Estimates suggest that hundreds, if not thousands of new platforms are launched annually, with many failing to gain significant traction and quickly disappearing.
If that’s the case, when do you know that a new platform is the right place for your non-for-profit organization?
After all adopting a new platform means spending an additional 5 hours per week on that platform and potentially hours of investigation.
Here’s how I approach new social media platforms for both the agency and the agency’s clients.
Let’s begin first by breaking down the different kinds of new platforms you can consider for your nonprofit and what categories they tend to land in. Most new applications can fall in more than one category, but understanding where they fall can help to guide your decision.
Revolutionary Platforms
These are platforms that completely change the way social media works and very few of these platforms exist. Most revolutionary platforms are the ones that have the highest users like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram - I call these ‘legacy platforms’. These are platforms that will continue to grow globally. The newest revolutionary platform to exist currently is TikTok, but it’s typically hard to tell just how popular most platforms will become.
Think back to the boom of an app like Clubhouse - certainly revolutionary but not legacy. The other issue with revolutionary apps is that they tend to be gobbled up by their larger counterparts making the time and energy put into them wasteful as the audience built up on the platform is usually nontransferable.
Combination Platforms
These platforms pull together the functionality of other apps. Most platforms today are combination apps, and new platforms are no exception. They often allow for written, photo, video, and audio content types. However, most of these platforms have a preferred medium. For example, you can use Facebook to write a text post, share a photo, or share a video. However, short-form video is being pushed on the platform making it the preferred medium. These platforms require you to stay abreast of the changing algorithm so that you can feed the platform what it wants for a positive social media ROI.
Replacement Platforms
These platforms are usually created to ‘correct’ the perceived issues of other apps. Think about TikTok and it’s seemingly magical algorithm in contrast to Instagram. Consider BlueSky and its perceived opposition of X and all things Elon Musk. These are the most risky of the three categories because they face quite the obstacle of pulling people from the app they are comfortable with.
This would be comparable to a new water company fighting Dasani for its market share: quite the insurmountable task. These platforms also tend to be behind in API capabilities making automation of posting much more difficult and therefore making these apps even more time consuming to adopt.
How do these categories help me to decide whether to adopt these new apps, watch them for a while, or decide they aren’t worthwhile?
Starting with revolutionary platforms, my recommendation for most organizations is to wait. Exciting ideas tend to be adopted by legacy platforms and then the platforms that are new slowly lose adoption rates as users return to combination platforms. The exception to this would be if your organization caters to the group targeted by the new platform. For example, TikTok caters heavily to Gen Z so if you had a non-profit supporting youth it would be worth the risk. If your organization is working with an agency like Beyond the Logo, you can engage them in an adoption assessment for a more calculated decision.
Typically, you have a small window of opportunity as a new adopter of a platform as you usually are able to garner the most followers the quickest. That is why you see the users who have been on platforms like Instagram for decades able to garner massive followers - most users with over a million followers were early adopters of the platform and therefore had less competition. As a new organization you can take advantage of revolutionary platforms to level the playing field between yourself and legacy brands.
You can monitor the user numbers of revolutionary platforms month over month to determine if they have the potential to explode and become global.
Combination Platforms are much less of a guessing game. They will be easier to adopt because they will most likely operate in a similar nature to platforms you already use.I’d recommend adopting them only when it is possible to automate posting. You should also be looking at adoption rates of your target audience. If your audience is there, it may be worthwhile but keep in mind your organization’s overall strategic plan and try not to be swayed by shiny objects.
Replacement Platforms are similar in terms of ease of adoption, however they do carry the same level of risk as Revolutionary Platforms as they may not last. The first thing to consider is if you currently use the platform being replaced. If not, you should be questioning why this new platform is essential to your strategy if it’s predecessor was not. Barring that question, my position on them is the same as above - adopt when you can automate and when your target audience adopts.
Above all, when a new platform is created ask yourself three questions:
Does this platform align with our audience and mission?
Do we need this platform to reach our audience? Are they on the platform?
Can we automate this platform and do we have the resources to execute the adoption of a new platform?
If you’re looking for guidance on your social media strategy, reach out to us. We help nonprofit and social impact brands build trust and increase their impact. Join our email list and go beyond the logo to create deeper connections.
About Beyond the Logo
Beyond the Logo is a brand marketing agency dedicated to helping businesses grow by building authentic, human-centered brands. The agency focuses on developing emotional connections that transcend visuals, offering comprehensive branding strategies that connect nonprofits with their ideal clients.
For more information, visit www.wannagobeyond.com/home or follow us everywhere @wannagobeyond.
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