By Emma Fitzpatrick
Did you notice that Instagram looked a bit more like Pinterest last time you logged on?
Recently, Instagram added a new feature that allows you to save images to collection boards to view later. It’s essentially a private Pinterest board. Plus, Instagram Stories were already a near carbon copy of Snapchat. Now, those Stories have become so popular that the feature was just added to Facebook.
So, with Instagram copying Pinterest and Snapchat, and Facebook copying Instagram, do you still need to make unique content for each platform? Or have all the networks turned into such a conglomerate that it doesn’t matter anymore?
Read on to find out.
Is it now OK to post essentially the same content on every platform?
Pictures perform well on most networks, and videos do even better. So, does that mean you should share that same video on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at the same time?
No, not quite.
Even though the top social networks do now share many of the same features and trends, there remains one core problem with republishing the same content multiple places.
When people follow your bank, they typically connect with you on more than one network. In fact, if your content intrigues them, they’re likely following you on every social network they’re on. So, when you post the same content different places, you’re annoying your social followers.
Now, that’s not to say you can’t re-purpose posts or even share that same video on every platform. The trick is to do it right!
Here are some general best practices:
- Avoid using word-for-word the same copy on different networks. Your followers have likely already seen it, and it doesn’t shine a good light on your bank. Frankly, it makes you look lazy!
- If you share the same photo or video on multiple networks, stagger the publish dates. Generally, you should put a few days, at least, in between each posting.
- If the post didn’t perform well on one network, chances are it won’t on another.
- Repurpose and reposition. Don’t copy/paste. Your goal is to play to each platform’s strength. More on that below!
What type of content performs best on each social network?
- After analyzing 25 million Facebook posts by the top 10,000 publishers, BuzzSumo learned videos can increase your reach and shares. The more videos you can share on Facebook, the better.
- Repurpose top-performing posts and info into quick, easy-to-make videos by using images and text rather than live video footage. Some 85% of Facebook videos are watched with the sound off anyway. Keep it simple, and you can make more videos.
- If you must do a traditional post, keep the copy under 50 words, ask a question, and link to a longer article. Data proved these posts have the best engagement rates, after videos.
- Keep your tweets under 100 characters. Data revealed you could see a 17% higher engagement.
- In those 100 characters, add exactly two hashtags, which can double the amount of engagement. If you add one more hashtag, though, a study showed your engagement drops.
- To perfect your tweet, add a picture, too.
- Your posts here should be truly beautiful to behold—and not contain any pictures that look like stock pictures. In short, be sure to edit your photos before posting, and save those raw images for Instagram Stories.
- Curalate found that your photo should be bright, low-saturated, and have lots of space in the background to garner the most likes.
- Because Instagram is all about the image, you can do what feels right with the caption. There’s no one-size-fits-all for length.
- Add geo-locations when applicable, and jam in as many hashtags as you want—as long as you do it in a comment, not the post itself.
Emma Fitzpatrick is a Philly-based freelance writer and marketer, whose specialties include content marketing, social media marketing, and short, snappy writing. Pick her brain at emma.l.fitzpatrick@gmail.com.
Online training in digital, mobile and social media from ABA.
