Instagram is blowing up. Google + will soon be the new Facebook. Brands are using Pinterest in order to market themselves. There are so many social media platforms out there, that it’s becoming exhausting to keep up with them all. It used to be just Facebook— it was so easy! However, if your company wants to be successful in the social industry today, it is necessary to keep up with the latest and greatest social media outlets.

1 in 3 users of social prefer to contact a company via social media instead of phone or email.

Here are some great examples of brands that are exploding with the social evolution:

Michael Kors had the first paid advertisement on Instagram aside from their personal account.

You can tell the image is an ad because of the notation in the upper right hand corner.

You can tell the image is an ad because of the notation in the upper right hand corner.

Levi’s used Instagram to create a branded campaign in order to inspire behavior.

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Sony electronics really knows how to position their brand on Pinterest. Their “I can haz gadgets?” board introduces Sony products by pairing them with cute and cuddly animals.

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Creating contests in order to engage your customers has also been extremely successful for many brands. Sandals Resorts has a great contest on Pinterest called, “Wedding Moons.” Participants have to “pin” their favorite places they would like to honeymoon in order to be entered to win. This is a great representation of their brand because they are constantly engaging with their target audience in order to bring them relatable content.

Four #hashtags can increase up to 77 interactions. #gotit #whatstrending #SandalsVDay #destinationwedding

They also have a separate Twitter account specifically for @WeddingMoons and have created trending hashtags around the contest. Aside from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are two more great outlets to use hashtags. It’s best to use hashtags that are already trending in order to gain more views and interactions among your posts.