The Lifecycles of Social Media and When to Get Involved
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As each season passes, it appears that more platforms of social media evolve, one sounding more tempting and all the rage than the next. The question then must come down to discerning whether these new platforms are beneficial for the brand’s strategy and worth investing time and resources. According to Randy Clark from TKO Graphix, there are four significant questions to filter through to answer this problem.
1. Does the New Social Media Network Reach Your Target Audience?
2. Does the Network Fit Your Culture?
3. Do You Have the Time?
4. Will Your Message be Diminished?
If a corporation can be honest and affirmative in its responses to these questions, it will lead to a good backbone of deciding whether to continue. When it comes down to the root of it, it does not matter what other marketers propose could, or should, be your personal brand’s plan of action. It depends on the specific social strategy and its possibility of furthering the proposed target audience's expansion.
But just because something catches fire does not mean that its flame will continue to burn, nor does it mean that it’s applicable to every marketer.
No matter the source you reference, all of the talks around incorporating different platforms for a particular brand reside in the same conclusion. Will it mesh with your brand?
If the answer to this is not a resounding yes, it may not be worth the time. Amy Houston writes in her article, The Bandwagon effect: what brands need to know about working with social media trends, “Considering new platforms to use is exciting, but the first step should always be researching. Figure out your target audience and assess if it lines up with the demographics of the app.” Going through this process properly is what may decipher whether a social media manager is avid in their sector. It takes the proper skill set and knowledge to understand and decide on behalf of an entire brand when it is best to get involved with a new platform.
