The Best Social Media Sites for Marketing in 2021

These days, it feels like the internet and the world of digital marketing are highly unpredictable. Trends come and go overnight, people’s favor can be won or lost in a single post, and popularity feels effervescent. So, marketing is constantly changing, and any good marketer will know that a big part of the job is rolling with the flow.

The flow is currently strongly driven by social media, and in particular, a few frontrunners that are dominating the space today. These social media sites are the best platforms for online marketing right now and can cater to a vast array of niches and marketing tactics. 

The king of social media platforms might have run into a spate of privacy violation issues as of late, but this monarch is far from being overthrown. With new features, like stories, constantly being added, the platform keeps things fresh and competitive for marketers. Plus, the Facebook Business Manager makes it easy to reach out to an audience and keep track of everything.

On top of that, Facebook still boasts an impressive analytics breakdown that provides all the essential information in one place. So, it’s safe to say that this site won’t be falling out of favor anytime soon. 

Partnering with social media influencers is still considered one of the best marketing tactics out there. And Instagram houses a vast multitude of different influencers with dedicated followers. 

The app also provides its own set of helpful ad features, some of which can be used through Facebook Business Manager. And like Facebook, Instagram continues to innovate and stays popular across a wide spectrum of audiences.

TikTok’s meteoric rise during the pandemic has been well documented, and it doesn’t look like the platform is slowing down anytime soon. TikTok is expected to grow to over 1.2 billion users in 2021 and more in the next 5 years. It’s particularly popular with the younger crowd, which provides an excellent opportunity to reach that audience segment organically.

TikTok also provides a valuable opportunity to partner with some incredible influencers, and it’s exciting to see the growth in this area. Not to mention the chance to create amazing content using the platform’s short video formula with all the filters and effects it provides. 

Who knew it was possible to get so much done in less than 280 characters? Brands have managed to build impressive followings on this platform via casual and organic engagement with their followers.

Twitter has its beloved influencers, but people also enjoy following and engaging with brands on the platform. It’s still the best way to keep audiences informed about the company and build a direct one-to-one connection.

Video continues to be a fantastic medium for brand content, which is why most social platforms have started incorporating it in some way. YouTube has managed to keep its ranking as the #1 video platform, with billions of hours of content being watched every month.

YouTube also provides many different ways to approach marketing, including partnering with influencers, showing ads on videos, and creating a fully-fledged channel. Each of these options brings its unique opportunities (and challenges!). Either way, there’s the chance to get the brand in front of millions of eyes, as well as to tailor content for different niche audiences.

Streaming is massive right now, especially among millennials and gen z. While Twitch focuses on gaming-related content , there are some other types of streams, including travel, music, leisure, art, and food.

The pandemic saw many people flocking to platforms like Twitch, where they streamed hours upon hours of content. That makes this a lucrative opportunity for brands to partner with existing content creators who are now seeing an uptick in viewership.

Some people tend to forget that LinkedIn isn’t just a good place to connect with industry peers and recruiters. It's also an exciting space for marketing. LinkedIn singlehandedly drives more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites & blogs.

Unlike most of the other social media platforms mentioned here, LinkedIn does require a very different approach. Despite that, brands who manage to post valuable content consistently achieve a lot of engagement. And because the platform isn’t such a big focus for many marketers, there are many opportunities to thrive here.

Marketing on Reddit can be tricky, as the platform continues to be antagonistic towards any overt or direct marketing. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth pursuing, however. Reddit is an extremely popular social media platform right now, and its likeability continues to grow. Reddit’s daily active user count increased by 44% in 2020 alone.

The brands that do manage to navigate the marketing minefield that is Reddit see immense success. It provides a fantastic opportunity to target specific niche audiences and provide them with more long-form content.

Social media isn’t just a dangerous place because public opinion can turn so quickly. It’s also a security nightmare. But marketers who stay vigilant and stick to cybersecurity basics rarely have anything to worry about. Here are some things to keep in mind:

- Always use unique, strong passwords for every account. If they need to be shared within the team, do so via a password manager so that they aren’t written down or stored anywhere insecure.

- Enable two-factor authentication for all accounts.

- Don’t be afraid to block fake accounts and trolls.

- Be careful about oversharing, i.e., posting a photo of the office with people’s PC screens in the background.

- Don’t click on links sent by people on social media.

- Keep emails encrypted.

- Use a VPN to keep internet connections private. It’s essential to use a VPN for Windows PC and other devices that are used for work. For example, hackers love targeting phones via websites and apps to get into the more valuable accounts because everyone uses them.

Social media marketing continues to be a powerful and valuable avenue for brands that want to connect with their audiences. It’s an essential space to be in for any company, regardless of the industry, these days.

These social media sites are some of the top platforms used by billions of people across the globe every day. They’re incredibly popular right now, and by all accounts, will still be around in the next 5 years at least.