During the past several years, there has been a meteoric rise in the number of advertisers adopting social media platforms as central pillars of their advertising campaigns, with Facebook being the main platform in this area. We’re looking to widen our net and connect with an even wider range of people by including some fresh and exciting new channels into your paid social plan.

Of course, not every platform is going to be a good fit for every client or product, so there are three main questions you should ask yourself before diving into platform testing:

1. For whom are you writing, or who do you hope to write?
2. How does this data compare to the user base of each service?
3. Do the platform’s offerings mesh with your marketing strategy?

How well equipped are you to test the platform? If you already have creative work, for instance, would it function, or do you need to consider creating platform-specific assets?

In light of these considerations, we have singled out three channels that might greatly benefit from becoming a part of your sponsored social strategy.

1. TikTok

TikTok’s meteoric rise to fame over the past year is no surprise given the platform’s focus on providing its artists with the tools they need to make the most cutting-edge videos possible. TikTok had 2 billion downloads by the end of 2020, and it now has 689 million active users per month throughout the world.

Creative is a major factor in the success of a TikTok advertising campaign. This point cannot be overstated: the quality of the creative work uploaded to TikTok is crucial. This needs to have a native feel and fit in with the aesthetic of the platform at the time. If they don’t, you’ll be a glaring outlier.

You may use a variety of placements on TikTok, including managed services and self-serve auctions, and there are upcoming Alpha and Beta versions, so there is reason to be optimistic.

Important factors to think about while organising a TikTok event:

• Promote your business on TikTok with videos shot in the native app. There is a 25% boost in the view-through rate after 6 seconds for ads filmed in the vertical orientation.
• Put in a compelling offer or call to action: Make your call to action brief and sweet by employing first-person, straightforward language.
• It’s time to let the TikTok artists run the show. TikTok creators are the ones most familiar with the platform, therefore trust them with the ad.

2. SnapChat

Snap, at its core, is a camera manufacturer that revolutionised interpersonal communication. To this day, over a decade after its inception, it remains at the vanguard of some of the most entertaining and cutting-edge advertising goods that connect and bring people together. Augmented reality (AR) and lenses are two of its primary advertising solutions, and they allow companies to communicate with consumers in a more lighthearted and enjoyable way.

Over 75% of U.S. millennials and Gen Z users have access to Snap, whereas in the UK, 70% of millennials and Gen Z users have. Despite its younger user base, Snap gives brands a chance to reach a new audience and present themselves in a way that makes sense on the app.

Snap has seen great progress in the e-commerce industry with the help of its DPA, Shoppable AR, and Collection advertisements products. Companies such as Gucci and Farfetch have embraced these new opportunities to interact with their customers in innovative ways, especially during COVID moments, and the results have been positive.

Make use of music, and display all necessary components, in the first two to three seconds, while conducting an ad campaign on Snap.
If you want to keep exploring and expanding your creative horizons, keep trying out various formats.

3. Reddit

It’s true that Reddit is an unexpected option, but it’s also one of the top 20 most visited websites, and its users are generally unique among social media sites. Coupled with the fact that most Reddit visitors have a specific goal in mind rather than just mindlessly browsing, this implies the site’s readership is highly predisposed to care about the topics being discussed.

Focusing on a smaller subreddit community can increase your chances of success and help you determine if Reddit is a good fit for your brand or product, but it will reduce your reach. Following that, you might decide to broaden your efforts by targeting a larger audience.

Things to think about before launching a campaign on Reddit:

Learn how to locate Subreddits that will most effectively connect your brand with its intended audience.
Make sure your company’s brand or product resonates with the interests of your intended market and that you’re using this information to create content that is unique to each individual customer.
Prove that you’re familiar with the Reddit community by addressing them in an appropriate manner.

Discretionary Reflections

While Facebook will still play a major role in most marketers’ media mix, the aforementioned alternatives provide fantastic openings for experimenting with other platforms and methods of audience engagement. Since you have nothing to lose, why not try them out?