The age of Myspace is long gone. People claim Twitter is dying. Facebook is under scrutiny by the government, and Instagram has quickly become overrun with advertisements, scams, and an algorithm to overcome. As a marketer, it’s up to you to know what’s out there in the digital world, what your competition is doing, and how you can utilize the tools and technology available to reach your customers and prospects where they are. In this blog, we’ll explore three up-and-coming social media platforms.
1. Vero
Alternative to: Instagram
Overview:
Vero is the main contender to the digital media sharing behemoth known only as Instagram. This app allows for easy sharing of movies, TV, music, books, places, photos, and links. This opens up the “collection” to help build a better profile of the individual. It is an excellent tool for artists who want to release their own art and share it with others. Also, there are no ads on Vero. Only content. And speaking of content, you can set who you share your content with through four options: close friend, friend, acquaintance, and followers. This opens up our virtual socializing in a way that mirrors real life privacy. I believe this is a simple but sweet improvement that will bring Vero a solid customer base.
My Thoughts on the Platform:
I have been using Vero for about two months now, and I have to say that it has incredible potential. The app opens with a feed view of posts. It is divided at the top starting with a “search” function to look up other users and content within Vero. The next button over is a “dashboard” which will show your photo, connections, followers, and has links to your posts, requests, and settings.
The next section is my favorite as it is something Instagram does not have: collections. You can divide your posts into photos/videos, links, music, movies/tv, books, and places. The next tab is notifications, and then there is a chat section for all of your friends. I love the fact that you can determine who sees your posts with a swipe of the finger. The ability to create and share in unique ways makes me believe this to potentially be the next phone social media king.
Takeaways for Marketers:
Without the ability to advertise, this would be a tool that would be used as a research and discovery platform. With it, you could uncover what matters to your broader customer base or seek inspiration for a new campaign. Don’t underestimate the power of browsing to spark your creativity.
2. Musical.ly
Alternative to: Snapchat/Vine
Overview:
Coming in from the Eastern Hemisphere, this Chinese built app is structured to replace Snapchat. Musical.ly differs from Snapchat in that it focuses on 15 seconds to 1-minute videos. Also, you can choose soundtracks to accompany the video and use different speed effects and filters. Using Musical.ly, you can also create shorter videos called “live moments,” which are essentially GIFS with music. Users can also “remuse” sounds created by other users and interact with others through “Ask a Question,” “Duet,” and “Best Fan Forever” features.
My Thoughts on the Platform:
Musical.ly opens into a feed of videos. You can swipe up to go to the next video or click the heart on the right to like, click the chat button to leave a comment, and hit the arrow button to share via other social media channels, email, or text. In addition, most videos are enhanced with songs; users can find the same song used in other videos by hitting the spinning record on the bottom right. At the bottom of the app are Home, Search, Add New, Notification, and Account buttons. Overall, Musical.ly is a great alternative to Snapchat and Vine as it has a more connected community and more features to edit your videos. I recommend it!
Takeaways for Marketers:
With new ways to edit short and snackable videos, Musical.ly can offer additional opportunities for social media marketers to create new and exciting videos to engage their audience.
3. Steemit
Alternative to: Reddit
Overview:
What in the world is the obsession with upvotes? And how many buckets of “likes” does it take to buy a Ferrari? What I’m saying is, if you’re creating so much content then why aren’t you getting paid for it? This is the question that the individuals over at Steemit are attempting to solve with their new social media platform. It is run on the Steem blockchain with STEEM cryptocurrency. This stores the content in an immutable blockchain ledger and rewards users for their contributions with digital STEEM tokens.
Here are the ways you can earn STEEM tokens:
Posting: By sharing your posts, you can gain upvotes from community members. Depending on the upvotes you receive, you may get a portion of the “rewards pool.”
Voting and curating: If you discover a post and upvote it before it becomes popular, you can earn a curation reward. The reward amount will depend on the amount of Steem Power you have.
Purchasing: Users can purchase STEEM or Steem Dollar tokens directly using bitcoin, Ether, or BitShares tokens. They are also available from other markets and exchanges including Binance, BitShares, Bittrex, BlockTrades, Changelly, GOPAX, HitBTC, Poloniex, Shapeshift.io, and UpBit.
Interest: STEEM tokens that are “powered up” to STEEM Power (SP) will be considered vested interest into the company and will earn the user a small amount of interest in the form of additional SP. To unlock SP and convert all or parts of it back to STEEM, you have to start a “Power Down” process; this moves 1/13th of the STEEM Power back into Steem (which is spendable) per week over 13 weeks.
My Thoughts on the Platform:
Steemit is one of those grand ideas that might be a little before its time, but only time (and money) will tell. The idea that we could gain money from posts and upvotes is incredible, but it is also limited by its lack of customer base. A partnership with an already established platform such as Reddit or Facebook could help gain a robust support/marketing system.
Takeaways for Marketers:
A monetized content competition powered by cryptocurrency? This platform could have huge implications for marketers if a partnership with an established platform occurred. And it poses an interesting question: would marketers need to begin buying ad space with Steemit tokens or government regulated currency?
The best part about being a marketer is being a part of the ever-evolving technological advancements that this world has to offer. With the opportunity to innovate at every turn and constant product development happening, there is great potential for marketers to engage their audience in new and exciting ways.
Are there any other up-and-coming social media platforms that I missed? Tell me about them in the comments.