Social media automation can save a business time, but sadly, it can hurt business if not done correctly. Posting on multiple networks in the same way at the same time is not useful for a business. The reason being that each platform and the audience that uses the platform is different and embraces content in very different ways.
Here are a few helpful tips to help you maximize your efforts and appeal to the platform’s demographic and consumption of content to utilize content across multiple platforms.
- Image Sizes – Each social network has preferred image sizes for optimization of their channel, and you must know what they are before creating a graphic or sharing an image on them.
- Image Preferences – Each social network also has a different “vibe”, which means different images will perform better or worse, depending on where it’s posted. Pinterest provides a great guide on creating images that do well on their platform.
- Space for Text – Additionally, every social media platform has different amounts of space for a caption that introduces the image and links to the content you’re sharing. Plus, the users have different preferences on how they want that to look.
- Times for Sending – Social media platforms also have different “best” times to send information. Even though you have the same audience, the way people use specific social platforms is slightly different if you haven’t evaluated your data to the best days and times to post, visit SproutSocial.com for their 2020 best times to post.
- Calls to Action – How you post your calls to action (CTA’s) will also be different depending on each social media network. On some, like Twitter, you can be more direct to ask people to share, click, or buy. But on Instagram, you’ll need to ensure that your profile has a link back to your site, and people will have to search for it. Linktr.ee is a good solution for Instagram. You can see how it is used if you visit my Instagram profile.
It is important to remember that posting the same thing across multiple social media platforms through automation often means you miss out on engaging with your audience. To make the most of your content, be sure to take the time to customize the content, images, times, and calls to action for your audience and platforms.
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