How to maximize your branding and your time
We all love efficiency. However, when it comes to posting to your social media platforms, you might want to stop and think about what and how you are posting. Posting to all of your networks at the same time can look unprofessional if not done correctly. How many times do you see a post on Facebook and then see the same exact post on other channels? While that does save time for you as a company, it isn’t necessarily the best way to promote your business. The various social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, are used in different ways, meaning the uniqueness of your posts does matter. Taking the time to post thoughtfully and with a little planning will get your brand noticed, in a good way.
Don’t Post Simultaneously for These Reasons:
- Followers aren’t typically on the same platform at the same time of day. Posting to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all at once means you miss some of your followers. It’s important to find the peak times your followers are on your platforms and use that as a guide.
- Your followers aren’t always the same clientele for each of your platforms. Adjust your messaging to reflect the voice appropriate for each platform.
- On the flip side, you may have followers on more than one of your platforms. If the same photos, messaging, and links all show at the same time, you risk your audience seeing the same content. This could prove irritating to your followers and appears that your team isn’t taking the time to customize messaging.
- Your content won’t look the same on all platforms. For example, if you post your exact Instagram message on Facebook and Twitter, it comes complete with all your hashtags. On Facebook and Twitter. Hashtags simply aren’t used to the same extent. Images could be cropped, text can be lost, handles from one platform aren’t necessarily tagged in the same way on another platform, and videos might not play as designed.
How to Effectively Post All at Once:
Let’s say you have a message you want on all your channels at about the same time. You can do it but be sure to take the time to change the messaging (even just changing a few words will make a noticeable difference) and change the photo (or add a few more) to engage your consumers on each channel. Optimize each post for each platform!
- Customize the content length and the voice used for each.
- Use appropriate hashtags for each platform (while you might use many hashtags on Instagram, use either none or 1-2 on Facebook).
- Edit the CTA “Call to Action” message and tagged people or businesses appropriate to each platform.
Other Considerations:
- Post on different days and times as often as possible. One effective strategy is to schedule your post for different days and times, even if it’s the same message. Follow the steps above with regard to customizing the message for each platform.
- Edit posts to be the ideal length for each platform.
- Use different photos even if the message is similar. We see photos long before we read words.
- Optimize photos for each platform. What works on one may not look professional on another. One example if you use mixed-orientation photos on Instagram–they become cropped differently than they appear on Facebook.
- Post what and to where your followers best respond to. You may find you only want to post some of your content to Instagram and other posts might work best only on Facebook or Twitter.
- Pay attention to what you want your followers to do. Do you want them to buy something, follow a link to the website, or engage directly on the post? Tailor your message to elicit the right response on the right platform.
Posting to various social media platforms likely is essential for your business. Choose the platforms that work best for you and take the time to create awesome content crafted specifically for those platforms. As always, if Burgie MediaFusion can be of help for your company, please reach out and get in touch!