
Creating and implementing a social media strategy can be time consuming, especially if you’re trying to develop content that’s unique to all the different social platforms you’re using. Learning how to make your content work across different channels can be a real game changer! When you learn how to adapt your content to fit a variety of platforms, you’ll save yourself time and make the social media aspect of your business much less overwhelming. Here are a few key tips on how to create content you can easily cross-post:
1. Think about which platforms are the most similar
If you’re just starting your social media strategy, thinking about which platforms share similar content can be a great way to decide where to create profiles. For companies just starting out, especially those with limited resources to devote to socials, choosing platforms that don’t necessarily require unique content will simplify your strategy. For example, the type of content you see on Instagram is similar to the type of content you see on Facebook. A company looking to simplify their social media strategy might decide to only create profiles on these two platforms, and then share the same content in both places. That company would be able to reach both Instagram users and Facebook users without adding any extra work.
If you have already established profiles on different social platforms, thinking about which channels are the most similar is still an important first step. Begin by identifying which of your social profiles is the highest performing. Then, consider where it would be the easiest to re-share that profile’s content, and focus on those channels. For example, if you’re a company with a strong LinkedIn presence, you could re-share your LinkedIn content to Facebook, and even Twitter with a few minor adjustments. If your Instagram page is performing well, think about reposting your content on Facebook or TikTok. While you don’t have to completely rule out the other channels you’re using, try to focus most of your efforts on your best performing profile and the places you can easily cross-post.
2. Know How to Adapt Your Baseline Content
Re-sharing your content to different social channels doesn’t mean you won’t have to make minor adjustments. When you develop strong baseline content, a few small tweaks can make your posts shine on every platform.
- Consider Your Call-to-Action
A Call-to-Action, or CTA, is something that encourages users to take action that furthers their relationship with a brand. A post might include a CTA that asks people to tag a friend in the comments, check out new inventory on the company website, or follow the company’s page. Depending on what platform you’re posting on, your CTA might change slightly. Be mindful of what your CTA is asking, and what will resonate most with the different demographics on each platform.
- Tag the Right Accounts
Companies and people won’t always have the same usernames on different platforms. If your post includes a tag, make sure that you’re using the right username. If who you’re trying to tag doesn’t have an account on one of the platforms you’re sharing on, adjust the post to simply say their name.
- Optimize Your Videos
Videos can appear very differently on different social platforms. For example, horizontal videos can look great on LinkedIn, but won’t fit properly in an Instagram Reel. Be sure to edit your videos according to each platform’s requirements, and also avoid sharing video content with watermarks. An easy way to save videos without watermarks is to edit them on Instagram and save them to your camera roll before posting.
- Consider the Character Limit
You may have to adapt your captions based on the character limit of the platform. On Facebook, character limit should be a non-issue. The platform’s limit of 63,206 characters should give you plenty of room to play with. If you’re adapting Facebook content to fit into Twitter’s 280-character limit, you may have to make some changes. Simply removing a few hashtags can sometimes do the trick, but in other instances you may have to shorten your caption significantly.
3. Get organized
Enlisting the help of a social media scheduling tool can seriously simplify cross-posting. On most scheduling tools, you have the option to simply duplicate a post, adapt it for another platform, and then reschedule it for that platform. Easy as cake! For companies who have limited resources to devote to socials, using a scheduling tool also gives you the ability to schedule your social media when you have time, instead of worrying about creating a post every couple of days.
By utilizing these tips and beginning to cross-post, you can finally remove the stress that so often goes along with social media and make your pages shine!
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