As with most things in life, a one size fits all approach rarely works. Never is that statement truer than in the world of digital marketing.
It's easy to group every networking platform under the all-inclusive term of ‘social media’. However, that diminishes the very unique role that each one can play in your marketing efforts. No two social media platforms are the same so it’s important that you understand the personalities and limitations of each one you use. This ensures that everything you put out into the digital space is working to your advantage. Here are some things to consider before hitting ‘Post’.
Capabilities
Every social media platform has different capabilities. This can be as clear cut as the size limitations of captions and images, but others are not as obvious. For example, a URL link will work on Facebook but it won’t work on Instagram – so if you post exactly the same content on Facebook and Instagram, you will end up with a disengaged audience on Insta since they can't access the content easily?
Same goes for Stories. If you create an interactive story with a poll or ask a question, when you auto share it to Facebook the audience are not able to interact with it!
Research shows that the average human attention span is now 8 seconds (down from 9 seconds 20 years ago!) Those 8 seconds are precious and your audience are not going to want to waste them trying to find a workaround to access your content. If you want happy customers, make everything simple and clear!
Catering to different audiences
Every social media platform has a different purpose for existing and caters to its own particular audience. Pinterest helps users collate images under different themes, Twitter is full of short and snappy nuggets of information to encourage discussion, LinkedIn can help fast track job seekers to a new career through lengthy, professional captions. So while you may find the same people on different platforms, their expectations for the type of content they expect and want to see will be different. Make sure to tailor your content based on each platform’s demographics, their interests and expectations.
Adapting your communication style
Social media is all about communication, but the communication style must adapt depending on the platform you’re using. Content, tone of voice and style of writing are all important and while you need an overall brand consistency, little tweaks are required across the different social media channels. Instagram favours a more light-hearted tone while LinkedIn favours a more formal approach. Twitter captions must be short and to the point while Facebook allows you to elaborate. Think of it as different friends with different personalities. You treat and talk to each friend differently … social media platforms should be no different!
Remember, good perceptions are the key to good business. Your digital marketing practices can heavily impact on how your business is perceived by potential customers. While a simple cut and paste job may save you time, posting the exact same message to every network without editing it for the specific requirements and audience demands of those networks can make you look robotic or lazy. Will a potential customer invest in a business that uses irrelevant hashtags, unclickable links and half chopped photos?
Treating each social media platform individually and creating platform specific content are key to maximising your impact and will successfully position your business in both the social and digital space.