How to Do Cross-Posting on Social Media the Right Way

What Are the Benefits of Cross-Posting on Multiple Platforms?

Like many tried-and-tested tactics on social platforms—influencer marketing, user-generated content, and so on—cross-posting has several advantages. 

For instance, a small brand with a limited marketing budget may use a cross-posting strategy to multiply the value of a piece of content. A new and emerging business may spread its content across multiple channels to boost reach. 

Let’s take a look at the top three benefits of cross-posting social media content:

1. Reach more of your audience
2. Save time on content creation
3. Reinforce your messaging

1. Reach More of Your Audience

As mentioned, cross-posting on various social platforms is a great way of boosting your content’s reach and connecting with broader audiences. 

Remember, each individual platform—whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, or Instagram—attracts different users with different preferences. If you’re only posting to LinkedIn, the portion of your target audience that uses Facebook will miss out. 

So, by sharing the same content on each platform, you increase the chances of your brand messaging reaching people who you truly want to engage with. 

2. Save Time on Content Creation

As a marketer, you don’t need us to tell you how laborious the content creation process can be. Crafting original and optimized content for every single social media platform takes considerable time and resources. 

Cross-posting content tailored for each platform saves you valuable time— time that’s better spent working on other essential tasks, like responding to comments from your target audience, creating KPI reports, and developing new marketing ideas. 

3. Reinforce Your Messaging

Consistency is key when it comes to marketing strategies—and cross-posting is all about consistency. By reinforcing your messaging in individual platforms, you ensure your core content and promotions are shown to more followers. 

Repeating these core marketing messages increases the chance that your target audience will absorb and remember your message. But it also helps to cement a clear voice and tone as part of your brand identity, which is crucial for managing your online presence in today’s digital world.

On top of this, it’s essential to use recognizable website formatting and consider a few different domain hacks and tips to help you standout. For your website, use a content funnel to direct viewers through the customer journey and lead them to your product or service. 

Keep in mind that as part of your strategy, you must keep a consistent branding across your website and social media networks. You want your brand image to be cohesive so it becomes instantly recognizable for your audience no matter which platform they’re engaging with you on.

Chances are a lot of your cross-promotional content will direct followers to your website, so you want to guarantee a seamless experience across both.

Here are some things to consider for a great website presence: 

• A recognizable domain: Would local audiences recognize your website domain? For instance, is your UK domain “.co.uk” or US domain “.com”? If not, it might be time to invest in a new website URL or consider using more than one domain, to appeal to different audiences.
• Consistent visuals: Do your visuals match across all channels? A brand style guide can go a long way in ensuring consistency. Make sure yours outlines brand colors, fonts, and logo formats that should be used in different instances.
• Compelling messaging: Is your tone of voice the same on your website and social media channels? If not, create a content style guide that reflects your voice, values, and personality.

How to Cross-Post The Right Way on Social Media

Despite the numerous benefits, cross-posting doesn’t have a 100% success rate (much like many other social tactics). To be successful, you need to post quality content that’s adapted to each social media channel and meets a specific purpose—whether that’s to inform, entertain, or persuade.

You should also always point the audience to a unique link to your product page or business website to boost your sales and conversions. 

Here’s how to cross-post social media content the right way:

1. Adapt your content to each social media platform
2. Choose the right content type
3. Optimize your images for different platforms
4. Avoid excessive cross-posting
5. Use analytics to improve your strategy

1. Adapt Your Content to Each Social Media Platform

In the world of social media cross-posting, recognizing the uniqueness of each platform is essential. Think of it like tailoring a suit—it should fit flawlessly. By their very nature, each social network is home to a niche audience in terms of age, culture, behavior, and expectations. 

Here are some actionable tips to effectively tailor your captions:

• Engage with questions and calls to action: Increase interaction by asking questions or inviting actions, particularly on platforms like Instagram or Facebook.
• Use hashtags wisely: Hashtags can significantly extend your reach. Use them strategically on Twitter and Instagram, and more sparingly on LinkedIn.
• Balance witty remarks with professional tone: Twitter is great for humor, but align it with your brand voice. On LinkedIn, keep a formal tone while adding personality.
• Keep it concise when necessary: On platforms like Twitter and TikTok, with a character limit, make your message impactful yet brief.

So adapting your content to resonate with the characteristics of each platform ensures your messaging is harmonious.  

2. Choose the Right Content Type 

It goes without saying that choosing the right content is essential. After all, it could be the difference between your message resonating with your audience or posts falling flat. 

As we’ve mentioned, different social media platforms attract different audiences. So taking time to choose the best content to share on each platform ensures your message aligns with the audience’s expectations. 

Let’s take a look at each popular social media channel and the content it best suits:

• Facebook: With roughly three billion users in 2023, Facebook is by far the biggest social media platform. You can post various types of content, from long-form posts, articles, images, and videos, or join forums relevant to your industry, the products and services you offer, or your customers’ interests.
• Instagram: Thriving on visual storytelling, Instagram best suits high-quality images, Reels, Stories and captivating visuals.
• Twitter: Designed for short yet impactful communication, Twitter (or X, as it’s now called) is perfect for quick company updates and engaging in real-time conversations. 
• Threads: Still relatively new, Threads was created to rival Twitter. The short and sweet nature makes it ideal for sharing company updates, quick thoughts, and connecting with customers more closely. 
• TikTok: This platform thrives on short, engaging videos that capture viewers’ attention within seconds. Some of the platform’s most popular videos are funny and involve popular trends. 
• LinkedIn: Known as the professional network, LinkedIn is the perfect place to promote your blog with short-form articles and some long-form content such as  thought-leadership pieces.

3. Optimize Your Images for Different Platforms 

Even on the more text-heavy platforms, images are the visual language of social media, grabbing people’s attention as they scroll through post after post after post. 

Just as a skilled translator adapts a message to suit a different audience, optimizing images for various platforms is essential. Resize and format your images to align seamlessly with the unique specifications of each platform. 

Here’s a quick guide for aspect ratio for some of the major platforms:

1. Instagram:

   • Square images: 1080 x 1080 pixels
   • Portrait images: 1080 x 1350 pixels
   • Landscape images: 1080 x 566 pixels
   • Stories: 1080 x 1920 pixels

2. Facebook:

   • Profile picture: 170 x 170 pixels on desktop, 128 x 128 on smartphones
   • Cover photo: 820 x 312 pixels
   • Shared images: 1200 x 630 pixels
   • Shared link preview image: 1200 x 628 pixels

3. Twitter:

   • Profile photo: 400 x 400 pixels
   • Header photo: 1500 x 500 pixels
   • In-stream photo: 1600 x 900 pixels (minimum 600 x 335)

4. LinkedIn:

   • Profile picture: 400 x 400 pixels (minimum 200 x 200)
   • Cover photo: 1584 x 396 pixels
   • Shared image or link: 1104 x 736 pixels
   • Company logo: 300 x 300 pixels

5. Pinterest:

   • Pins on main page appear as 236 pixels wide (height is scaled)
   • Expanded pins have a minimum width of 600 pixels
   • Board cover image: 222 x 150 pixels

6. TikTok:

   • Profile photo: 200 x 200 pixels
   • Video resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixels

7. YouTube:

   • Channel profile image: 800 x 800 pixels
   • Channel cover photo: 2560 x 1440 pixels (with safe area of 1546 x 423 pixels)
   • Video thumbnails: 1280 x 720 pixels

Remember, these sizes can change as platforms update their layout and design, so it’s a good idea to occasionally check for the latest specifications.

4. Avoid Excessive Cross-Posting

Cross-posting is a double-edged sword; when wielded wisely, it can amplify your message, but excessive use may dull its impact. Select your cross-posted content thoughtfully, reserving it for significant announcements or universally appealing content. 

Try to find a balance between being consistent with cross-platform posting and knowing when to leverage platform-specific engagement.

5. Use Analytics to Improve Your Strategy

Data is your compass. Like any marketing campaign, it’s useful to use analytics to gauge how effective your cross-posting strategy is. Some of the best metrics to monitor include engagement rate, click-through rate, and conversion rates—you can use social media monitoring tools to help you do this. 

With these valuable insights, you can determine whether your efforts are paying off and refine your approach accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions