Why You Should Never Cross Post Content on Social Media

Cross-Posting Content Between Social Media Platforms

Cross-posting, as part of your social media marketing strategy, is the act of publishing content directly from one platform to another. For example, when posting content to Instagram the account owner can also post the content to Facebook, all from one platform with one click of the mouse.

Cross-posting content between platforms is something that I would advise against, as part of the larger Social Media Strategy. In this article I will discuss a number of reasons why platform cross-posting of content is deemed an unfavorable marketing practice.

Cross-Posting Woes

It is likely that you have seen what cross-posting can do to one’s post.

Have you ever been scrolling through Facebook and come across a post from a business that sparks your interest? You look closer and see other accounts tagged using the “@” symbol, but they are not highlighted in blue (accessible by clicking on). The reason for this is that those tagged accounts are tags from another platform and not recognized by the platform you are viewing the post in.

OR

Have you ever been scrolling through Twitter and come upon a tweet that appears incomplete? Perhaps the copy has been cut or the tweet sights links out of Instagram. This likely happened because the post was created in one platform and then shared direct with another. The problem here is that different platforms have different requirements like character allotment and image size and cross-posting can alter the post from one to another.

Cross-posting content by utilizing the one-stop platform publishing option which publishes content from on account to another is not an advised. There are a number of reasons that platform cross-posting of content is deemed an unfavorable marketing practice.

Why Cross-Posting Doesn’t Work

1. The “@” symbol, used for tagging other accounts, does not work between platforms. For example: You cannot “@” a Facebook account to a Twitter tweet. The “@” symbol and what follows may appear in the copy but it will not ‘clickable,’ meaning that the particular platform does not recognize the account or clickable destination.
2. Due to character limit differences between platforms it is possible that only a portion of your message will show up. The user will then be forced to view the post from another platform to get the entirety of the message. For example: Twitter has fewer allowed characters than Facebook or Instagram, a cross-posted post from Facebook or Instagram would rob your Twitter audience of the intended message.
3. Placing your URL in the copy of the post does not ensure that the link is clickable on all platforms. For example a post in Facebook which sites a URL will appear clickable and the user can easily be directed to your website. However, Instagram does not offer this option. If the URL is listed within the copy of the post it is show also unclickable text. The only place Instagram features a clickable URL is in the Profile Section. The URL field can be changed as often as possible. Often times you will see Link in Bio for this reason.
4. All of the reason above all excellent reasons of why not to cross-post. The negative perception that cross-posting can create might be viewed as unprofessional, brand-damaging and can result in a loss of followers and future customers.

In the end, cross-posting often results in, at best, a skewed version of your intended post; one that runs the risk of looking incomplete, unprofessional and brand damaging.

What’s the Solution to Avoid Cross-Posting?

Investing in or sourcing a free social media scheduler, one that allows you to create posts for different platforms is encouraged. Automated systems, such as Hootsuite, is an example of a content scheduling solution that work across multiple social media platforms.

Hootsuite allows you to properly create, compose and tag while allowing you to manage multiple accounts and maintaining the benefits designed for each social media platform.

While cross-posting content may sound like the time solution to your scheduled needs, it tends to tarnish your visibility efforts rather than growing them further. Employ the use of scheduling technology to avoid cross-posting mishaps like missed tags and broken links and hashtags. 

Take notes from the PROtips below on how to craft great social media content. Then head over to Hootsuite and start scheduling your content. Happy posting, folks!

Here are some Quick PROtips for Your Social Media Content:

1. Optimize your Content:

• Ensure that the caption matches the platform’s audience
• Add video and images with correct dimensions
• Use relevant hashtags – relevant to the content and the platform
• Tag specific accounts relevant to the platform and your content in an effort to boost visibility

2. Amazing Caption / Headline

• Character limits differ between platforms – ensure your text is relevant, engaging and authentic to your brand
• Captions really do matter – What do you really want to say? Ensure that the caption elevates and enhances the visual.

3. Edit you Work

• Always DOUBLE and TRIPLE check the accuracy of the post as it pertains to the destination platform. Employ a fresh pair of eyes to catch what you may have missed.
• Be on the lookout for typos, broken links and hashtags

4. Schedule the Best Time for Your Posts

• The perfect time to post may change between platforms. Get to know what these times are for your audience and schedule to get maximum benefit and impact.

5. Over-Posting: Don’t Do It!

• A consistent posting schedule is preferred over a flood of posts. Each platform has different practices around how often to post before you see a decline in engagement.

6. Identify Which Content Should Go Where

• Tailored posts should match the context and tone of each platform.
• Not all your content will work on all platforms – and that’s okay. For Example: A trending hashtag on Twitter might work very well for engagements and visibility but fall flat on your Facebook feed. Why? Because the content does not match the context.

7. A Clear Call To Action (CTA) is Paramount

• Share more than just your information with a post, aim to spark action!
• Include a clear CTA to your audience and provide them with the next steps be that purchasing your product, or visiting your storefront, or reading your blog.