Not All Social Media Platforms Are Created Equal
Posting on Facebook is the same as LinkedIn, right? Wrong!
Not all content is suitable for every social media platform. Each has a unique audience and different use cases, which your content should reflect to maximize engagement.
Don’t worry. If you’ve been taking more of a “one size fits all” approach, read on! In this post, we’ll cover social media marketing tips to help refine your strategy on each major platform. Let’s explain these social media marketing tips.
What Is Cross-Posting?
Cross-posting is the act of sharing the same post across different social media platforms. It can be very tempting. Many “agencies-in-a-box” will tell you cross-promoting is a best practice. After all, it saves time and makes it easy to keep your accounts active. However, we believe those short-term benefits of cross-posting are overshadowed by long-term drawbacks.
What Should You Do Instead of Cross-Posting?
Instead of cross-posting, take the time to make sure your content is fluent in the language of each platform.
Tactically speaking, things like caption length and image formatting differ, and cross-posting creates a lot of room for accidental mishaps.
More importantly, your followers are not likely to be the same on every platform. The purpose and user base of each are different. As a result, the people who follow you on Twitter are often not the same people who Like you on Facebook.
Blindly cross-posting content optimized for one platform will be noticed as inauthentic by users on another.
What Is the Difference Between Each of the Major Social Networks?
To help refine your strategy, here’s a little intel about the audience and ideal content for each major social platform:
- Facebook: It can be tough to get attention these days on the world’s largest social network (MAUs). Videos, blog posts, and highly curated content can help you cut through the clutter. That said, photos still work better than text alone. Keep in mind Newsfeeds often feature like-minded views & emotionally-driven content.
- Instagram: Users on the most popular millennial platform appreciate high-quality (& interesting) visuals, so successful posts are often in the form of high-res photos or Stories. Keep in mind user’s feeds often feature lifestyle, trends, or anything with a desirable aesthetic. Tutorials or DIYs videos (and oddly, quotes) can also work well. See the here for Instagram tactics!
- Twitter: Most use Twitter to keep up with news, so that makes it a great platform for breaking news and company announcements. It can also be especially good for social listening and offering customer service. Keep in mind this is also one of the few places GIFs still seem to have legs.
- LinkedIn: As a professional networking platform, successful content often takes the form of business news, job listings, and career information. Focus on things that will win you a new client, or help recruit new talent. Keep in mind videos, blog posts, and text can all work well.
- Pinterest: Another highly visual platform… and dominated by women. Pinterest can be especially effective at driving traffic to eCommerce sites. Keep in mind, infographics and step-by-step photo guides play especially well because of Pinterest’s vertical aspect ratio.
- Snapchat: No longer a platform to ignore if your ideal customer falls between the ages of 12-34. The app was designed to be casual and fun, so the authenticity of your content matters. Keep in mind, anything you post will disappear after 24 hours. So, posting often and interacting with other users is critical to remaining relevant.
- TikTok: The controversial new kid on the block you’ve heard about in the news. TikTok’s playful user-generated “challenge” videos helped it amass a very engaged Gen Z audience. Your content should not be over-produced (i.e. use your iPhone) and can be effective at seeding information about your brand with younger audiences. Keep in mind, there’s more interest in watching humorous and entertaining videos than anything else.
Create a Specific Strategy for Each Social Media Platform
So as the final Social Media Marketing Tip, we highly recommend crafting a slight variation of your message for every social network. Not all content needs to be shared everywhere. And, as you can now see, not all content is suitable for every platform.
You might be thinking, “All this unique posting sounds like a lot of work!”
Remember, you don’t need to start from scratch each time. Even small formatting and language tweaks to the same core content will help you better connect with your audiences.
In the long-term, tailoring your strategy to each platform will pay dividends in attracting followers to your brand, increasing engagement, and growing your organic reach. It will be part of your brand!
