Facebook and Instagram are two social media platform behemoths that most brands use to market online. Generally, they aim to serve businesses by raising awareness and building an audience around brands. However, the two have nuances. So it’s crucial to optimise your content strategy to better connect with and satisfy user needs and expectations.
Understand what type of content is largely celebrated on these two social media platforms and better optimise your content strategy!
Optimise content strategy for different social media channels
While we’re not discouraging you from posting your content across channels, remember to make your content more actionable to different segments of people. Here we walk you through three tips that can effectively optimise your content for Facebook and Instagram:
- Know the type of content to post on each platform.
- Anticipate the expectations of users within specific social media channels.
- Write engaging captions.
Let’s dig into these three!
Know the type of content to post on each platform.
The key is identifying the distinguishable quality of one social media platform and wielding it to your advantage. Use these idiosyncrasies to plan and release your content effectively.
Recent privacy concerns have made Facebook more restrictive to brands. Now, Facebook seeks to release more organic content on its users’ feeds. It has become trickier for brands to actually reach their intended audience (without paid ads). However, if you know exactly what type of content gets the limelight, then you have a good chance of getting your share of eyeballs.
For Facebook, the hype is all about videos and curated informative content. For example, some brands utilise Facebook to share informative videos related to their brands. Videos are the most effective type of content on Facebook as it engage more people than other content types.
After videos, you can exhibit curated content from your own blog posts (if you have any) or third-party sites related to your brand. This signifies a network of connections and helps you build credibility.
Instagram is a visual-focused platform. It took the term “aesthetic” to a whole new level and has made “Instagrammable photos” a thing. The effect of Instagram posts is more visceral, that’s why emotive content (quotes, Stories)—images that resonate with your audience—wins the day. Simply put, you need aesthetic content in order to stand out on Instagram.
Even if you’re an Ecommerce brand extending your operations on Instagram, you could still maximise the power of aesthetic images to your advantage. Take Charles & Keith, for example, look at the way they shot the images on their Instagram account.
Charles & Keith’s official Instagram account
Anticipate the expectations of users within specific social media channels.
One size doesn’t fit all when you post content on different social media platforms. Since the audience on each platform is diverse (and their expectations differ greatly), you need to provide them with something they expect to find on that platform.
On Facebook, users expect to connect with their networks, even brands they rigorously follow, so you’d expect more engagement in this platform than on Instagram. Facebook’s largest pool of resources for any social media listening endeavours, so brands should expect to hear from their audience here. Engagement is an important factor, as well as shares.
Unlike Instagram, Facebook lets its users share content. That’s why content creators also aim to create shareable content that piques people’s interest. Since the Facebook crowd almost always expects the channel to be a platform for chatter, inciting conversation by including questions, polls, invites, and even attractive Facebook contests can encourage higher engagement rates.
Instagram’s a mecca for strong aesthetics. Users here are more unforgiving of brands or personalities that take the aesthetic aspect lightly. A recently published study by Facebook shows that Instagram users expect brands to be inspiring, vibrant, and upbeat. Even more interesting, users also expect to have more fruitful interaction here with the brands they follow. So, it would be best to give them the opportunity by publishing content that encourages their engagement.
Additionally, users expect the wise use of hashtags on Instagram as hashtags allow people to categorise and find related content. So don’t forget to drop a few along with your post, but don’t go overboard! Experts would advise limiting hashtags to less than 20. Remember to use the hashtag effectively so you don’t clutter your content so much and dismay viewers.
Write engaging captions.
There are rules to writing copy that attracts and convert visitors into customers. More importantly, remember that a good copy is arresting and interesting. Our attention span is already too short, so brevity is a huge consideration. We are talking about social media, so remember to keep it light and conversational.
As a rule of thumb, the length of a good Facebook caption must be before the post shows the ‘read more’ sign. Your end goal must be to redirect users from Facebook to your website to increase its traffic. Use your Facebook content as a hook to keep the audience hankering for more, eventually leading them to where you do most of your business (i.e. your website).
Since this is Facebook, keep hashtags to a minimum; use only the keywords that are vital to the content.
Amber Creative’s latest article shared on Facebook
While Instagram is a visual-focused platform, you still have to dedicate time and effort on the image’s accompanying caption**.** Yes, this wouldn’t be the audience’s main focus on Instagram, but you still have to establish the image’s context. Captions should briefly explain what the image is about. This portion is also an opportunity to drop links that redirect users to your other social media channels so they could learn more about what you offer. Studies suggest including call-to-actions effectively gets people from Instagram and out to another platform of your choice. A simple “Check out this link if you wanna know more” could do the trick.
Conclusion
It’s tempting to transfer one piece of the same content from one platform to another. After all, online relevance is often judged by your ability to stay present. Be careful about doing this though and aspire to tap the distinct advantages that each platform offers.
Don’t kill your chances of leaving an impactful impression on your followers. Optimise your content strategy; make sure that the content delivers and pounds on user needs and expectations. Achieve your online marketing goals and get remarkable results now!
