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10 Different Types Of Social Media?

Social media isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of service. There are different types of social media services that cater to different needs and accommodate various types of content. While some have overlap features, others are more specific in their use and the kind of services offered. As a brand or marketer, knowing the different types of social media is key to connecting with the right audience. It also influences the kind of content you use to connect with your audience.

Some social media platforms also have more active users daily and monthly than others. First, knowing what you want and the goals you hope to have through social media will help you in choosing the right type of social media platform. Also, engagement rates and means vary across all these platforms. To understand the types of social media, we must first understand what social media is in the first place.

Social media can be defined as any platform that allows you to share media such as pages, videos, or text in different formats. These platforms allow you to connect and communicate with people you know and even those you don’t know. Social media sites are now being used by businesses and marketers to reach a wider audience and sell their brands, products, and services. Marketers and business owners can now advertise products and services to many different people online to maximize the full potential of social media. The main factor that distinguishes the different types of social media is the type of content. So, with this, we will dive into the various types of social media.

Brand awareness and social media

Social media platforms help you build brand awareness, communicate with customers, build a niche audience, and increase sales without spending excessive amounts of your marketing budget. Useful content can attract more prospective customers, helping them to remember your brand.

Building a consistent brand on multiple social media websites allows you to create a successful presence while engaging with customers. You can use social media to answer customers’ questions, troubleshoot issues and inform them of any upcoming special events or sales.

What is social media?

Social media is a collective term for websites and applications that focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, content-sharing, and collaboration.

People use social media to stay in touch and interact with friends, family, and various communities. Businesses use social applications to market and promote their products and track customer concerns.

Business-to-consumer websites include social components, such as comment fields for users. Various tools help businesses track, measure and analyze the attention the company gets from social media, including brand perception and customer insight.

Social media has enormous traction globally. Mobile applications make these platforms easily accessible. Some popular examples of general social media platforms include Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

10 types of social media

Knowing the differences between types of social media and how users interact with them can help you engage more effectively with prospective customers. Here are some of the most popular types of social media:

1. Social Networking

The original social media platforms focused on networking and user interaction, with channels facilitating this among friends, peers, or industry professionals. Posts are mainly in written format and include shared images or videos. Social networking platforms are considered the original and established social media channels and have strong user bases and brand adoption. The demographic is generally older, including Baby Boomers and Generation X. Younger generations, such as Generation Z, opt for the newer releases and evolutions of social media, such as TikTok.

2. Image-based sites

Image-based types of content have gained more prominence in recent times. Content like infographics, illustrations, and images capture the attention of users more. Social media apps like Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat are designed to amplify the sharing of images. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and using this can have lots of positive effects.

As a business, you can encourage your audience to generate unique content as a way of engaging with your brand. You can also use pictures to tell personal stories, inspire, and engage with your audience. Businesses can also use these platforms to boost sales through shoppable posts and images. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest allow business accounts to post images that are linked to their shoppable items. Users are notified when they come across a post with a shopping link and can proceed to the merchant store to complete their transaction.

3. Video hosting platforms

Video hosting platforms give independent filmmakers, journalists, and other creators a way for their audiences to stream videos quickly and easily. Brands can use paid ads to reach new customers, they can ask influencers to use and talk about their products or they can film their own video content. Examples of video hosting platforms:

YouTube
TikTok
Snapchat
Vimeo
Instagram

4. Discussion forum

These channels take a community approach to asking questions or sharing ideas to stimulate discussion. These platforms are great for doing research and getting feedback.

Reddit is well known for its strong anti-advertising users, so brands should be cautious before trying to leverage for any self-promotion.

5. Sharing economy networks

These sites give people access to resources by encouraging them to share goods and services. For example, a sharing economy site focused on pets could help a user find someone willing to take care of their dog while on vacation.

It would be less costly than a kennel and more comfortable for the pet. If your company sells pet toys or food, you could gain new customers by advertising, perhaps by offering promotions of your products or services for users to try. Examples of sharing economy networks:

Lending Club
Couchsurfing
Eatwith

6. Blogs and community platforms

Blogs are a great way for businesses and marketers to reach and provide credible information to their target audience. Platforms like Tumblr and Medium allow users to create a community where people with similar interests can follow them and read all they have to say about certain topics.

Businesses can create blogs on these platforms or on their website to provide more information about the brand. Curating content that also answers questions and allows customers to freely express their views not only establishes you as an expert but also shows your brand is relatable.

7. Consumer review networks

These sites display customers’ reviews of businesses, giving users a full perspective of the type of services and products offered and the overall satisfaction rate. Customer reviews can help you identify any common problems that many people share and allow you to improve their experiences over time.

Promoting positive reviews and thoughtfully handling negative ones can make your business more popular and boost brand awareness. Examples of consumer review networks:

TripAdvisor
Yelp
OpenTable
Google My Business

8. Video sharing

Video content is one of the most captivating and engaging forms of content. Marketers and businesses have said that they have seen tremendous benefits in using videos. This form of content aids assimilation and understanding, hence why it is largely preferred by users. One major platform that reshaped how people interact with video content is YouTube. With over one billion active users monthly, the platform sometimes serves as a search engine for most users.

People often search for all kinds of things and find video content that answers their questions. As a business or brand, this kind of content can be used to engage with customers, promote a new product, answer questions, or shed light on features and packages. There are many ways businesses can benefit from such platforms. Aside from having a channel and putting out content, marketers can advertise on these platforms as well. Ads are placed in between videos and advertisements have said they have gotten higher click rates.

9. Bookmarking networks

Bookmarking networks are platforms where users save different ideas, articles, posts, and other content for later use. Many people also share links to lists of online resources. The purpose of these websites is to discover new content based on shared interests and to discuss trends.

You can use these networks to direct people to your website and engage with and influence their opinion by sharing your own content to bookmark. Examples of bookmarking networks:

Feedly
Flipboard
Pocket
StumbleUpon
Pinterest

10. Social shopping networks

These networks help people spot trends, share great finds, make purchases and follow their favorite brands. They focus on e-commerce, and the social element makes it engaging and entertaining. These social shopping sites are ideal for building awareness about your brand and selling to a wider audience.

Many of them let hobbyists and small business owners sell their art, jewelry, crafts, and other items. Sellers are able to reach customers who are looking for unique, handmade products. Other social shopping networks offer home-related products along with content about home improvement, making them interest-based networks as well.

Many social networks now also include social shopping elements. People can sell items to their friends, followers, and other buyers near them, making it much easier to get rid of old appliances and furniture. Examples of social shopping networks: