So you’re on social media, and your brand has a good presence. Maybe you started with a Facebook page, and then got on Instagram. Maybe you’re even on Twitter, or you have a YouTube channel. Perhaps you pay for television ads or spots… all of this visibility is a good thing, and it’s made even better if you aren’t recycling the same content on each platform.
While getting onto any of these platforms will benefit your business by means of visibility, shares, and reach, there are strategies for sharing different forms of media on each platform. Some platforms are more visual, while others work better with links and text copy.
Posting your content across the internet isn’t a one-size-fits-all deal. Each platform has its strengths, weaknesses, and specific strategies. You’ll want your best images for Instagram, your snappiest captions and embedded links for Twitter, and some combination for Facebook. Keep reading for our rundown of which content works best on which platform to help you better strategize your ads, social media, and marketing content.
At a Glance: Short and snappy captions, link to media in the post
Twitter is short-form and text-based, and you can link to external media or articles directly in the tweet. Think of Twitter like a short-n-sweet form of social media. The largest demographic is between 25-34 years old, and Twitter likes its posts to be concise and sometimes humorous. If you aren’t an avid Twitter user, spend some time scrolling through similar business accounts on the app and get a feel for the tone. Twitter has a 280 character limit, which you’ll run out of quicker than you think. We recommend not simply shortening your Facebook posts or Instagram captions for Twitter, rather creating a new post that flows well and encapsulates everything you’re trying to say without wasting any space. This is one of the harder platforms to get engagement on, and posts tend to get buried. You can use photos and gifs, and we also recommend shortening your links via a web service. You can’t hyperlink or embed on Twitter, and long links look clunky in the post. You can also link to articles or media on your site, and you’ll get a nice looking preview with the title and image in your post.
At-a-Glance: Photo-based, link in your bio, descriptive captions, generate engagement
Instagram is image-based, so choose your best photos for Instagram—think bright colors, well-framed shots, and something that embodies your business. Unless you’re in the market for inspirational text-based images, stay away from words on a solid background. The caption space is where your words come in. Instagram’s caption limit is so long that most people won’t have to worry about it, but we still recommend keeping your caption short and sweet. If you have a large block of text, break it up with paragraph breaks. Hashtags are more important here than Twitter, but keep them separate from the main body of your post to maintain a sense of authenticity. You can’t embed links or have live links in the Instagram captions, so either put a relevant link in your bio, or use a service like LinkTree.com to create external links, and have your LinkTree live in your Instagram bio with relevant links.
At-a-Glance: Combination of photos and text, able to embed links with website / article preview
Facebook is a good combination of image and text, and since many users have autoplay engaged on their newsfeed, video works really well here. We recommend a caption no longer than a short paragraph, with some sort of image, image-based link (like an article or page on your site), or video to accompany it. Posts that are only text-based tend to get lost in Facebook, so try to have a combination of attention-grabbing text and a visually engaging photo. The more engagement you get in the form of likes and comments, the more likely your post is to show up in their friends’ feeds as well.
YouTube
At-a-Glance: Entirely video-based, able to embed links in the video description
As you are likely aware, YouTube is a video site, and is the place where your television spots, social media shorts, and any other video content should live. There’s no harm in cross-posting social media videos to YouTube… in fact, it’s a good idea! Since most of your videos will be seen by subscribers—the algorithm is more challenging than other sharing sites—you’ll want to work to grow your base, which means your subscribers will be notified when you upload a video. Sound quality, engaging visuals, and a good flow will keep people engaged and more likely to punch the subscribe button. You can hyperlink to your site and external links in the video description, which we recommend doing. Like with Instagram captions, avoid giant blocks of text. Break up anything long with paragraph breaks, and be sure to always have a subscribe button notification at the end of each video.