Introduction

Following our last post in regards to the question on Meta been the best for Nigerian businesses, we outlined alternative mobile apps for retailers to optimize in 2022:

  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • Google Business Profile
  • Pinterest

Pinterest is an image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos, in the form of pinboards. The mobile app has 291 million monthly active users and according to statistics, 81% of Pinterest users are women and 93% of active pinners said they use Pinterest to plan for purchases.

Pinterest has given a good leverage to businesses that fall within the creative industry. For instance, if your business falls under tourism, fashion, event, catering and upholstery, then, Pinterest is a preferred choice against meta apps.

Though Pinterest’s advertising platform isn’t as advanced as Facebook’s, you can still use paid ads to boost the reach of your posts. Also it is easy to track online conversions through your Pinterest ads.

Additionally, Pinterest houses organic capabilities that other social platforms do not. Organic reach on a Pinterest post is determined by the number of keywords in a post and if they align with what a user has searched on Pinterest. This gives businesses a chance to strategically plan their content to contain words that are searched a lot on Pinterest.

  • Snapchat

Snapchat is a multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally. The mobile app allows users to send Snapchats (a photo or video) either directly to another user or to their Snapchat Story.

The mobile app provides businesses the opportunities of getting to a younger audience as 71% of its users are under 34 years old. Specifically, almost half of its users are aged between 18-24. There are over 350 million monthly active users, and 203 million daily active users on Snapchat.

Snapchat houses 10 million daily video views which if properly converted can yield a good result for your businesses. All it takes is capturing and targeting the right persons to send your businesses to.

Snapchat also offers advertising options where you can pay to have a linkable Snapchat in the Discovery section of Snapchat.

  • YouTube

YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform. It is owned by Google, and is the second most visited website, after Google Search. The video sharing platform allows users to watch videos and/or upload them.

With 2 billion monthly active users, it offering the opportunity to its over 30+ million daily active users to interact with your videos.

Although it is similar to Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat, it has what is deemed as an upper hand following its unique stance of being owned by Google. This enables YouTube to have access to Google’s advertising platform, with this, it is a comparative advantage when running YouTube ads.

With the use of keywords in your title, video description, and the actual list of keywords in the keywords tool, one can get more viewers, reach and also, a form of monetisation from YouTube.

  • Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blog site that lets users use less characters in its posting. Although it is often overlooked, with a limited copy of 280 characters, Twitter is best known for its feed of real-time updates.

Take for instance, your brand launch can get the necessary attention with keywords and right hashtags. This also helps you with your search engine optimization, where customers can find you by the key things you’re known for.

With over 336 million monthly active users, it has introduced the option for Spaces – a live audio conversation feature within the Twitter app that allows users with more than 600 followers to create audio chat rooms. With this, you can have a conversation around your business with your customers both locally and globally. It also introduced the monetization feature to aid persons get payments for their businesses.

  • LinkedIn

LinkedIn may seem complex and unorthodox but it is a powerful tool for the business-to-business (B2B) model. This app also focuses on consumers based on their job titles.

LinkedIn’s user reach is 303 million monthly active users and although it is not as advanced as Facebook in terms of its advertising, it gives users the opportunity to target specific persons and this is beneficial to your customers.

  • TikTok

TikTok is a video sharing social media platform that gained popularity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The newcomer to the social media space has gained over 1.2 billion users worldwide with 500 million monthly active users. This places it above Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.

The video sharing app has more of what is known as Gen Z and has a long way to aiding digital marketers in their businesses.

Businesses now use trendy songs and edits in the advertising of their wares on TikTok.

Although it started with 15 seconds videos, it has expanded to 3 minutes, keeping more users on the platform. This gives the opportunity for extensive adverts.

  • Google Business Profile

Google business profile is a necessity for your business. The mobile app provides free business listings on Google when someone searches for your business. This allows you to promote your business on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping.

On your profile you can share information such as your location, contact information, working hours, and more. You can also add your website link which will significantly help drive traffic to your website. Your customers will then be able to leave reviews, upload images, and ask questions about your business.

Google Business Profiles will make your business easily accessible to potential customers and clients. Providing all the information they need to learn about your business and get in contact with you in one place, it will be very beneficial.

Final Thoughts

Although meta apps have been best for businesses, especially retailers and vendors, it is best to seek other options, especially the aforementioned ones listed above.

This gives you more reach, deeper advertising and a good representation of your business.