In a marketing world gone social, brands are eager to stay connected to their audiences as often and as effectively as possible. One way to reach more people and save time in the process is to cross-post on social media.
Any time you have new content to share, social media is a go-to outlet. You reach lots of people with a single click and can spread the word quickly and effectively.
Many social media marketers try to water two plants with one hose by cross-posting the same content on multiple social channels. This can be a smart or a terrible decision, depending on how you go about it. Some experts warn against it altogether, while others (like us) believe it can be highly effective if done correctly.
Want to cross-post on social media like a pro? Follow our best practices in this guide.
Table of Contents:
What is Cross-Posting on Social Media?
Pros and Cons of Cross-Posting on Social Media
Cross-Posting Best Practices
How to Cross-Post on Specific Social Media Platforms
Make the Most of Your Social Media Posts
What is Cross-Posting on Social Media?
What is cross-posting, anyway? This is a term you’ll likely come across a lot in your social media marketing career.
Cross-posting is simply the process of posting the same content or message on multiple social media channels. For example, if you write a killer blog post, then you can crosspost that same blog on all your social networks. It’s an easy way to post content in more than one place without much extra effort.
You can crosspost on many social platforms to give your branding and marketing more chances to perform well. Whether it's an ad or an influencer campaign, some content can work on more than one channel.
Cross-platform social media posting can be a huge time- and money-saver, especially for small businesses with limited resources. Rather than invest in unique content for every social media platform, you can “recycle” content to reach a broader audience.
Pros and Cons of Cross-Posting on Social Media
When you have multiple social media accounts, cross-channel posting becomes a valuable asset. The time-saving aspect is especially helpful to small businesses that need a streamlined way to stay social. You can develop one creative and message, then use it in all your social media marketing.
Another pro is the brand awareness and brand recognition that comes from cross-posting the same content on multiple channels. The average social user is active on six different platforms and spends roughly 2 hours 29 minutes of engagement per day. If they see your same content across multiple platforms, they get more impressions of your brand and campaign.
Your analytics can give you insight into how your cross-posted content is performing. Find your top-performing pieces, then start sharing them to make quick updates to other social media channels. It's an easy, straightforward way to keep your social media feeds current.
Social media management tools make the cross-posting process easy. Simply upload your content and your tools will post content on your behalf, properly formatted for the intended channels.
Formatting is key in cross-posting on multiple social networks, which can be a pro or a con depending on how you approach it. Consider that every social media platform has unique requirements, such as character limits. Content will also appear slightly different from channel to channel, so what looks good on IG might not look as great on Pinterest.
Last but not least, consider how your audience might feel seeing repeat content. Again, this could be a pro or a con, depending on your viewpoint. A pro would be that you put an idea or offer back onto a user’s radar. Maybe they meant to purchase or engage and forgot about it. On the downside, you might get too much exposure and appear as though you post too much.
Cross-Posting Best Practices
There’s certainly a trade-off that comes with cross-posting. Let’s look at some best practices of cross-posting to help you get the most social media engagement:
Review Each Platform’s Posting Rules
From character limits to types of content that work, there’s a lot to learn about posting on social media. Make it your goal to learn each platform’s intricacies. Otherwise, all the time you save cross-posting will be spent on fixing minors errors.
Schedule Posts in Advance
Use tools to schedule posts in advance and automatically post on your behalf. It takes very little work to set up and connect all your social media accounts and set admin privileges. Once you have all the right settings in place, cross-posting becomes easier and faster.
Many social media scheduling tools will give you a content preview so you can see what your posts will look like before they go live.
Don’t Cross-Post Everything
There’s a reason why so many social media platforms are thriving. They each work a little differently and they each have their own unique audience. For example, people go to TikTok when they want fun video content. They flock to Pinterest for home, food, and fashion inspiration. Instagram is home to storytelling through photos.
Brands should find an ideal balance for cross-posting. Use it strategically rather than default to posting all content to all channels. You’ll get more engagement when you share content that resonates with the platform and its audience.
If there’s a natural overlap between platforms, take advantage and cross-post! But don’t force it.
Listen to Audience Feedback
Your audience will be one of the best resources when gauging your cross-posting performance. Remember, your social presence is really for them, not you! Watch for engagement and feedback from your audience to see how they feel about your cross-posts. Directly with comments or indirectly with engagement, they’ll let you know if you get cross-posting right.
How to Cross-Post on Specific Social Media Platforms
There’s no one-size-fits-all crossposting strategy for social media. Let’s take it platform by platform so you can get it right across the board.
How to Post on Facebook and Instagram
Learning how to post on Facebook and Instagram at the same time is one of the most common cross-posting duos.
First, you’ll need to learn how to link Facebook to Instagram.
- On your Facebook page, open Settings.
- From the left sidebar, click Instagram.
- Log into your Instagram account when prompted and your accounts will be linked.
Now you can create image posts that will appear on Facebook and Instagram. Add a hashtag (or several!) to get even more from your Facebook/IG posts.
Keep in mind that this crosspost connection only works if your Facebook post has an image. Also, crossposting doesn’t work for multi-image posts.
When you’re ready to post, make sure the cross-post to Instagram option is checked, then click Post Now!
How to Post on Facebook and Twitter
Similar to Facebook and Instagram, you can learn how to post on Facebook and Twitter at the same time, too.
Make sure your app settings are turned on in Facebook so other apps can connect to it. Also, double-check the privacy settings of your Facebook posts. If they’re not already, switch the privacy to Public so your Twitter audience will see them.
- Start by logging into your Facebook account.
- Go to Facebook.com/Twitter.
- Click the Use App button.
- Log into Twitter and click the Authorize App button.
- Save your changes.
Once connected, all of your Tweets will now appear on your Facebook page. Your Facebook audience will also see your Twitter-fed content.
How to Post on Facebook and LinkedIn
Facebook cross-posting on LinkedIn is similar to Twitter. You’ll need to connect the LinkedIn app to your Facebook page, then post on Facebook like normal.
- Log into Facebook and search for the LinkedIn app page.
- Click the Use App button.
- Once you’re redirected to LinkedIn, log into your account and click Connect with Facebook.
Allow permission on the pop-up when it asks to post on your behalf. You can now start cross-posting on Facebook and LinkedIn.
As an added bonus, LinkedIn will import your Facebook contacts and allow you to make new LinkedIn connections on the spot.
Also, don’t forget to add a link to your Facebook page on your LinkedIn profile. Go to your profile, click Edit, and input your Facebook URL in the designated space.
How to Post on Facebook and Reddit
Reddit crossposting is a little simpler but less automated than connecting apps like Twitter or LinkedIn. Here’s how to cross-post on Reddit and Facebook.
- Log into Reddit and find the content you want to cross-post.
- Click the Share link located underneath the content and select Copy Link.
- Paste the link to your Facebook page. This allows users to see the content without having to click through to Reddit.
This process is a little more hands-on in terms of crossposting to Facebook, and it doesn’t work in the opposite direction. If you want to share your Facebook posts with your Reddit followers, you’ll need to do it the old-fashioned way. And while you might want to copy & paste your posts from Facebook to Reddit, reaching the right subreddit communities likely requires putting together a Reddit marketing strategy that's customized to that audience.
Tip: Outsourcing this part of your social media management (or using social media management tools like the Meltwater social media management suite that can help) is a great benefit if you don’t want to spend the time doing it yourself.
Make the Most of Your Social Media Posts
Cross-posting can take a huge burden away from your social marketing duties. It's an opportunity to consolidate your content creation and give your best-performing content more exposure.
Leverage social media management tools to help you automate the process and make it less hands-on. All the time you save can be put toward creating thoughtful, impactful, quality content that engages your audience and makes cross-posting worthwhile.
Want to learn more? Discover how Meltwater helps you make the most of your social media posts!
