Niche Platforms and Social Strategy
Now, more than ever, we are connected all across the internet and social media. In recent years, shifts have occurred on social media and the ways in which we connect with one another. Niche social media platforms provide users with a place dedicated to conversations and content centered around specific ideas or beliefs and common interests or hobbies. People use these platforms as a way to connect with others with similar interests, learn more about a topic, or immerse themselves in a community of likeminded individuals (Rashid, 2017). These types of platforms allow for a passionate and dedicated community to be built completely online, which has been especially beneficial during lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions in the past year (Needleman, 2020). Understanding the dedication of a niche platform’s users and where their interests lie is important to determining how a brand or company will fit into the community, either as a common user or for marketing purposes.
Because social platforms like Facebook and Instagram have no primary focus to their posts or collective website content, important information can get lost or misconstrued through the millions of different perspectives present on the platforms. The dedicated nature of niche platforms, on the other hand, centers around a singular topic or theme. Understanding how a niche platform works, what it values, and what type of customers can be found there can boost a brand’s social strategy. Smaller, concentrated niche platforms like Nextdoor, Untappd, and Goodreads have a specified purpose that give people a reason to return to the website. This platform answers questions and puts people in contact with other likeminded people or brands.
Niche platforms typically have high engagement rates, especially compared to other larger social media platforms. Though the audience may be smaller, it is mighty. The individuals on these sites have a genuine interest in what the platform offers. Brands can utilize this strong, dedicated user base to connect with people on a more personalized and concentrated level. Unlike the passive, mindless time that people spend on a medium like Facebook, many people turn to a platform that caters directly to their niche interest or hobby to answer their questions or to join a community of others like them (McHugh, 2018). Companies have an opportunity, then, to find a niche audience that aligns with their brand to best cater to and meet the needs of said audience via the niche platform.
Reaching a target audience more directly and with a larger possibility for high returns on investment is attractive to companies marketing a particular product or service and can help in getting the most engagement on their ads (Kröpfl, 2019). A niche platform already services a particular demographic or segmentation of people, so the work of getting to know an audience and their interests or pain points is already done. There is often less competition in the marketing field and companies have the opportunity to speak directly to a platform user’s unique wants or needs.
For a company to find a good fit between their brand and the platform, they must assess what particular aspect of their brand best matches up with the niche interests represented on the social media platform and utilize that aspect to leverage their approach. For example, Twitch, a video game streaming community, has a younger and more male-heavy audience (Lai, n.d.). Brands should consider these demographics, along with the gaming aspect of Twitch, to determine how successful their marketing would be on the platform.
Just as niche platforms hone in on a specific topic, so too should a brand’s social strategy. In 2018, KFC partnered with Twitch influencers and joined in on livestreams and comment sections to give away free food (How brands like KFC, South Park & more are marketing with top Twitch influencers, n.d.). This partnership not only increased awareness of the fast-food restaurant and its products to relevant audiences, it gave KFC a presence on the platform and presented new connections between the restaurant and target audiences. This particular campaign did, however, find itself facing racist usage of KFC’s emoticons and features by some online trolls which led to discussions of how the platform controls and monitors such commentary (LizardRock, 2018).
While marketers on Twitch rely heavily on partnerships, other brands may use niche platforms differently to effectively run their social media strategy. Because each social media platform operates differently, has different audiences, and runs ads in unique ways, it is important for companies to make appropriate adjustments to ads and cater them to the platform on which they are to be seen. Niche platforms open up new possibilities for leads and create strong community ties between individuals and brands alike.
References
How brands like KFC, South Park & more are marketing with top Twitch influencers. (n.d.). MediaKix. https://mediakix.com/blog/brands-marketing-top-twitch-influencers/.
Kröpfl, C. (2019, August 29). 6 social media niches with potential — How to reach your target group through niche platforms. Swat.io. https://swat.io/en/strategize/social-media-niche-platforms/#:~:text=%20Examples%20of%20promising%20niche%20platforms%20%201,for%20gamers.%20This%20is%20because%20the...%20More%20.
Lai, S. (n.d.). Why Twitch is no longer a niche platform. Influencer Orchestration Network. https://www.ion.co/why-twitch-is-no-longer-a-niche-platform.
LizardRock. (2018, March 28). KFC promotion unintentionally enables racism on Twitch: An already existing problem on the platform. Gamerz Unite. https://www.gamerzunite.com/kfc-promotion-unintentionally-enables-racism-on-twitch#.YL1PrPlKjIU.
McHugh, M. (2018, July 16). Will niche social networks save us from all-encompassing online networks, or just replace them? The Ringer. https://www.theringer.com/tech/2018/7/16/17576802/niche-social-networks-alltrails-untappd-runkeeper.
Needleman, S. E. (2020, April 24). From running and fiction to baking and videogames: Social networking goes niche. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-running-and-fiction-to-baking-and-videogames-social-networking-goes-niche-11587720604.
Rashid, B. (2017, May 6). Are niche social media sites the beginning of a new trend? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianrashid/2017/05/06/are-niche-social-media-sites-the-beginning-of-a-new-trend/?sh=46a939903804.
