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

A brand new social media platform is on the town, and it’s rapidly 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 obtainable within the U.S. and UK in February 2023. Up to now month, it’s turn out to be 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 folks searching for the subsequent Pinterest after they may nonetheless use the unique?

By the top of 2022, over 450 million energetic customers had been on Pinterest. Not too shabby, although the consumer 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 consumer base than different social channels, its customers are typically proud of the platform. The truth is, 80% of Pinterest customers really feel constructive when utilizing it. 9 out of 10 Pinterest customers discuss with it as a “social media oasis,” and solely three out of 10 social media customers really feel that manner about different platforms.

With that in thoughts, is a “new Pinterest” mandatory when the unique appears to be doing a great job of preserving 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 searching for inspiration associated to a selected subject — maybe a recipe utilizing a sure ingredient, or methods to type a clothes merchandise.  They hop on, discover what they’re wanting for, and hop off. Whereas it’s nice for uplifting 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 offered on it (you realize, severe investigative journalism). I used to be rapidly sucked into the attractive 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 principle feed is just like the Pinterest residence web page, however the posts are harking back to Instagram carousels.

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

If it appeared like unexpectedly 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 Instances, ByteDance enlisted micro-creators from different platforms to start posting on Lemon8. Naturally, creators who’re wanting to turn out to be 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 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 begin creating Lemon8-specific content material, it’s definitely price 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 price noting the user-generated really feel of the platform may very well be an enormous a part of what’s attracting new customers. On platforms similar to Instagram and TikTok the place influencer advertising is to be anticipated, customers can usually really feel continuously offered to. The authenticity of the natural content material on Lemon8 is usually a breath of contemporary 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 price investing in?

As with all new platform, there are legitimate considerations over Lemon8’s longevity and whether or not it is price 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 rapidly 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 fundamental degree of understanding of latest 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 money: 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 alternative choice to the chook app.

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

On development: how entrepreneurs can use social media tendencies to get in entrance of latest prospects.

Talking of tendencies… 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 predicted to achieve $500 billion by 2027.