How to decide whether to be on an emerging platform
Clubhouse. Bluesky. Rednote. BeReal.
If you don't work in social media and happen to be a Marvel fan, you might think the above words activate Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan if you're reading this, call me).
But the reality is this: you most likely do work in social media or marketing, you are (probably) not Sebastian Stan and know that they are social media platforms.
Although they aren't as big as Instagram or TikTok, they still spark discussion in the industry.
"Should we be on Lemon8?"
"What should our Airchat strategy be?"
"Do you have 5 years worth of experience in Threads?"
If you happen to be faced with questions reminiscent of the above, read on, dear reader.
In this month's post, I'm sharing a list of what you should consider before creating a new account on the latest social media app.
Your phone storage can thank me later.
Things to consider before jumping on the latest social media app:
Your time
Your competitors
Your strategy
Your personal development
Your gut feel
Your time:
During my career, I've been lucky enough to work in both large and lean social media teams.
But regardless of their size, the team's ambition to create strong content remained the same - but that was not always possible.
If you're flying solo as a social media manager, you may feel the pressure to be on a new channel, especially if everyone in the industry is talking about it. Even worse if your boss picks up on it.
If you're like me and want to do everything, everywhere, all at once - it might be tempting to hop on the hype train. However, you need to be realistic, especially if you struggle to execute your current social strategy to the level that you want to.
Remember you can do anything, but as a one-person band, it's rare that you can do everything.
If you're trying to decide whether you have enough resource to dedicate to a new strategy, the main thing you ask yourself is "is this concept effort > impact, or impact > effort?"
If it's the former... is it really worth adding more to your plate for? Whereas if it's the latter, then you should go for it.
Productivity matrix:
One of my favourite non-fiction books is Eat That Frog.
If you're familiar with Hogwarts Pomodoro sessions, colour-co-ordinate different blocks in your calendar or are partial to a kanban board, this book might tickle your fancy.
I'm going to share with you my favourite matrix from the book below, to help you organise your workload - potentially freeing up some of your time to explore one of the emerging channels mentioned in this post.
Essentially what you want to do is to group your different tasks into the above groups. Based on their categorisation, you'll be able to work out what tasks you can complete, delegate, schedule or sack off completely.
Urgent, Important Tasks - you should focus on these first
Not Urgent, Important Tasks - you can schedule these for another day
Urgent, Not Important - look to delegating these tasks where you can
Not Urgent, Not Important - check whether these need to be a task at all
Asana give a real in-depth post about the matrix here.
Your competitors:
Competitor analysis is the business world's equivalent of having a cheeky little nose outside your window to spy on the neighbours.
There is no harm in checking out what they're doing, whether that be from a content perspective, what type of copy they're using or whether they've started posting on a new channel.
If your competitors are all flocking to a new app, and you don't want to be left behind, it might be a sign to join in on the fun.
Whereas if they're not, well... it still might be a sign to join. If anything more so, so that you can be the first in your respective industry.
However, just because you're the first, doesn't mean you'll be the best.
Quick-and-easy competitor analysis
If you've never done a competitor analysis before, here's a simple method:
Select a competitor
Collect the engagements or views of their last 10 posts.
Add them together, then divide by 10.
This is their average engagement or views.
Repeat the process for as many competitors as you want.
Apply the process to your own content.
Compare the stats.
Choose a competitor to benchmark.
Your strategy :
Your strategy should be the most influential driving factor as to whether your brand or client should be on an emerging channel.
What are your key metrics? Your content pillars? Your content type? Are they relevant to the new platform?
For example, if you want to educate users through video content, you'd find this far easier to execute on YouTube than you would on BeReal. This doesn't mean you can't educate through a channel such as BeReal, you just have to be creative with it.
If the new channel fits in with your strategy, your tone of voice, your type of content; it could be a good option to explore. But it might be that it's a focus for the next quarter or even, next year.
And don't just consider your social strategy, but the vision of the wider business. You wouldn't join a channel who's hook was sharing content made out of 'wrong answers only' if you're trying to build a brand that's scientific and credible.
The most important point of your social media strategy:
The channel's purpose is the most important part of your strategy.
Why do people follow you?
How does your channel make them feel?
I've written many purposes for many social media strategies over my career.
I've likened a channel to a pair of high-waisted, booty enhancing gym leggings (help you look good, be supportive and get you through workouts), and also your big sister that you go to for advice (WHY IS THAT BODILY FLUID THAT COLOUR?).
A channel's purpose is the first defining moment for your strategy's creativity.
So think about this new channel you're considering joining. Compared with your other channels, does it have a unique purpose?
Your personal development :
Perhaps you've hit a lull in your career, want to learn a new skill or practise a new type of content. Creating a new account outside of your daily social media responsibilities could be worth exploring.
Maybe you want to break into a different industry, or want to create content that you're passionate about.
A new emerging channel could be the perfect place to do that. Who knows, you might even turn into one of the channel's first influencers.
(If you do happen to become a Bluesky influencer after reading this post, I'd like to take a little credit).
Your gut feel:
I'm a big fan of data. I thoroughly enjoy taking insights and joining up the dots, to create solutions to problems.
However 'my big three' are the water signs (Cancer Sun, Pisces Moon, Scorpio Rising). Essentially, this means my intuition slaps.
And sometimes that is all a decision needs; a gut feeling.
Your gut could be telling you to leave certain channels in the past (or in the alphabet). Or maybe it's yapping about abandoning every channel you've built up in favour of setting up a Rednote account. Or your gut might ordering you to chill. Ride the wave. Relax.
If you've considered resource, strategy, competitors and personal development and are still on the fence - ask your gut.
How to find out your sun, moon and rising signs:
Want to find out whether your intuition also slaps? All you'll need is your birthday, birth time* and the place that you were born.
Then you'll want to head to Cafe Astrology and enter all that information to produce your birth chart. It'll give you a really nice, in-depth breakdown of your report. Think of it like a Myers Briggs, but more hip.
*If you don't know your birth time, it'll still work - but it'll be less accurate. Of course, if you even believe in astrology.
TLDR:
If you're unsure of whether your brand or client should be on Rednote, Bluesky, Clubhouse, BeReal... or even more established platforms, such as YouTube - check in on these points:
Do you have the resource to be able to do the strategy to the standard you want?
Are your competitors already on the channel, or are they focusing their efforts elsewhere?
Does the channel align with your social and wider business strategy?
What skills can you learn or refine from being on the platform?
Have you checked in with your gut?
Head of Social @ Lounge, Previously Gymshark, Flo Health
