and sharing ideas, so why not make the media aspect of that as real as possible? That's exactly what's happening. Instagram is even so simple that a "like" on a photo can say a whole lot actually. Not only that, but it's even possible for one of your followers to see what pictures you like on a daily basis.The one thing about this that really surprised me was how Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social networks (Mander). Everyone would expect the big names like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to be the heavy hitters recently, but that's not the case. Now that specific audiences can be so directly approached over certain social media newer companies have come charging into popularity full speed ahead.
Kat,
ReplyDeleteI chose to respond to your post this week because I feel that you have shed some much-needed light on a topic that has rapidly made its way into our lives. Social media is still a relatively new concept in the grand scheme of things. The youth of this industry means that news things will often be attempted within that market to make it better. The utilization of social media to hit a niche market is a successful concept, but I am not certain that it will work forever.
The first thing I want to address from the article was the growth of smaller blogging sites such as Pintrest and Tumbler as opposed to the apparent decline of websites like Facebook. Quite frankly I was shocked to see that Pintrest and Tumbler had improved their numbers so greatly, granted, they had a lower starting point in terms of members than Facebook. “It’s easier for the smaller networks to record sizable percentage increases as they start from lower starting points. Even so, there’s no escaping the fact that Facebook recorded a decline, and one which is consistent in all parts of the world” (Mander). I find that although it may not be optimal for reaching a niche audience, Facebook is still my preferred social media site to Pintrest and Tumbler due to its user base. I know very few people without it, allowing me to be in contact with virtually whoever I want, whenever I want. Although I love Facebook, I think there is one platform above the rest that has hit their stride in terms of reaching a niche audience.
Since its creation several years ago, Instagram has gone from a fun photo-sharing network into a massive society of people sharing their lives through images. It has also become a place where companies and brands can share exclusive content and pictures to their loyal fans. Some go as far as to create scavenger hunts for their fan base that lead them into the depths of Instagram to find Easter eggs of their favorite things. My favorite example of this is the how the Adult swim show “Rick and Morty” utilizes their Instagram. Essentially, they created a map of their universe on Instagram, allowing fans to search through each individual location that the show is based in. This gives a deep, rich excursion into a program that no other show has done. If you dig deep enough, you receive exclusive vide clips and comics made just for the fans. Needless to say, I spent about an hour simply digging into this amazing world when I discovered it. I fear however that the worlds being created on Instagram will be shattered due to a rise in advertisement time on the app. “Mirroring more traditional TV spots, Instagram is now letting brands run ads up to 60 seconds in length. To date, the Facebook unit has capped video ads at 30 seconds” (O’Malley). If I were to start constantly coming across 60-second ads on Instagram while I was searching through one of my favorite brands or shows, it would be a tremendous turn off from using the app.
Work Cited
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks." Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks. Global Web Index, 11 May 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time For Brands." 02/05/2016. Media Post, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
I completely agree that social media is the new way to advertise and reach niche audiences. We don’t watch television every second of every day but we are pretty much constantly looking at social media. Advertising on social media platforms is specific to people that have already liked/followed a company’s page, or they know of someone else that has. Although, ads aren’t going out to everyone, they are going to people that have already shown interest in your product.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to see how popular Pinterest and Tumblr have become. I have had both social media platforms since high school but they were never as popular as of late. I mainly look at these platforms for fashion tips, fandoms, and DIY project ideas. Facebook has some of the same features but because there have their hands in so many other things (for example, live broadcasts and politics), they don’t specialize in one area like smaller platforms do. Today, “it’s the smaller and more specialized platforms [that] are growing at the quickest rates, with Pinterest (+97%) and Tumblr (+94%),” (Mander). Facebook is no longer a one-stop shop because there are plenty other platforms that can handle our needs as consumers.
Another social media platform that I believe can target niche audiences would be Snapchat. On Snapchat you have to go find a person you want to follow, and now even some companies have accounts as well. Just yesterday Ben & Jerry’s announced that they had created new flavors but the only way to find out what they were, you had to follow them on Snapchat. Obviously I immediately followed because I am a major fan of Ben & Jerry’s. Even on a platform that shows pictures that last 10 seconds was a genius way to advertise their product. As it was perfectly pointed out, “Advertisers have a variety of creative resources,” with social media platforms (O’Malley). Companies can simply get their point across in under 10 seconds, opposed to a hit or miss 30-second video advertisement.
Ginnybakes was a perfect example to how effective social media can be towards promoting your business. There are a few small businesses that I myself follow on Instagram because others on social media promoted them. For example. Sarah Michelle Gellar promotes her company, foodstirs, and Reese Witherspoon has her clothing line, Draper James. I would have never heard about these companies without Instagram and constant conversation through people that I follow. Instagram has become the new place for business advertising and, “by 2017, Instagram’s ad revenues will grow more than four times in size to reach $2.39 billion,” (O’Malley). Who would have thought that Instagram would take over the advertisement game? With numbers like these, social media is definitely taking over, one like at a time.
Works Cited
Mander, Jason. "Pinterest and Tumblr Are the Fastest Growing Social Networks." Global Web Index, 11 May 2015. Web.
O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time For Brands." MediaPost, 4 Feb. 2016. Web.
I believe that each social media platform has a certain audience that matches their specific interest. For example: Me. I am a makeup artist and fashion obsessed. Instagram has become a platform for me to explore everything that I need to know regarding these interests. All I have to do is scroll through the explore page and follow my favorite fashion stylists, and makeup artists around the world. I don’t need to Google anything. Everything I need to know is found on Instagram. Most of the places I shop from come from Instagram. People have taken this app to their advantage and expanded their audience by creating online stores through this app. It’s truly phenomenal. Sometimes people ask me “where did you get those shoes” and I’ll respond with “Some boutique I found on Instagram”.
ReplyDeleteMakeup Artist, Amrezy, a huge Instagram “celebrity” used instagram to show her love and talent for makeup, by gaining so much popularity, she now has her own lipstick line that A-list celebrities use, and becomes sold out in an hour. Now, her brand, through LipLand, has her lipsticks famous across the country. Her main lipstick “Rezy” has been used and talked about on multiple Television Networks, shows, and hashtagged on Twitter along with pictures.
So when Kat said “Using social media is a perfect way to reach niche audiences effectively. This is especially true for smaller brands attempting to compete with larger companies.” – I think that is completely relevant to these men and women starting fashion start up’s. They are even marketing their brands as sponsored ads on your feed, even if you don’t ask for it. “By 2017, Instagram’s ad revenues will grow more than four times in size to reach $2.39 billion, according to recent estimates from eMarketer. By then, the mobile-first social network should represent nearly a third -- or 28% -- of Facebook’s total mobile ad revenues.”
I was a little shocked when I read that Pinterest and Tumblr are the fastest growing social media sites. Our society is clearly becoming expressive, especially through images. Even everything on Twitter and Instagram– if you type in a specific hashtag, what you will find will be mostly image driven.
Even though Facebook users are dropping, I still don’t believe the site with completely plummet. If you think about it – Facebook’s niche audience is coming from an older age demographic, where are Pinterest and Tumblr are coming from millennials and even young teens.
WORK CITED:
"Magazine Media Industry Releases Year-End Social Media Report." MPA: The Association for Magazine Media. 29 Jan. 2016. Web.