5 Questions To Ask Before Joining A New Social Platform
It’s no secret that the days of a single dominant social networking site are far behind us. What started as a MySpace social media monopoly, has evolved into an ecosystem of social platforms all fighting for your attention.
Even if your business is on multiple social platforms, it’s easy to feel left behind in the sea of new sites popping up weekly. It is undeniably difficult to determine what platforms are just a passing trend, and which are viable business tools that are likely here to stay.
Despite the social headache you may be feeling, properly positioning your business on social media can offer you great rewards: a new way to engage with your customers, the opportunity to monitor conversations concerning your business, accessibility to your clients, and an entire dashboard of free analytics, just to name a few.
Before we get into it, remember that your social media strategy should be a reflection of your marketing goals. Be sure to keep those marketing goals top-of-mind as we walk you through the 5 questions you should be asking before your business joins a new social platform.
Do you understand the platform?
This may seem obvious, but countless businesses place themselves on a new social media site purely based on word-of-mouth. Knowing the name of a social platform is simply not enough information to justify joining the platform.
You should consider the medium it primarily utilizes (photo, video, text, etc.) and if you’re comfortable with creating content in that style. How many users does the site have and what is the growth rate? And lastly, what is the engagement rate of posts to the platform, and what opportunities for paid promotions are available that your business could take advantage of?
Going beyond your surface-level knowledge of the platform will ensure that you’re maximizing your time and impact online. It’s important to cut through the weeds and focus on what will work best for your business, not the masses.
Does the platform align with your demographic?
Real-time communication and engagement is a major benefit of using social media for business. The ability to interact and stay at the forefront of your client’s minds by using social media is an amazing benefit that is only achievable if your customers are actually on the platform you’re evaluating.
Are your customers on the platform? Does the platform attract the kind of prospects that you want to be reaching? And further, are your direct competitors on the platform? TikTok is fun and all, but if you’re selling B2B it’s not going to do much in terms of achieving your marketing goals.
Does the platform match your brand tone and personality?
Are you a no-nonsense business, trying to be taken seriously by Goliath customers? Are you committed to a trailblazing agency mentality? Somewhere in between?
Your brand identity should never be compromised for the sake of joining a new platform. If it’s difficult to think of a few different post ideas for your brand off of the top of your head, it’s probably because it’s just not a good fit...and that’s okay. Social media complements your marketing strategy, it doesn’t dictate it.
Do you have the resources to properly execute posts on the platform?
Each platform your business has a presence on is a permanent representation of your brand. An unfortunate reality of that fact is that executing a new platform wrong is worse than not being on it at all. Have you done adequate research into the adoption time and the recommended posting frequency? Do you have the resources to make this a priority?
Crafting effective posts takes time, even more time when you’re new to a platform, and you may need to invest in quality camera and software equipment to ensure you’re portraying a quality image. If your mind is immediately jumping to hiring a Gen Z intern to handle your social, it may be worthwhile to take a second read of the first two sentences of this section.
What goal are you trying to achieve?
You likely started this crusade to up your social media game for one of two reasons: as a means of generating leads or to try and increase brand awareness. If you aren’t able to link this platform directly to this goal, it’s going to be a dead-end.
If you are able to link your goal and the platform, it’s just as important to be able to measure your success. Each platform offers an entire host of analytics, and taking the time to analyze these metrics and improve your content accordingly is part of the magic that is social media. Don’t sleep on this free data.
Whether you’re new to the social media world, or a seasoned vet, taking the time to evaluate new platforms before jumping in is a worthwhile investment in maintaining your brand image and working to achieve your marketing goals.
Looking for more information on creating a killer marketing strategy? Check out our Marketing Series.
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