When it comes to social media marketing, the options really are endless—which is good news for you and your business. No longer do you need to bend, mold, or reshape your brand just so it fits neatly inside the constraints of major social networks.
Instead, you can choose the best channels to share news about your company, highlight recent projects, connect with your followers, and engage with more users across the globe.
The only issue is deciding which social media channels are the right fit for your brand.
Our Social Dilemma
With so many social media platforms to choose from, it's hard to know which channels will help you build brand awareness and achieve your business goals. Though some networks might be more popular than others, if you're not engaging more users or getting your brand noticed, it might be time to find one that does.
Recently, our team came to the conclusion that Facebook and Twitter just didn't fit the direction of our company anymore. Even our Instagram wasn't giving us enough of a return on the time we were putting into it. It was beginning to look like if we wanted to start seeing better results, we needed to start paying these platforms to give us a boost, and even after doing that for a while, it still didn't really pay off.
We weren't happier; we weren't healthier; and we weren't reaching our target audience.
So, we sat down and asked ourselves: what are the best social platforms for designers? Turns out, they had been sitting there all along. But instead of us investing time and energy on those channels, we were caught in the cycle of making other platforms work for us. Why? We were told "everyone else is using it."
In this article, we’ll uncover two of the most underrated platforms that may help you gain credibility in the design world and position you as a creative professional. Both platforms have been around for years, and you may already have an account set up, but we're willing to wager that if you also have a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you may not be giving these two enough attention.
Most Underrated Social Platforms for Designers
I’m sure most of you have heard of Behance. In fact, you've probably created an account back in college to showcase your portfolio or help land your first design gig. But when’s the last time you’ve added a new project?
As the world's largest creative network for showcasing and discovering creative work, Behance is a must-use for design professionals.
What’s great about it is how many disciplines it covers, including design, illustration, photography, and more. Once you're a member, you can follow artists, like their projects, and comment on their work.
Benefits of Using Behance
- Creative platform to showcase your work
- Helps you get recognized by other creatives in your industry
- Offers a great inspirational tool to flex your creative muscles
Behance is a creative community built around creative individuals like ourselves. So, it was a no-brainer that it was time to throw some much needed love and attention into our account. Here, we decided, is where our hours of social media management needs to go. Not in Facebook ads.
Here’s another social platform that you may already be a part of, but you haven’t maintained it over the years. Similar to Behance, Dribbble is a fantastic place for designers to share their work, find inspiration, and connect with other designers worldwide. It’s also a great resource for finding design gigs.
Dribbble is more dedicated to design specifically, such as branding, product design, web design, and more. Additional features include finding work, learning design, and hiring designers. With LinkedIn being overcrowded with job postings that don’t quite fit the criteria for designers, Dribbble can be a great place to look first and get noticed for your talents.
Benefits of Using Dribbble
- A growing social network of designers
- A platform that allows you to share work, get feedback, and build your community
- A great place to search for design-related jobs
Now you know where to find us. Where will you go next?
Thanks for reading our blog and learning more about which social platforms for designers rank best on our list. For more creative topics, stay connected to our blog and follow us on Dribbble, Behance, and LinkedIn. You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter Beneath the Cloke!