What Entrepreneurs Have to Know

Welcome to HubSpot Advertising Information! Faucet in for marketing campaign deep dives, the most recent advertising trade information, and tried-and-true insights from HubSpot’s media crew.

A brand new social media platform is on the town, and it’s shortly selecting up steam.

Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, the China-based guardian firm that owns TikTok, and it’s had a buzzy debut within the U.S.

It was initially launched in Japan in 2020 and have become obtainable within the U.S. and UK in February 2023. Up to now month, it’s turn into the second most-downloaded life-style app within the U.S. behind Pinterest.

Talking of Pinterest…

Lemon8 is described as a Pinterest-Instagram hybrid. At its core, Lemon8 is a photo-sharing app designed to encourage customers.

Whereas customers and creators have been vocal about their frustrations with Instagram and its unpredictable algorithm over the previous couple of years, are individuals searching for the subsequent Pinterest once they might nonetheless use the unique?

By the top of 2022, over 450 million energetic customers had been on Pinterest. Not too shabby, although the person base is considerably smaller than the likes of YouTube (2.6 billion customers), Instagram (2.3 billion customers), and TikTok (1.6 billion customers).

Although Pinterest has a smaller person base than different social channels, its customers are typically pleased with the platform. In actual fact, 80% of Pinterest customers really feel constructive when utilizing it. 9 out of 10 Pinterest customers consult with it as a “social media oasis,” and solely three out of 10 social media customers really feel that means about different platforms.

With that in thoughts, is a “new Pinterest” essential when the unique appears to be doing a superb job of preserving its customers glad? All of it comes all the way down to how the app is used.

Whereas Pinterest customers are typically pleased with the platform, they primarily use it as a visible search engine.

Many Pinterest customers flip to the platform once they’re searching for inspiration associated to a selected subject — maybe a recipe utilizing a sure ingredient, or methods to fashion a clothes merchandise.  They hop on, discover what they’re trying for, and hop off. Whereas it’s nice for inspiring purchases, it doesn’t have the addicting issue that platforms like TikTok or Instagram have.

That’s the place Lemon8 is available in.

Picture Supply: Lemon8

I downloaded the app to be taught extra about its performance and to see what sort of content material is obtainable on it (, severe investigative journalism). I used to be shortly sucked into the gorgeous content material that aligned eerily shut with my pursuits.

Basically, utilizing Lemon8 is like having the TikTok algorithm serve you the inspirational content material of Pinterest formatted like an Instagram publish. The primary feed is much like the Pinterest residence web page, however the posts are paying homage to Instagram carousels.

The place did Lemon8 come from, and why is everybody speaking about it?

If it appeared like rapidly everybody in your TikTok For You Web page was speaking about Lemon8, that’s as a result of they had been.

Per The New York Occasions, ByteDance enlisted micro-creators from different platforms to start posting on Lemon8. Naturally, creators who’re desirous to turn into early adopters on a brand new platform would need to share their new social media actual property with their current followers on different platforms. Whether or not or not they’ve been compensated to take action has been speculated, however hasn’t been confirmed. 

Wanting on the preliminary information, the grassroots strategy seems to be efficient. Since launching within the U.S. in February, Lemon8 has garnered over 17 million downloads within the app retailer.

How ought to entrepreneurs be taking a look at Lemon8?

At the moment, Lemon8 is closely user-generated content material centered, with no main manufacturers sustaining a notable presence on the app. Although it’s solely a matter of time earlier than extra manufacturers start hopping on board.

If your organization isn’t prepared to start out creating Lemon8-specific content material, it’s definitely value getting on the platform to safe your deal with and see what’s trending in your area of interest — significantly for these within the vogue, wellness, and meals industries.

It’s additionally value noting the user-generated really feel of the platform could possibly be an enormous a part of what’s attracting new customers. On platforms corresponding to Instagram and TikTok the place influencer advertising is to be anticipated, customers can typically really feel always bought to. The authenticity of the natural content material on Lemon8 is usually a breath of recent air in comparison with the fixed stream of #sponsored content material on different platforms.

With this in thoughts, manufacturers trying to set up a presence on Lemon8 can profit from having a wholesome mixture of natural, user-generated, and promotional content material to keep away from fatiguing their audiences.

Is Lemon8 value investing in?

As with every new platform, there are legitimate issues over Lemon8’s longevity and whether or not it is value investing in.

As a result of Lemon8 can also be owned by ByteDance, it might face the identical scrutiny as TikTok over safety issues. With the long run utilization of ByteDance-owned apps in political limbo, if a TikTok ban had been to happen, customers within the U.S. may be barred from Lemon8.

Additionally, whereas some social media platforms emerge with a splash, the thrill can shortly fade. Lately, apps like Clubhouse and BeReal confirmed promising progress however didn’t seize the eye of audiences long-term.

Whereas it’s a good suggestion for entrepreneurs to have a primary degree of understanding of recent platforms which have captured the eye of audiences, solely time will inform if Lemon8 is ready to flip social media lemons into lemonade.

Elsewhere in Advertising

The most recent advertising information and technique insights.

Meta earning profits: In Q1, Meta reported a 3% earnings improve after three straight quarters of declining income.

Transfer over Twitter: Meta’s text-based app Barcelona is vying to be an different to the chicken app.

For the AI-overwhelmed: Jasper’s VP of Advertising breaks down the right way to combine AI into your advertising crew’s workflow.

On pattern: how entrepreneurs can use social media traits to get in entrance of recent clients.

Talking of traits… HubSpot simply launched the State of Social Media 2023, which options insights from over 1,000 social media entrepreneurs.

Moolah-la: the creator economic system is anticipated to attain $500 billion by 2027.