Are you someone who prides themselves on being super efficient with your time? That’s a good thing, right? Get the most done in the least amount of time and have time for sipping a cool drink! Who could argue with that?

Well, there are exceptions to every rule, and cross-posting to your social media platforms is one of those exceptions. In short, don’t do it. Let me show you why cross-posting your social media is a waste of time

What is Cross-Posting?

Cross-posting is when you post a piece of content to one of your social platforms and, once you hit ‘Post’ it automatically posts to the other social platforms you have connected, as well. The same exact content, same exact post. The keyword here is ‘automatically’, right? If it’s automated, it happens without YOU having to take the time to create another post, thus more efficient.

It’s actually just laziness.

Here’s why:  All social platforms have their own language. Let’s say you love beer and people KNOW you love beer. Now, let’s also say you’re invited to a picnic. So, you bring beer! Makes sense, right? Perfect! Now let’s say you’re invited to a party where someone is celebrating their one year of being clean through alcoholics anonymous. Remember, you love beer and people know it, so what’s the problem with bringing the beer? The problem is, it’s not appropriate. 

Another example: you have worked construction for years and you have kind of a filthy mouth. You’re invited to a fraternity reunion party. Chances are it could be littered with potty mouth conversation. Nobody is offended and all is good. BUT, if you’re invited to bring your child to a kids’ birthday party, you will get some cross looks if you start breaking out construction site language.

These examples are a bit extreme but the point is, know the attendees of the party in which you’re invited to. Act accordingly. Social media platforms are like little parties. Each of these parties have a different language. What is accepted and understood in one party is not understood in other parties. Things like caption length, image formatting, and vocabulary differ by platform. 

Examples in Action on Social Media

Let’s offer up an example in social media terms now, so you can see the similarities. You post something on Facebook that is a long post, which we caution people to not do in general, but sometimes it’s necessary. And your post is setup to cross post to Twitter. 

Since Twitter has a 280 character limit, your post will get truncated and include a link BACK to Facebook. Also, any hashtags you used won’t even be seen on Twitter, which isn’t good because Twitter has high hashtags results when used correctly. 

How about the other way around, where you post something on Twitter and ask for a retweet (“RT” for those trying to limit your character usage!) It’s hard enough to get someone to see your Facebook post, anyway, and now when they do, in this scenario, you’re asking them to retweet something! On Facebook? What the…?

Or you post something on Instagram, where you can have up to 30 hashtags. And because you know the little trick of putting at least nine periods before adding your hashtags, you do so but it shows up on Facebook that way. Until about a month ago, using hashtags on Facebook may have even harmed your organic post reach (now Facebook is trying to improve hashtags but the jury is still out on how effective it is) and yet, you’ve got 30 of them because that’s what works really well on Instagram! And all those dots!

You can see where the long-term drawbacks quickly outweigh the short-term advantages of cross-posting. Crafting unique messages might seem like a lot of work, but you don’t need to start from scratch every time. Even small tweaks make a difference and show that you’re paying attention.
You took the time (hopefully) to research the best social media platforms(s) to showcase your business, culture and brand. Why ruin it by not honoring the specific differences each platform has to offer? Do yourself AND your business a favor and know the language of the platform on which you’re posting. Once you take the time and learn the correct ‘language’ to use and the correct way to ‘act’ at each party (we ARE talking social here!), you will see your results trending upward!

Want to learn more about social media without spending an arm and a leg? Don’t forget to check out the Social Media Summit Inner Circle, too. At $67 a month, you and your business can easily stay up with the social media strategies that the experts use!