What Entrepreneurs Have to Know

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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 father or mother 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 accessible within the U.S. and UK in February 2023. Previously month, it’s turn into the second most-downloaded lifestyle 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 in search of the subsequent Pinterest after they may nonetheless use the unique?

By the tip 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 proud of the platform. The truth is, 80% of Pinterest users feel positive 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 approach about different platforms.

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

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

Many Pinterest customers flip to the platform after they’re in search of inspiration associated to a particular matter — maybe a recipe utilizing a sure ingredient, or methods to model 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 accessible on it (you recognize, critical 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 submit. The principle 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 Times, 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 wish 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 knowledge, the grassroots method 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 present, Lemon8 is closely user-generated content material targeted, 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 actually value getting on the platform to safe your deal with and see what’s trending in your area of interest — notably for these within the style, wellness, and meals industries.

It’s additionally value noting the user-generated really feel of the platform could possibly be a giant a part of what’s attracting new customers. On platforms corresponding to Instagram and TikTok the place influencer advertising and marketing is to be anticipated, customers can usually really feel consistently bought to. The authenticity of the natural content material on Lemon8 could be 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 all new platform, there are legitimate considerations over Lemon8’s longevity and whether or not it is value investing in.

As a result of Lemon8 can be owned by ByteDance, it may face the identical scrutiny as TikTok over safety considerations. 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 stage 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.

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