The
potential of social media platforms is hard to overlook. You can
share your photos and videos, post blogs, stream a video, and more.
With such huge benefits provided by the social media platforms, it is
evident that you should use one or a couple of these to stay ahead of
your competitors in 2020.

However,
there are lots of social media platforms out there that may sometimes
overwhelm you when it comes to choosing one out of this humongous
list. As a digital marketer, you will need to choose the best
platform to make a statement and experiment with the immense
opportunities that it provides.

Therefore,
you may ask the best way to choose a social media platform that will
amp up your brand voice and help you to stay ahead of your
competition is. Here is a list of some of the most popular and a few
other rising social media platforms to choose based on its features
and your need.

Most
popular and major platforms

Start with
the common social media platforms that most people choose either for
personal reasons or for business use.

• Facebook
  – This is the most popular and largest site on social media for
  brands to promote their products by sharing texts, images, videos,
  and links with their friends.
  
  
• 
  Instagram – The second most popular social site for
  business promotions allows not only to buy
  real Instagram views but also to get more
  followers organically using Instagram Stories and Live broadcasts.
  
• Twitter
  – This is the best site to engage in a conversation and stay on
  top of the most trending topics.
  
• Tumblr
  – This is the site where you can join communities and exchange
  cultural dialogues to promote your ideas
  
• LinkedIn
  – A site for B2B audience and
  professionals, it helps in expanding connections, showcasing
  portfolios, and searching and applying for jobs.
  
• WhatsApp
  – This is a messaging app that allows sharing texts, images, audio
  files, voice notes, videos, and documents.
  
• Snapchat
  – This visual platform is popular among the young generation and
  functions just like WhatsApp and Instagram.
  
  
• Pinterest
  – Another highly visual social site that allows brands to create
  themed boards, add images, and Shoppable Pins.
  
• Reddit
  – This site allows users to engage, downvote or upvote and comment
  on relevant topics.
  

And, of
course, there is YouTube, the largest video sharing site in the
world. You can upload or view videos as well as interact with them.

The
lesser known ones

Moving on
from the significant sites, here are a few social media sites that
are lesser know but are equally useful to try out.

• TikTok
  has created a craze since 2019 because it does not accentuate vanity
  metrics ad allow sharing 15-second video clips with music in the
  background that is licensed from record labels and artists.
  
• Lasso,
  on the other hand, is Facebook’s take on TikTok and is a
  standalone app to share short videos, typically for 15 seconds,
  involving music, beauty, fitness, and others.
  
• Vero is
  more like an antidote to Instagram and Facebook and is a
  photo-sharing app that has no algorithm or ads which highlight the
  privacy of the users.
  
• Caffeine
  is the latest social networking site and extends beyond the
  peripheries of gaming and includes entertainment and sports space.
  
  
• Steemit
  is another relatively new social site based on blockchain technology
  and resembles Reddit to some extent with its unique feature of
  rewarding the users with ‘STEEM,’ its inherent virtual currency.
  

Choose one
among these, depending on whether you want to restrict your social
activities to gaming and videos.

The
rising ones

There are a
few social media sites that are gaining popularity pretty fast due to
its notable features. Some of these that have the potential to top
the charts are:

• Telegram
  – One of the best apps for texting this site has the most
  stringent privacy policy and security, making it different.
  
• Meet Up
  – It is expected to make big this year, which allows users to
  explore events and groups by category and save them from revisiting
  later on.
  
• WeChat
  – This is a free and all-in-one social media app that allows
  calling, messaging, shopping online, making payments and
  reservations, booking taxis, and more.
  
• Tapebook
  – This new site allows users to engage only through short audio
  and video files to share talents, live music, travel stories, cover
  songs, podcasts, or show your teaching skills.
  
• QQ
  Messenger – This site allows you to create a short video or
  capture an area of your screen and share it with your contacts
  instantly.
  
• Viber –
  This free messaging app is fast growing in popularity also allows
  users to make phone calls using a secure Wi-Fi connection or a data
  plan.
  
• Line –
  This app is reshaping the communication world with its video and
  video calls feature and text messages. It also comes with a large
  variety of stickers to express your emotions.
  

Then there
is Tinder that you can use as per your requirements and Whisper,
which will change your social media experience entirely. You may also
use SinaWeibo to find out the topics that are presently trending on
the internet.

The best
ones for marketers

Here are a
few social media apps and tools that are specifically useful for
marketers. The list includes:

• Planoly
• Crello
• Facebook Pages Manager App
• Fastory
• Captiona
• Storyheap
• Hootsuite Composer
• Botletter
• Canva
• Story Slicer
• Apple Clips
• Campsite
• CutStory for Instagram Stories
• Adobe Premiere Clip
• Keyhole
• Hootsuite Analytics and
• Hemingway app.

Most of
these apps are easy to use and will help you to create social content
that is not only easy to use but also more effective.

Summing
it up

With so many
social sites to choose from, it is natural that you may be a little
inclined to go for the biggest ones. Well, there are good reasons for
it. Instagram is a powerhouse for promoting one particular brand,
Facebook ensure higher engagement as Twitter, LinkedIn will gain more
traction, and Snapchat works best for the young demographic.

Therefore,
select your social site depending on the specific niche that will
reflect your brand in the best possible way.