15 Niche Social Media Platforms to Elevate Your Brand Presence in 2024
Believe it not, there are other social media platforms beyond the “Big 6.” Audiences are finding other platforms to flock to that provide new experiences, boast different form factors and have communities and content that their looking for. While some of these platforms would never be considered niche by their beloved users, they are often left out of the social media manager’s staple diet. Consider these platforms as your supplements. The big sites — Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok — are your core food groups, essential for building strength and reaching a wide audience. But just as you wouldn’t rely solely on grains and beans, you can supplement your diet with smaller, niche platforms like Nextdoor, Discord or BeReal.
These smaller, more niche social media platforms can offer that breath of fresh air that brands and social media marketers seek and provide additional ways to connect with their audience. Here are 14 platforms with opportunities for your brand to thrive in a crowded online space.
1. Google Business
Most wouldn’t consider Google My Business a social platform, but when it comes to engaging and informing your customers this is the first place most everyone looks. It’s effective at boosting local SEO, and customers are 70% more likely to visit a business with a complete Google Business profile.
How to Use It: With the ability to add posts underneath your profile, it’s an easy and effective way to keep your customers informed, especially new and potential ones who follow the first thing they click on (because let’s be honest who doesn’t).
2. Reddit
Founded in 2005, the long-time internet staple for answering your very specific questions hit over a billion monthly active users last year, up 11% from 2022. A majority of traffic comes from mobile, with the average daily time spent on the platform sitting at 15 minutes. While not necessarily a haven for brands, the community-driven platform is a place where people gather to discuss brands in subreddits with other brand loyalists.
How to Use It: We suggest participating in relevant subreddits as a representative of your brand or creating your own subreddit with community-led admins to establish a place for your audience to connect, share experiences and provide feedback. Consider folding Reddit into your community management plans and taking a human-first approach by having a representative of the brand interact with others, as opposed to interacting as a brand account.
Note: It’s crucial to approach marketing on Reddit in an informed and strategic way, as the platform’s users are quick to detect and reject overly promotional or insincere content. Respect the platform’s culture of transparency and authenticity to create genuine engagement. Additionally, after going public earlier in 2024, the platform will likely continue to focus on refining its advertising model and use cases, which will provide additional opportunities to engage its user base.
3. Snapchat
Snapchat is the world’s 12 most popular social media app and is used by 69% of teens. You can reach this audience by using Snapchat’s spotlight feature. Like a discover or for you page, anyone can submit posts using the Spotlight feature to have their content featured. Snapchat released its Discover page and ‘Lenses’ (filters) in January 2015, mirroring other major competitors.
How to Use It: Provide behind-the-scenes and real-time content from your brand. Post vertical videos or photos on your public profile after 8 pm, when most users are on the app, to see better engagement rates on your content. Another more passive way to utilize Snapchat is by creating an original filter for your business and pinning it to your physical location to help build brand awareness.
4. Pinterest
The numbers don’t lie: Pinterest has 498 million monthly users (70% of whom are women) and 80% of the platform’s weekly pinners report they have found a new brand or product through the platform. You know what else doesn’t lie? The vibe. More people turn to Pinterest every day for inspiration, curation and the #aesthetic.
How to Use It: Brands can market themselves on Pinterest by creating visually appealing pins that showcase their products or services in context, utilizing keyword-rich descriptions and relevant hashtags to increase discoverability. By curating themed boards that reflect the brand’s aesthetic and values and engaging with the Pinterest community through comments, repins and collaborations, brands can effectively reach and engage with their target audience in a high-utility way. But most important of all, drive significant traffic to your site.
5. Threads
When Twitter was purchased and spiraled (upward? or downward? Who is to say yet?) into X, Meta released its version of a text-based social platform, Threads. While both have vast similarities, their demographics are different. When the platform was launched, it saw 70 million users in under 48 hours, setting a record. Since then, platform usage has tapered. Not as many members are signing up, and the average daily use was down 79% in the first month. Threads users skew older than X, and the platform sees far less daily engagement. Rumor has it that being active on Threads can help boost Instagram engagement helping to direct new eyes to your account.
How to Use It: Merge your X strategy and Instagram strategy together by extending text-based updates to your Instagram followers. Provide a more intimate and real, or candid and humorous, approach and supply your Instagram followers with extra content in this additive approach.
6. WhatsApp
It’s the leading communication platform for global smartphone users, expected to hit 3 billion unique active users by June 2024. WhatsApp has a 98% open rate for messages, compared to industry averages for email marketing which fall between 20-40%.
How to Use It: Receive direct customer feedback, create an AI chatbot or run a multimedia advertising campaign to extend your brand reach on WhatsApp.
7. Telegram
The encrypted instant messaging app hosts 800 million users as of 2023. Telegram’s broadcasting features enable businesses to reach large audiences instantly, perfect for announcements or product launches. Integrating Telegram bots can improve user experience by providing automated support, surveys or facilitating transactions within the chat interface. The most popular channels on the platform include news, entertainment and education.
How to Use It: Think of it as an extension to your approach to email, SMS and (formerly) tweeting. Market your brand on Telegram by creating dedicated channels or groups (up to 200,000 users) to share content, updates and promotions directly with their audience. Offering exclusive deals or insights can encourage users to join and engage, building a sense of community and loyalty.
8. BeReal
BeReal recently released a new feature for creators called RealPeople and RealBrands for businesses. This platform’s audience veers younger with 66% of users being women under 24. There’s an uptick in brands creating accounts on the platform to strengthen their relationship with this younger generation of consumers. The candid and… real… nature of this app lends itself to behind-the-scenes content. Think influencer and celebrity cameos, updates on product development and event activations.
How to Use It: Create engaging content that resonates with this audience’s interests and values. While a new offering, brands can foster authentic interactions, build brand awareness and cultivate loyalty among BeReal’s active user base.
9. Nextdoor
The “neighborhood app” is perfect for brands and businesses who are trying to target a local audience. According to the platform, “79% of Nextdoor users say they are more likely to consider shopping at a business or using a service if they knew it was a Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite.” Spark a conversation with your next future customer on the app.
How to Use It: Create a business page and engage with the local community by participating in discussions, sharing relevant content and responding to comments or reviews to help establish credibility and trust.
10. Quora
Within Quora, the question-asking-question-answering platform, lies more strategies to connect with your target audience. And this one is perfect for your CMO, your sales rep or your trusty community manager. Seek out questions specific to your company, vertical/industry or core offering and simply answer them (with a plug or two thrown in). Think about it as an opportunity to share the same insights on LinkedIn. Quora Ads is another effective method for reaching a wider audience through targeted campaigns. Receiving 400 million monthly unique visitors, thought leadership on Quora could be the answer for your brand.
How to Use It: Create an account and engage with relevant questions in your industry, join a Quora Space related to your niche and become a voice of authority on the platform.
11. Discord
Discord communities, called servers, hit 19 million in 2023. Discord is the self-proclaimed “communication” platform, with 67% of users being men and 70% of users being 34 and younger. Chipotle attracted nearly 24,000 job applicants in under a week by hosting a virtual job fair on the platform. With Discord, you’re able to create a brand server, foster a strong connection with your community, boost user-generated content and collaborate with influencers. Gucci shares what’s happening behind the scenes of their luxury fashion brand with over 50,000 users, and Louis Vuitton has an exclusive community for LV NFT holders.
How to Use It: Create a server for your community to gather, outline community guidelines and rules, assign moderators and build channels based on the topic you and your community would like to discuss. With built-in audio and video functionalities, create spaces for your community to host virtual calls, stream a presentation or host a town hall call — or, even better, host live music and performances. There are several bots and additional tools built into the platform for added functionality and gamification, and the platform offers custom emojis, user titles and more.
12. Twitch
Live streaming launched a new generation of online personalities and modern vernacular… what’s good, Chat? With 7.94 million active users, the rise of Twitch influencers is shaping the way other platforms host live streams. While often seen as a place to watch gamers and live gaming events, the top category on the platform for 2023 was ‘Just Chatting’ with 3.1 billion hours streamed. Brands can capitalize on the app by partnering with influencers to market their products during live streams, or host their own and have a brand representative do a Q&A.
How to Use It: Sponsor popular streamers via product placements, in-stream callouts and graphics, etc. or consider more traditional advertising placements, such as display, pre-roll and in-stream ads. But, we bet you do have something worth streaming — video games, board games, crafting, reactions, cooking, conversations with other industry professionals, real-time vlogs,
Note: The Twitch community isspecific, to say the least. And the platform doesn’t always host brand-safe content. Gauge where your brand fits, or doesn’t fit, into the platform thoroughly.
13. Letterboxd
With a user base of over 10 million, brands like Time Magazine, LG and Regal have flocked to the movie review app to cultivate relationships with their audience members who are passionate about movies. Time uses the platform to leave reviews and promote film-related articles and content from their magazine. LG has used the platforms to showcase the new line of OLED TVs and start an OLED Movie Club. Maybe you’re not a big Hollywood studio or media conglomerate, but if your audience overlaps with Letterboxd users – the majority of which is under 35 – leaving these fun reviews can deepen your relationship with them, personify your brand and create conversation.
How to Use It: If you’re a publisher or consumer brand already in the movie and pop culture space, extend your content to Letterboxd by using its HQ account to share articles and links, lists and reviews. Get creative and ask: does your brand discuss movies in any way? Should it? Letterboxd could be a great opportunity for you.
14. Lemon8
In my opinion, this is TikTok’s little sister. Owned by ByteDance, the app is said to be a mix of Instagram and Pinterest, housing lifestyle content that’s typically posted in photo carousels. The platform saw momentous growth in mid-2023 with nearly 4.1 million downloads last year. With the fate of TikTok in the United States looming, this platform is likely subject to the same ban hammer. Until then, it will continue to see an increase in users looking to consume content in a new way that merges elements of what they already love together. We can’t see the future, but we do know early adopters in social media flock together and you’re likely to find them within the budding Lemon8 community.
How to Use It: Lemon8 has established categories: fashion, beauty, food, wellness, travel and home. If you fall into any of these categories, and have a mission for improving the quality of life of your customers, consider if Lemon8 is right for you. Showcase your brand through lifestyle content, product reviews, tutorials, testimonials and more.
15. Goodreads
Goodreads isn’t just a place for bookworms—it’s a thriving social network for readers and authors alike. With over 125 million members, Goodreads is the go-to platform for discovering new books, sharing reviews, and participating in reading challenges and book clubs. Readers can create virtual bookshelves to track their reads, rate books, and receive personalized recommendations based on their literary preferences. Authors can engage directly with fans through author profiles, book giveaways, and Q&A sessions, fostering a community centered around the love of literature.
How to Use It: For authors and publishers, Goodreads offers a powerful platform to promote books and connect with a passionate audience of readers. Create an author profile to showcase your bibliography, bio, and upcoming releases. Host virtual book launches, participate in group discussions, and offer giveaways to generate buzz and build anticipation for new releases. Engage with readers by responding to reviews, sharing behind-the-scenes insights, and joining book-related events to cultivate a loyal following and increase book sales.
From engaging with local communities on Nextdoor to tapping into the visual inspiration of Pinterest, each platform offers distinct opportunities for brands to connect with their audience in meaningful ways. By strategically folding in one of these platforms, your brand can unlock untapped potential, amplify its message and elevate your brand presence in the digital sphere.
