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Top Social Media Channels of 2017

January 18, 2017
Blogger, Brand, Agency
  
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When you're an influencer, keeping up your Instagram is no longer enough: to grow and cultivate your audience, you need to build your presence across a variety of platforms, which allows you to put forward different aspects of your brand. Although no major announcements hint at a “Snapchat of 2017,” the current major players are making some big changes that could impact where you spend your energy this year. With that in mind, here's a cheat sheet of the most important social media channels for influencers in 2017.


Your Own Blog 

Let us be the first to say it: your blog is the most important channel in your arsenal. We have written before about the importance of owning your online presence and protecting yourself against sudden changes in the social media landscape that could affect your traffic and reach, but building your brand and your own URL is important for another important reason as well: it also serves as your portfolio, giving you a place to host and display your work in a way that gives brands and your followers the most complete view of your interests, talents and potential for producing different types of content.  


Instagram 

Instagram has long been the channel of choice for fashion and lifestyle bloggers, and it's working hard to retain that advantage. New features like Instagram Stories and live video feeds are great for lively and appealing promotion, especially now that you can tag other accounts in Stories and link people directly to brands or your own blog. The app has also introduced security features (such as blocking keywords) that allow you to minimize spam and other annoyances. Analytics tools, meanwhile, have become much more prolific, allowing you to access more than just follower count and likes. Many of them are high-quality and free.


Tumblr 

Tumblr, once considered a blog stand-in, is another platform gaining steam among fashion and lifestyle bloggers, partly because you can embed and link to content from your blog and your other social media channels much more easily than on any other platform. That said, you may not want to make this channel your main focus. With appealing posts, you can reach a huge audience on Tumblr, but content often goes viral without being attributed to its creator. However, it is a great way to cultivate your aesthetic eye and can become your own personal trend forecaster.


Pinterest 

Pinterest makes fewer headlines than Snapchat or Instagram, but with its highly visual layout and easy search tools, it’s no wonder the platform has attracted fashion bloggers and their followers. If you’re up-and-coming or are just starting to post your fashion-inspired photos, Pinterest can be an ideal channel for showcasing your content. And it remains a wonderful platform for influencers that combines the infinite sources of inspiration and the sharing functionality of Tumblr with proven e-commerce potential.


Twitter

Twitter is another platform that fashion bloggers tend to sideline, but because of its great relationship with Google, it can be a powerful tool for sharing your content from other channels to boost your SEO. Fashion and lifestyle brands also use Twitter to interact with followers, giving you another avenue to follow breaking trends and stay on top of industry news. You can boost your own Twitter content by connecting your Instagram and Facebook feeds directly to the channel.   


Facebook

Yes, Facebook is back in a big way! If you’ve been neglecting this platform because you don’t spend much of your own time here, consider this: Facebook still has the largest and most diverse audience of any social media channel, giving you the best single source of traffic to expand your reach. And because Facebook owns Instagram, you can take advantage of integrated efforts to boost your content across both platforms. Major updates to Facebook Live are also giving the platform fresh life, while adding some of the “live” viewing appeal that has made Snapchat popular.  


Snapchat 

Snapchat had a big year in 2016, starting as the undisputed Gen Z darling and ending a slightly faded star, struggling with increasing competition from Facebook and Instagram. We still think it’s an important channel to watch through the next year, particularly if you already have an audience on the platform or thrive in its carefree, unscripted environment. (Read: Is Snapchat Still Important for Influencers?) However, if your photos skew more editorial or if you haven’t yet invested time in Snap, keeping your focus on Instagram will likely serve you better through the next year. 


With its already huge user base and consistent innovation, Instagram will no doubt remain the most prolific social media channel for fashion and lifestyle bloggers in 2017, but it's important to remember that social media should serve to promote, and not replace, your blog. Think of your blog as your master portfolio, and be sure to keep your content current. Staying aware of up-and-coming platforms like Snapchat and important updates on mainstay channels like Facebook will also ensure you stay ahead of the game in the constantly changing social media landscape.