What is Lemon8? Well, it’s ByteDance’s New Competitor to Instagram.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is making a push into the U.S. social media market with its lifestyle app, Lemon8. The app is currently number one in the App Store for lifestyle apps, a significant leap from an app that previously never reached the Top 200 Overall Charts in the U.S.
What is Lemon8?
Lemon8 is a video and photo-sharing social media platform catering to users’ interests in food, beauty, wellness, and travel. The app’s content usually centers around a specific topic, and the top trending topics are fashion, beauty, food, wellness, and travel.
Features of Lemon8
Lemon8 allows fashion influencers to “tag” where they bought their clothes and how much they cost. This feature is similar to Instagram, where influencers aim to influence their followers to buy items to replicate their lifestyles.
The app is most closely compared to Instagram and Pinterest and is known for its aesthetically pleasing content, which does not contain the “contrived spontaneity” that Instagram is known for.
Comparison to Instagram and TikTok
Lemon8 is ByteDance’s attempt to compete with Instagram in the U.S. market, offering aesthetically pleasing content that does not contain the contrived spontaneity that Instagram is known for.
Compared to TikTok, Lemon8 leans more towards influencer marketing, while TikTok leans towards content creation. Lemon8 influencers are likely to be paid by brands or companies to sell a specific aesthetic or lifestyle to their audience, while TikTok influencers typically have a niche that they engage their audience with.
Ownership and Success
ByteDance hopes that its connection to TikTok, the most popular app in the U.S., can influence users to migrate from Instagram. However, the app’s success may be at risk due to the proposed legislation that would effectively ban Chinese social media sites in the U.S.
In addition to the U.S. market, Lemon8 is also a direct competitor to Little Red Book, a popular app in the East that holds a large share of China’s social networking and e-commerce market.
It’s Like Pinterest & Instagram Had a Baby
Bailey Quarles, one of our social media managers in Omaha, recently reviewed the new app called Lemon8 from ByteDance. Bailey found Lemon8 to be an exciting combination of Pinterest and Instagram, with its unique features and user-friendly design.
The app’s ability to link directly in the images and its convenience of saving content in specific collections impressed Bailey, making it a standout app in the world of social media.
As someone passionate about helping local businesses grow, Bailey will continue to test the app and explore how it can be used to support local businesses in Omaha.
She is excited to see what the future holds for Lemon8 and how it can help businesses of all sizes connect with their audiences in new and exciting ways.
Future of Lemon8
While Lemon8 is currently popular in Japan and Thailand, its success in the U.S. market may be at risk due to proposed legislation banning Chinese social media sites.
ByteDance seems hopeful that its connection to TikTok, the most popular app in the U.S., can influence users to migrate from Instagram. However, if Lemon8 soars in popularity, its fate will be at just as much risk in the U.S. as its sister company TikTok.
Lemon8’s success in U.S. markets can do one of two things: push creators to lobby politicians to block legislation that would ban TikTok and Lemon8 or encourage the government to act quickly. Recently, the U.S. government has proposed legislation that would effectively ban Chinese social media sites in the U.S., citing national security concerns.
Most of the posts on Lemon8 have #Lemon8partner at the end of the caption, signaling that Lemon8 paid creators to start posting on the app to manufacture the platform’s popularity. The same influencers also took to TikTok to tell their audiences to join Lemon8.
Overall, Lemon8 is ByteDance’s attempt to compete with Instagram in the U.S. market. The app offers aesthetically pleasing content that does not contain the contrived spontaneity that Instagram is known for. However, its success in the U.S. market may be at risk due to the proposed legislation that would effectively ban Chinese social media sites in the U.S.
316 Strategy Group, a leading marketing agency with an award-winning team, is closely monitoring the proposed legislation that could affect the future of Lemon8 in the U.S. If you have any questions about Lemon8 or want to learn more about how 316 Strategy Group can help you with your social media marketing strategy, reach out to one of our team members today. We are dedicated to helping our clients navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media marketing and can provide you with the guidance and expertise you need to succeed.
