How to Create a Strategy for Cross-Posting

Whether you work in social media or social media is integral to your work as a business owner or creative, you know that social media has its 'seasons' or 'eras.' Currently, we're in the 'era' of cross-posting, also known as repurposing content. And if you've been paying attention to the climate on social media lately, this makes total sense. 

The powers that be at Instagram made a lot of major shifts to the platform in 2022 that many people struggled to keep up with, leading to a plummet in engagement for many. Meanwhile, new platforms like TikTok continued to soar in popularity, and older legacy platforms like Youtube started vying for our attention back by introducing new features like Youtube Shorts. Suddenly, there's an opportunity to grow on every social media platform. And since NO ONE is interested in making unique content for each platform (after all, aren't we struggling to keep up with one platform in the first place?), cross-posting has become the go-to solution. 

Now don't get us wrong: cross-posting is a GREAT approach to managing a multi-channel social media presence. But it's more complex than creating your content and posting it across all of your channels. It's essential to understand the type of people on each platform you're posting to and the nuances of the platform itself so that you can optimize your content to perform well on each one. In today's blog post, we'll be breaking down how to do precisely that. 

STEP 1: SET YOUR GOALS & ESTABLISH YOUR STRATEGY FOR EACH PLATFORM 

We always have to begin with the why. Why are you cross-posting to these new platforms, and what are your goals? 

Do you want to reach a new audience that may be less active on the social media platforms you're currently on?

What results do you want to see from expanding your presence to these new platforms?

Once you understand your why and have determined your KPIs (key performance indicators) for how you will measure success on these platforms, it's time to create your strategy (yes: every platform you're active on needs its own strategy). 

Instead of plugging and playing your content across all of your social media platforms, think of your content as a bank of resources you can tap into, and think about how you can intentionally use these resources to achieve your desired goals for each platform.

What content do you already have that you should start repurposing on these platforms? How will you determine which content will be cross-posted and which won't? Will you only cross-post or repurpose content from certain content pillars or themes? Or maybe only your short-form videos? Will you post the content simultaneously, or does it make sense for your content to go out in a different cadence for each platform?

Once you have your game plan, you've already tripled the likelihood that the results of your cross-posting will be much better.

STEP 2: LEARN YOUR AUDIENCE ON EACH PLATFORM 

Every social media platform is a unique experience, and there's a reason why its active userschoose that platform as their go-to. It's important to understand that while your target audience may be similar across your platforms of choice, their behaviors on these platforms may be day and night. 

Spend time researching your ideal audience and pay attention to the type of content they're already engaging with. Do they tend to prefer longer or shorter content? What times are they online? What keywords pop up often in the content they're already engaging in? All this information will help you tailor your content to each social media platform so that your cross-posting is worthwhile.

STEP 3: LEARN THE LAY OF THE LAND FOR EACH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM 

Every platform has its best practices, and it's essential to understand them well. If you don't, you'll be cross-posting in vain and won't see the results you desire. 

For example, sizing recommendations for photos and graphics differ on Instagram vs. LinkedIn. The max length of videos on TikTok is different than the maximum length of videos on Youtube Shorts. While carousels perform very well on Instagram, the user experience is quite different on LinkedIn, so it's often better to either turn carousels into PDFs or copy and paste the text from your carousels right into the body of your post. Make sure you know these critical distinctions to create content that meets best practices across your key platforms. PLANOLY's 2023 trend report is the perfect resource to help you get started!

STEP 4: CREATE A CROSS-POSTING SYSTEM 

Social media can be made much simpler with SYSTEMS - especially when you're cross-posting to multiple platforms, requiring you to make slight tweaks and adjustments to optimize your content for each platform. 

Once you have selected your key platforms and studied their best practices, make a checklist that you should follow when scheduling or reposting content across platforms. This step-by-step guide should include resizing or reformatting your content, adjusting your captions (and/or hashtags), and any other fundamental changes required. 

STEP 5: SET UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TOOLS TO SUPPORT YOU

PLANOLY makes scheduling content across your key social media channels super simple. Be sure to set up all of your social media channels in your PLANOLY account, and leverage critical features like PLANOLY's hashtag manager tool to add pre-sets to automate parts of your cross-posting process. Do the same for your other essential social media tools, including your preferred graphic design and video editing software.

Cross-posting is a savvy approach to establishing and growing an online presence across multiple social media platforms! Keep these critical steps in mind to ensure you're cross-posting with intention and way more ease.