When you visit the App Store or Google Play and search “social media,” there are hundreds of apps to choose from. But, as the pool of social platforms grows, will any of them change the game for marketers this year?

The truth is, probably so. The year 2020 changed the way we did just about everything — including socializing. Social distancing became a familiar part of our lives leaving a void for personalized communication we used to have in-person.

Nevertheless, humans are adaptable, and several new social networking sites have emerged in the last twelve months to recreate the communities we’ve had to abandon abruptly.

For each platform, we’ll walk you through how it works, its user base, why it might be promising to marketers later on, and how you should approach it today.

1. PALSCITY

Palscity is one of the new social media apps and unique in its own way, a platform built by Oracom Group designers based in Kenya that allows you to network and connect. 

The App looks promising as it connects families and friends, creates and connects people to opportunities nearby. The Platform is unique in the way that it advocates for free speech, focuses on protecting user’s rights, and connects people in their cities. 

The platform is cleverly created in a way that it blends with features available on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn as well as YouTube, and Netflix.

The App helps you to create your city of friends, community, and enjoy content and news in real-time. Apply moderation tools to filter content. Empower yourself to control your social experience and be a verified member of the community! What are you waiting for? Join today.

2. TikTok

In 2018, the lip-syncing app, Musical.ly merged with a similar one-year-old app called TikTok. Since then, TikTok has reportedly reached 1 billion active monthly users. With more than 2.6 billion global downloads, TikTok is now more popular in app stores than Facebook, Instagram, and other prominent social media platforms.

For those who remember Vine or Musical.ly, TikTok is like a mix of the two. The platform allows you to film short videos that play on a repetitive loop just like Vine. But, like Musical.ly or Snapchat, you can add fun effects, AR filters, text, and musical overlays to zest things up. Like similar video platforms, it has been primarily adopted by users under 30 years old.

Once you make a video, the app also allows you to optimize it by adding hashtags that can make it easier to find via search.

One way hashtags have been embraced on TikTok is through its “Challenges” tab. This area of the platform prompts you to propose a challenge with a themed hashtag. When you post a video that responds to a challenge, you can include the corresponding hashtag so those following the challenge can see your videos.

At the moment, fashion, publishing, and entertainment companies are starting to play with TikTok. As the platform grows, we might see it expand to other industries that can get creative and visual with their marketing tactics.

While you might not want to focus all of your social media resources on TikTok just yet, it’s a great time to familiarize yourself with the app and start experimenting with a few fun videos. You could also try to brainstorm a few challenges or video ideas that could align well with your brand and the platform’s young audience. If you see any brands that are in a similar space as you, follow them for some added inspiration.

3.Twitter Spaces

You may not have heard of this one yet (it was just released in December 2020), but it’s picking up steam fairly quickly. Similar to Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces is a beta version of the app’s newest audio feature. This voice chat alternative to the social platform’s traditional 280-character tweets is open to anyone with an iOS device, but only a select group of people chosen by Twitter can create their own space to start a conversation.

While the app is similar to Clubhouse, Twitter is venturing into this new audio-only territory to discover opportunities and threats in this type of community. The clubhouse has addressed its challenges with enforcing community standards – an opportunity Twitter wants to figure out to make the platform safe for everyone.

Although this social tool probably won’t be a good fit for you or your business anytime soon, it is fascinating to watch in real-time. Even if you can’t use Twitter Spaces, perhaps you’ll be inspired by the team’s human-centered approach to developing the feature.

4. Instagram Reels

We can’t deny that TikTok changed the game for social media since its debut in 2018. It’s still on our list this year as the platform continues to reinvent itself and expand into new audiences.

Reels is now in direct competition with TikTok, offering a similar video creation functionality. Instagram users can create videos adorned with special effects, music, and transitions notorious for keeping users in a loop.

How can reels work for your business? Everything from sharing product releases to how-to guides, Reels can be an engaging method for brands to make a presence with the Gen Z audience.

Not sure how to leverage this new Instagram feature? Start with your brand. Reels are a fun type of content that can display your brand’s personality. You don’t need fancy camera equipment or a director to publish content that has the viral factor. If your team simply can’t produce this content yet, consider tapping an industry influencer to create reels on your behalf.

5.Facebook

Facebook is currently the largest social media site in the world. With 2.6 billion monthly active users as of 2020, it’s safe to say that nearly every social media user is on Facebook. So, it’s an excellent platform for brands to market their products to a huge audience.

Users can share text posts, links, images, and videos with their Facebook friends. They can follow famous people and pages and react to people’s posts on the platform. Brands can also promote their products using paid ads on Facebook.

 6.Instagram

Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social networking platforms. While it is mostly app-based, users can also access their feed through the website version. In June 2020, it finally reached 2 billion monthly active users.

Instagram is a highly visual platform, where users share videos and images. You can also use Instagram Stories and Live features. It is very popular among the younger generations. According to Statista, 32% of users are aged between 18 and 24, and 33% are aged between 25 and 34.

7.WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a messaging app that lets users share text messages, images, voice notes, audio files, documents, and videos. It has grown exponentially over the years and had about 2 billion monthly users as of March 2020. Along with its growing user base, the platform has also introduced many new features to make interactions easier among users.

While users could only make one-on-one calls before, it now has a group calling feature. They also introduced a WhatsApp Status feature that allowed users to update photos, videos, and text statuses that disappeared after 24 hours. As of Q1 of 2019, 500 million users were updating their WhatsApp Statuses daily. 

Conclusion

Kenya’s No 1 Social Media Platform Palscity is a young platform that I see dominating the space and has a huge potential. If you’re looking to connect with more people in your city and market your products and services then don’t miss out by joining.

There are over 100 of the most popular social media sites that you should know about in 2021. If you’re a marketer, some of these platforms can help you promote your brand and products. They can also help you expand your network. If you’re an influencer or a consumer, you can use these sites to connect with like-minded individuals and build better connections.

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