4 reasons you should tailor content for different social platforms

This is one blog post about organic social media content. Read Organic social: Is it worth it in 2020? for more.

Think one-size-fits-all? Think again. 

Any social media manager will praise the benefits of social media monitoring and scheduling tools, like HubSpot. They allow you to monitor multiple streams, coordinate responses with a team, and, perhaps most importantly of all, schedule your social media posts. You can even post to multiple social networks at once. Some platforms encourage you to post your content in multiple places within the same platform (for instance, Facebook newsfeed and Facebook stories). 

Just because you can post one update to multiple places at once, should you? No, and here’s why.

     1. Different platforms = different preferences

Your Facebook audience is looking for lighthearted content with a strong visual and a digestible message. Your Twitter audience seeks quick, conversational updates. Your LinkedIn audience needs a business angle. And don’t even try to come at an Instagram audience without a compelling and authentic visual. Do you see how scheduling posts across platforms could mean you lose sight really quickly

     2. Multimedia adjustments 

Marketing on social media is different today from where it was just a few years ago. The horizontal format that once dominated YouTube and Facebook feeds is becoming increasingly irrelevant, thanks to Instagram’s signature feed of square images/videos. Vertical formats offered in Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram stories changed the game even more. While you can still get away with posting a horizontal photo in the Facebook newsfeed, don’t even try it on Stories. Not only will you see limited engagement, you look like you don’t know what you’re doing. 

      3. To hashtag or not to hashtag? 

Hashtags are an easy way to engage on Instagram and Twitter. On LinkedIn, they seem to be starting to catch on, while on Facebook, they aren’t doing much. Facebook posts that incorporate hashtags muddy up your message and make it obvious you’re not trying to tailor your content. 

      4. Frequency differences

Different social media channels require different frequencies and even different times of day to reach peak engagement. While you have a little freedom to post frequently on Twitter, the same is not true with other platforms. Remember that quality counts more than quantity when it comes to posting social media updates.

So how do you tackle all this custom content? 

Our advice: Get well-versed in image editing/resizing software. Dive into your data to see what type of content customers respond to on different platforms. Make sure the person managing your social media is personally immersed in the platforms to ensure they’re on top of the latest and greatest. And if that all sounds like too much, just know you have some experts in your corner here at Axia Public Relations. 

For more tips on social media engagement, download Axia’s complimentary e-book “The Essential Social Media Management Guide” today.