There are good reasons why you should not post the same content to each of the social media platforms, especially if your target audience doesn’t really spend much time on any specific platform. It doesn’t make much sense to waste time, effort, and content on a platform where your intended audience rarely can be found in any numbers, because your message will be falling on deaf ears.
It’s also true that when you’re creating content, you should keep in mind exactly which platform you’re working with, because some of them are more specialized and can promote your content better. For instance, Instagram is very good at displaying images, videos, and photos, so if your content is of that nature, Instagram would be ideal for carrying your message to the masses, assuming that your audience does spend time there.
Specialties of each platform
As mentioned above, each of the social media platforms tends to have a specialty, and is more adaptable to specific types of content. People tend to go on Instagram to observe others, to see what kind of fashions they’re wearing, and to catch up on all the latest visuals from friends and relatives. Google specializes in facts and instructions, and it’s a platform used by people who want to learn things, like how to use a tool or how to build a pool in their back yard.
Facebook is all about connecting, and about showing any emotions you’re feeling to all your connections. Much of the content to be found on Facebook has to do with users sharing emotions, and about showing reactions to specific events or actions. Snapchat specializes on one-on-one connections, and features candor and intimacy between users, as well as some pretty cool graphics and animation which spice up exchanges.
Users go on Twitter to monitor news events, live happenings, and to listen in on opinionated shows which trigger emotions in listeners. Pinterest users enjoy learning about styles, recipes, designs, and all kinds of arrangements, which provide you with some options you can pursue yourself. Users of Reddit tend to be more interested in niche type news and events, and that allows followers to listen in on just what specific communities are up to on the platform.
How to create content for specific platforms
Before you begin creating any kind of content for any of the social media platforms, there are a few questions you should ask yourself. The first, and perhaps most important question of all, centers around your target audience – who exactly are you trying to reach with your content? Which platforms do these users spend most of their time on? If the people you’re trying to reach don’t spend a significant amount of time on any given platform, you should probably not waste your time trying to reach people on that platform, unless you’re willing to try and interest some less-than-ideal potential customers in your products and services.
Assuming your desired users do spend some considerable amount of time on a platform that you’re thinking of targeting, what kinds of content do they typically consume when they’re on the platform? Do they actually browse through text-based content, or are they strictly interested in visuals and graphics? Will you have to limit your content to 10-second videos which can easily be absorbed by users on this platform? Can the content you have in mind fit in naturally with the news feed offered by each platform?
Let’s say for example, that a fair number of your targeted followers are on each one of the social media platforms. This means you can probably use the same basic content on all the platforms, but that you’ll need to tailor each piece to fit the particular specialties and formatting of individual platforms. On Instagram, you might want to stick to happy photos and videos, with short, clever captions supporting them. On Twitter, you might want to add in some fun tweets relative to the core subject, to be in keeping with the nature of the network itself. On Facebook, you could include both text and images, and try to connect with users as a means of engaging them more fully with your business.
Having a strong social media presence
Contrary to popular belief, having a strong presence on the social media does not mean that you need to be active on each one of them. In fact, you could completely ignore one or two of them and still have an impressive presence. The key to having a strong and imposing recognition factor on the social media is to be very active on the individual platforms you’ve chosen to have a presence on. If most of your users only spend time on Facebook, that’s where you should be spending most of your time too. Forget about all those other platforms where your users can’t be found – any content you post there would be lost on for the most part anyway.
Engage as much as possible with your Facebook users, by regularly providing high-quality content which is useful to them in their daily lives, and provides value which will make them more interested in your business. When users reach out to you with questions or other communications, make sure to respond to all those, so that you can humanize the face of your business, and attach a caring, human face to your company. Users relate to humans much better than to companies, so keep in mind that the power of genuine social exchanges can accomplish a great deal for you.
Also, don’t stretch yourself too thin. If you’re trying to create content for multiple platforms, and end up not creating quality content, then you will have defeated the purpose of your marketing campaign. Limit yourself to the right platform, and create the right amount of content, then do everything you can to establish and maintain a meaningful presence on that platform. If you follow these simple recommendations, you should be well on your way to having a strong social media presence, right where you need it.
