As a marketing agency owner, you’re always looking for new ways to reach potential clients and grow your business.
New social media platforms seem to crop up constantly, but when is the right time to join?
In this post, we’re examining the pros and cons to help you decide.
Why You Should Join a New Social Media Channel Early On
Joining a new social media channel, like Threads, at its inception can be a game-changer for a marketing agency.
Here’s why diving in early could be a wise move:
- Secure your brand name. Being among the first to join allows you to claim your desired username and start building a following right away.
- Be seen as an early adopter. By embracing a new platform early, you position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. It shows you’re on the cutting edge and could give you an edge over your competitors.
- Form valuable connections. Early adoption can lead to direct interactions with the platform’s founding team and key executives. These relationships can be a treasure trove of insights and exclusive opportunities.
- Less competition. In the early stages, your organic content stands a better chance of being noticed. This means you can get your content in front of more people (more reach) and gain a larger following quicker than you normally would. All without having to spend on ads.
- More brand awareness. With less overall content on the platform, your posts and media are more likely to be seen and shared. This also means you can usually get more brand awareness in the early days. However, this advantage tends to be short-lived as the platform becomes more saturated.
- Gain free PR. Being an early adopter opens up PR opportunities and helps establish your agency as an authoritative voice.
- Increase your reach and following across all social media channels. If you find success early on in a new platform, these relationships can often translate over to other marketing channels.
Why You Might Not Want to Join a Social Media Channel Early On
Being an early adopter of a new social media marketing channel has a lot of advantages, but it’s not without its drawbacks.
Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t jump onto a new platform right away:
- The risk of spreading yourself too thin. As agency owners, we think we can do it all. However, time management is essential. By jumping on a new platform early on, you are saying no to other, potentially more lucrative opportunities.
- Mismatch with your ICP. The platform’s popularity may be concentrated in certain demographics that do not align with your target audience. Or put another way, you might attract a big audience, but it is full of people who are poor-fit leads or will never buy your services.
- Unclear if the new platform is just a fad. There’s always a risk that the new platform may fail to gain significant traction or may not survive long-term. Investing time and resources in a platform that eventually fizzles out could result in wasted time, energy, and money.
- Limited platform features. New platforms, especially ones still in beta, often lack key features like robust analytics. This can restrict not only what you share on there, but also how you measure if it is working.
- Volatile algorithm changes. New platforms often undergo frequent algorithm changes, which can affect your content reach and ranking.
- More competition over time. One of the biggest reasons to jump on a new channel early is to gain first mover advantage. As more businesses join the platform, this can go away a lot faster than you expect.
- Potential brand risk. If the platform fails or does not align with your brand values, it could lead to reputational damage.
Key Considerations Before Adding a New Social Media Channel To The Mix
Joining a new social media channel might seem like a relatively safe and low-risk situation. However, it is easy to overextend yourself, which could lead to quality compromises and brand reputation risks.
Asking these questions upfront will help determine if joining this new platform is worth the investment for your marketing goals and target audience.
- What’s the learning curve for this new platform? Will you be able to “rinse and repeat” what you are producing elsewhere or do you have to learn a new platform from scratch?
- How much time will it take to create and manage content?
- What types of content perform best on the platform? Is it image-focused, video, live streaming, etc.? And does that content format align with your strengths?
- What analytics are available? Can you track engagement, followers, and demographic data?
- How does the algorithm work?
- Does the platform allow you to easily integrate with your website, other social media accounts and any marketing software you are using like HighLevel?
- Is your ICP already on this platform or likely to join this platform?
- Can you easily collaborate with others? Tagging, sharing content etc.
- How does the platform fit into your overall social media strategy? Will it help balance your presence across channels?
- Will you need to hire additional team members or freelancers to produce this content?
- Will you integrate the account into your workflow? Using social media management tools, including HighLevel, can help schedule and post efficiently.
- When will you reevaluate to figure out if this experiment is working?
- How does it fit into your mid to long-term marketing goals?
Joining a new social media platform can lead to early adopter advantages, increased thought leadership, and unique audience engagement opportunities. However, you need to balance it with the risks of investing in a platform that may not endure, potential time and resource management challenges, and the uncertainties inherent in a developing channel.
