COVID 19 has replaced socializing in real life with video chats on the phone. Changing patterns of communicating and reaching out to people have brought a rise in the use of social media platforms.
Thus, the people, in general, and the businesses in particular, are struggling to get noticed. A lot of important communication broadcasted by the business on social media is getting lost in the horde of voices clamoring these platforms.
To add to the dismay, improper practices of data leaks leading to a privacy breach, and prevalence of fake news and fake IDs on Facebook kind of platforms have broken their spell further.
Another reason that social media platforms are facing heat from the advertisers is ad fatigue. There is a flow of ads, and people are simply feeling irritated with this overload of information coming there way.
Facebook has reported a loss of about 2.8 million users, including advertisers in the last year, which points to the diminishing popularity of such platforms. In such a scenario, niche social networking communities have got the attention of severe marketers and influencers.
Niche social networking is nothing but a social media platform designed with the purpose of bringing people together with like minds and common goals. We all have seen the reputation of LinkedIn and its role in the lives of the job searchers and recruiters.
Taking a cue from the popularity of this social networking platform, perhaps, developers translated the concept to other purposes too. Now, there are platforms that are aimed at the accomplishment of a specific purpose or connecting with people that mean pure business same as yours.
Top 3 advantages of niche social networking communities are:
Effective Message Reach
Reaching the right people has become more important than reaching more people. Given the deluge of worrying information about COVID 19, both fake and real, on social media, there is an urgent need to shift to the places of interaction where works and dreams are still the topics of conversation. Businesses that have identified their niche and TAs can make use of these platforms to ensure effective message distribution.
Ad-free Experience
While social media are struggling to get through the ad fatigue mentioned above, niche social networking can make use of cleaners interfaces free from ads. It is quite likely that people may not mind paying a membership fee or subscription charge instead of the quality of experience they get in these ad-free premises.
Getting Unquantifiable Loyalty
Social media marketing has just reduced to likes, follows, and shares. These metrics have nothing to do with conversions. They are simply increasing the probability, but are never the sure-fire tellers of campaign success.
A campaign’s success depends mostly on loyalty, conversions, and repeat orders. Thus, shifting the focus from normal parameters that niche social networks allow to do, the businesses can take stock of bigger and better pictures.
Check: Social Networking Business Model – NextDoor
Examples of Niche Social Networking Communities
There are plenty of niche social networks for passionate users, united by specific topics or locations.
Some of the successful niche social marketing platforms that have emerged as game changers for businesses in recent times are:
- Houzz – This is where you can find everything you need to know about the home improvement solutions developed using materials in hand. With 40 million users and 1.5 million professionals, this platform is a cut above.
- Dribbble – Dribbble has reached the figure of 4.8 million users in 2017 and the number is increasing since then. It is an invite-only site for the designers.
- Care2 – If you have the products or processes that are green and you love being the part of nature conservation causes, you can find your audience at Care2. With 43 million users, this platform is going steady.
- Behance – It is the platform that discovers creative works. People build profiles in Behance and follow other members of Behance. You can see the updates of members you follow in the For You page.
- AllRecipes – The members of the AllRecipes community can post recipes. The categories are arranged according to the season, type, and ingredients. They also support finding meal ideas for the holidays.
- Gentlemint – It is a free social networking site. The members can upload links to contents through collections and also it considers media such as photos, videos, etc. Its purpose is on sharing links, photos, videos, contents based on ‘manly’ content.
- Goodreads – It is a book review and recommendations site. It allows users to add books, rate, and review books. It also let them search for books, annotations, and reviews. The user can participate in discussions and get reading choices based on reviews.
- Kaboodle – It is a free social network for people who like to shop. The mission of Kaboodle is to help people recommend, discover, and share products. It also offers different tools to organize their shopping and to find the best prices.
- Ravelry – It is a free community site for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers. The site helps users to organize, share, and discover within the community. It is an easy place to share information and knowledge about knitting, crocheting, and more and a place to find new patterns from new users.
- Flixster – It is a free community site for movie fans. The site provides information on movies, actor profiles, fan clubs, movie news, popular movie video clips, and interactive features like forums and quizzes.
So, while respecting the position of global social media and its reach, businesses must start including niche social networking platforms in their marketing plans to refine their efforts.
Check: How to create a social networking site?
Do you have a plan of building your own social networking site? If yes our iScripts Socialware can help you build according to your requirements.
