You have a piece of content — a blog post, a graphic, a video — and it needs promotion. Assuming you already have a distribution strategy (we can help if you don’t!), it’s time to blast it out. But you’re publishing in five channels… what’s the ideal character count for each? Does the image need to be resized? How many hashtags is too many?
The answers depend on the channel, and keeping track of it all can be overwhelming. So we’ve assembled “everything you need to know” to publish on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all in one easy-to-use cheatsheet.
In addition to tactical considerations like wordcount and image size, you should also tweak the copy of your post for each platform. Your audience’s behavior, expectations and goals of posts vary from channel to channel.
- Emphasize attitude. Twitter is all about bold claims and igniting conversation. Let your personality shine in the post to the full extent your brand guidelines will allow.
- Don’t front. More than 50% of users are between 18 and 34 years old, so they are the savvy culture-makers. If you’re not 100% confident you’re up on the latest lingo/trends, don’t risk it. Your audience will call you out in a heartbeat.
- Spark intrigue. Users often come to Instagram from a place of discovery, so use the first 50 or so characters to ignite curiousity.
- Keep it light. This is not the place to drop profound philosophical thoughts. Keep the tone of your copy light and complementary to the image (it is, after all, an image-driven platform).
- Be personable. Facebook is family-friendly, and users’ feeds are filled with family and friends. Your copy should match that context — use approachable and appropriate language.
- Use “real” imagery. Stock photos are a no-no. Imagery needs to have the aesthetic of a real person taking a photo of a real person doing a real thing.
TikTok
- Go wild. TikTok audiences expect a show. Find a way to incorporate words and descriptors into the video itself.
- Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags. Use the minimum amount of words needed to set-up or explain what’s happening, then spend your remaining characters on hashtags.
- Think B2C in a B2B space. LinkedIn is obviously professional business territory, so make sure your copy has an air of confidence, expertise and authority.
- Consider articles. If your post is linking to an article, consider publishing a refreshed version of the article itself on LinkedIn. Less than 0.02% of users publish LinkedIn articles, so competition is low — and over 40% of article readers on LinkedIn are high-level decision makers.
If you need assistance developing a promotional strategy or better understanding the strengths of each platform, please reach out to us.
