Don't get your wires crossed when posting on social media
Cross-posting, which is automatically posting exactly the same content across multiple social media platforms, is a simple way to update all of your accounts at once. It can be done easily by adjusting your settings to allow posts to be shared on each one as they go live. For example, up until recently you could set it so that any post you share on Twitter would automatically go live on your Facebook page too.
This can save a lot of time, particularly if you want to share the same business news or updates across all of your social channels. However, there are a number of reasons why cross-posting, especially for a brand or company, isn’t the best choice.
They target different audiences
You may think cross-posting is great as it saves the hassle of having to redraft posts multiple times and it means you don’t have to worry about updating your pages regularly. However, each platform has a different audience. The people that follow you on LinkedIn for example will fit into a completely different demographic and have a different agenda for liking your page to those on Facebook.
Therefore, it makes sense to take a couple of extra minutes and tailor your message to suit your intended audience and the style of the platform you’re posting to. For example, draft a short snappy update with plenty of hashtags for Twitter, then redraft it to include a little more detail and no hashtags for Facebook. Not only will this appeal to the different audiences, but it will also demonstrate to your followers that you are making more of an effort to engage with them.
You risk losing followers
Some people may follow you on more than one of your social media channels. If they begin to see content duplicated across multiple platforms, they’ll soon become fed up of reading the same thing three times over. They may also realise that your account is automated and their willingness to engage will be reduced. The chances are they will unfollow you as a result.
The time you save by cross-posting isn’t worth losing your audience for. After all, if it looks like you don’t take the time to pay attention to what you post on your account, why should they?
It’s worth bearing in mind that we’re not saying you shouldn’t post about the same subject across all accounts. If you have a blog, news story or case study to share then you should be posting about it on all of your active social pages. It’s just not best practice to post one update automatically across them all.
Here at Dragonfly PR we take care of planning and managing social media content and responding to any direct enquiries, to ensure our clients are seen as engaging and responsive and can make the most of any opportunities. We provide results-driven social media campaigns, which includes drafting and posting updates that are bespoke to each platform and audience, as well as regular monitoring and monthly reporting to demonstrate results.
So, if you are a construction company, manufacturer or b2b business that is not getting the results you want through social media, or if you don’t currently have any social media presence and would like someone to get this started and take care of it, please contact our social media team now on 01709 300130 or email: hello@dragonflypr.co.uk.