{"id":12409,"date":"2015-12-28T12:23:28","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T17:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/?p=12409"},"modified":"2016-07-05T09:59:20","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T13:59:20","slug":"joining-a-new-social-media-channel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/joining-a-new-social-media-channel\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking of Joining a New Social Media Channel in 2016? Ask Yourself These Questions First."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"joining<\/a>LinkedIn. Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. Snapchat. Some social media channels are thriving, some are exploding exponentially, and others are dying slow and painful deaths (ahem, Google+<\/a>). If you\u00a0already have a few\u00a0of these under your belt, you might be thinking about\u00a0joining a new social media channel. But before you jump in with both feet, make sure you\u2019re ready to handle another channel by asking yourself these four important questions:<\/p>\n

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  1. Are my target audiences using it?<\/strong> Social media can and should tie directly in with your overall marketing strategy, the ultimate goal of which is to drive new business. If you are working hard to create a presence, develop strategic content, and drive engagement on a social media channel that your targets aren\u2019t using, you are wasting a lot of very valuable time and energy. If, however, after researching the channel you find that your audiences are actively using it, then it\u2019s time to develop a strategy and dive in.<\/li>\n
  2. Is my content a good match?<\/strong> While you should avoid blanketing all of your social media channels with identical messaging (i.e. automatically pushing your Facebook posts to Twitter), you will definitely have some consistencies. Make sure your content is a good fit for a social media channel before you join. As I discussed in an earlier post<\/a>, not every piece of content you develop \u2013 be it a blog post, presentation, or photo gallery \u2013 will be a match for every platform. That shouldn\u2019t automatically rule out joining, but if you\u2019re struggling to find a single piece of content that would work on that channel, then it\u2019s not the right match for you.<\/li>\n
  3. Do I have time to do it well?<\/strong> There\u2019s the \u2018T\u2019 word again. With the exception of some targeted paid promotions, much of your social media efforts are going to be organic, meaning time is your greatest asset. If you can\u2019t dedicate a few hours a week to a social media channel, especially in the beginning, then you are better off investing the time you do<\/em> have in your existing channels.<\/li>\n
  4. Is the channel growing?<\/strong> A social media channel doesn\u2019t have to be gaining users exponentially to be viable, but it shouldn\u2019t be bleeding them either. Again, it all comes back to your time investment. If a channel is petering out (sorry, Google+), then the roughly 3 months it takes to establish a presence and circulate quality content isn\u2019t going to get you a return on your time investment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you answered \u201cYes\u201d to all four of these questions, then you\u2019re on the right path to joining a new social media channel. Talk with your team (and your agency) before setting down roots so you are all on the same page. You will need a solid strategy, compelling content, creative pieces, and goals to drive your efforts.<\/p>\n

    If you answered \u201cNo\u201d to any of these, think long and hard before joining the channel you are considering. “No” means you either can\u2019t identify potential business connections, quality content, sufficient time, or the promise of growth that would make joining worthwhile. Instead, try shaking up your existing channels to generate new followers and interest. Were you considering creating an Instagram account but don\u2019t have the time to invest in regular posts? Bump up your photo game on Facebook, or create a short video of your latest project to share on YouTube. If you have the initiative to research new platforms, channel it instead into generating\u00a0new content.<\/p>\n

    Starting something new in 2016 has its allure, but make sure you’re ready. Need a social media checkup? Drop us a line<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    LinkedIn. Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. Snapchat. Some social media channels are thriving, some are exploding exponentially, and others are dying slow and painful deaths (ahem, Google+). If you\u00a0already have a few\u00a0of these under your belt, you might be thinking about\u00a0joining a new social media channel. But before you jump in with both feet, make sure you\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,169],"tags":[197,429,427,426,428,425],"class_list":["post-12409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b2b","category-social-media-2","tag-b2b-social-media-strategies","tag-how-to-evaluate-b2b-social-media","tag-joining-a-new-social-media-channel","tag-should-i-join-a-new-social-media-channel","tag-social-media-checklist","tag-social-media-tips-for-b2b"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12409"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12766,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12409\/revisions\/12766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}