No two social channels are the same, so don’t approach each with the same content marketing strategy.
Do you think it’s okay to post links to zombie memes on your LinkedIn account?
Do you think sharing the same blog post with the same “Hey, read this” message on all of your social accounts is going to get you the leads you want?
So you have a content marketing strategy in place. Congratulations. You might as well throw your content marketing strategy out that window, however, if you don’t have a separate strategy in place for each social channel.
According to the IMN 2013 Content Marketing Survey Report, “only 22% of respondents stated that they have a separate content marketing strategy in place for each channel.” That means 78% of brands are going in blind, approaching each channel with the same strategy.
C’mon, you know well and good that Facebook is not Twitter is not Pinterest, and so on and so on. If you’re going to engage in content marketing, you need to be as strategic as possible, and that means breaking your strategy down channel by channel.
Here are five big reasons why you should have a separate content marketing strategy in place for each of your social channels:
Chances are, you follow some of your favorite brands on more than one social account. Wouldn’t it be insanely boring and irritating if a brand you liked posted the same exact content on all of their social accounts? The sad thing is, a lot of companies practice this nonsense. Keep your audience engaged by posting unique content on your various social channels.
Here’s something to consider: logistics. Just because your boss tells you to “go put that blog thing on the Twitter” doesn’t mean you can. You can’t post a 300-word blog post to YouTube nor can you post your 100,000 word eBook directly to your Facebook page. Consider the limits of the channel you’re working with while you’re developing and distributing your content.
- Time is of the essence
Say you’re doing gangbusters on Twitter but nobody really cares about your Facebook content. You’d keep devoting time to sharing content on Twitter and ease back on Facebook, right? Without a separate content marketing strategy in place for each of your social channels, you run the risk of spending too much on one and not enough time on another. Consider the value each social channel has to your overall content marketing strategy and you’ll use your time more wisely. - Some content just doesn’t belong
There’s a reason why different social networks exist: each serves a different purpose. Instagram is for taking photos of your lunch while LinkedIn is for schmoozing with business professionals, right? That being said, content that’s well-suited for one channel might be totally wrong for another. You shouldn’t post crazy cat photos to LinkedIn nor should you post overly boring business crap to Twitter. Consider the voice and purpose of each social channel when you’re sharing content and you’ll avoid some awkward situations. - Strong social channels keep your whole strategy from falling apart
Pumping out the same content on each of your social channels shows one thing: that you don’t have a strong content marketing strategy to begin with. Fail to consider the strategy for each of your social channels and your whole strategy falls apart. With an individualized approach, each of your social channels will be content-rich, thus elevating your overall content marketing strategy.
Do you have a separate content marketing strategy in place for each of your social channels? Is it important to post unique content on each network? Got any good zombie memes to share? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.