Snap it? Tweet it? Scope it? How to Decide Where and When You Should Post to Social Media

Ever feel this way? You see a beautiful sunset. Or, you take the perfect photo of your client by the ‘Sold’ sign. Or, you take the perfect photo of your kids. And your first thought is – where should I post this? Snap it? Tweet it? Scope it? Instagram it? Facebook it?

I know a lot of you struggle with this which is why this post is all about how I figure out where to post something on social media; and a lot of it starts with your own guidelines for how you use each channel.

As I’ve said before, I don’t believe you have to be on every social media platform. Once you’ve chosen your platform (or two or three) of choice, in order to create a system that works for you – you need to figure out your guidelines for how you are going to use each channel – personally and for business.

The mistake that a lot of people make is they sign-up for multiple social media platforms and they look for that silver bullet – that one button where they can post something and it goes everywhere. That’s not the way to go about it.

I know many people look for short cuts – we’re busy. But, if you just take one piece of content and blast it everywhere – and it looks the same in every place, it doesn’t do you as much value versus taking the time to post your content to each platform one-by-one.

For example, if you are active on Facebook – have you ever noticed how some people post all their Tweets to Facebook? How does that make you feel? It’s probably a bit annoying; and the same is true on Twitter if all you see are Facebook posts. The person doing this probably thought they were saving an extra step – but the perception to their audience is that they are not really there on the platforms.

So, here’s how I think about each social media channel and what type of post goes where…

Where is my content starting? First of all for my business, how I use social media is consistently driving people back to the hub of my business, my website. It’s important to remember that we don’t own any of the social platforms and they could essentially be taken from us at any time. When I think about social media for my business, I take a step back and look at my website and how for me, most of my content needs to start from there.

What is your pillar piece of content? A pillar piece of content is your content that you spend a lot of time on week in and week out – or month in and month out and from there is where you can slice and dice it, repurpose it and share it on your social networks. For some, your pillar piece of content may have a written blog, or a book, or a podcast, or a live video show. Even if you are putting your video content on YouTube or creating live video using Facebook Live – if that is your ‘pillar’ content – I’d recommend that should reside somehow on your blog on your site.

Then, once that pillar piece of content is published – you wan to think about where you can share that and how it will look on each social media channel. So for example, when I publish a blog post and then push it out through my social channels that’s going to look different on Facebook than it does on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Now let’s take a look at how I use each platform personally…(keep in mind these are just my guidelines – you need to do what is most comfortable for you!)

Facebook. For my personal Facebook profile I post at least once a day and around 80% personal, 20% business. I also have a rule that I don’t friend anyone on Facebook that I haven’t actually had a conversation with. Now that could mean I’ve had a conversation with them on Periscope or Twitter or in real life or email. Basically, I don’t friend anyone on Facebook that I have no reference to whatsoever. This is because Facebook is still a very personal place for me – somewhere I share photos of my family and moments of our lives.

• I have also set up the follow feature on my profile. What that means is if someone friend requests you and you don’t accept them, they become a follower. Your followers can see anything you choose to share publicly. I will use this feature for big announcements, sharing articles I’ve written and things of that nature.
• Another big tool for me when it comes to Facebook is using lists. This helps me get really intentional about connecting and keeping in touch with my friends, family and clients.

Instagram. I have one Instagram account where I post about 50% business, 50% personal and typically post 1-3 times a day. This has gone up recently as I’ve found Instagram to be busier and busier. I’ve also nearly doubled my Instagram following in the last few months as I’ve gotten very intentional with the platform.

• As far as pushing photos from Instagram to Facebook or Twitter, I generally push my personal photos to Facebook because I want friends and family to see those. With business related posts, I may or may not send those to Twitter – just depending on what it is I’m sharing.
• Probably 2 out of 3 photos I share on Instagram I push elsewhere. But I’m also a huge fan of creating content that is native to Instagram. Now that Instagram is opening up it’s suite of business tools, I will be re-evaluating what type of content gets posted where.

Twitter. For me, Twitter is probably 90-95% business related posts and 5-10% personal. That’s because I’m connected to more than 25,000 people on the platform. I don’t post photos of my kids on Twitter, it’s just too public for me. So what I mainly do on Twitter is a few different things.

• First, it’s a way to engage with others. So for example if I meet someone on Periscope I’ll then connect and engage with them on Twitter.
• The other way I use Twitter is to drive people to my website. Twitter is generally one of my top referring traffic sources. Thirdly, I use Twitter to curate content. I’m a big believer in Twitter lists and find them to be an extremely useful content curating tool.

Facebook Business Pages and Facebook Live. I use Facebook Business Pages for business; you will see links to my blog posts, information about upcoming events and it’s generally where I post about my business first. This is also typically where I will host my Facebook Live broadcasts a few times a week – sharing social media tips and answering questions. I usually spend time each week scheduling content for the week ahead using Facebook’s native scheduling tool and then stay on top of notifications using the Facebook Pages Manager app.

Periscope.  I use it around 60% for business, 40% personal. For me, most of my broadcasts are usually one of two things. Either it’s my #CoffeeWithKatie show where I’m just sitting in my kitchen with a cup of coffee chatting about life and business or it’s my #GetSocialSmart show where I’m teaching social media. This has really helped my business because I’m providing value. But, Periscope is very personal to me because I’ve met some amazing people through the platform. I’ve met people on Periscope that I now consider dear, dear friends. I also spend time on Periscope watching other broadcasts and engaging with others. It’s an amazing synergy that I haven’t found on any other platform.

Snapchat. Snapchat is one of my newest favorite platforms to add to the mix! I am new to Snapchat, but I love to use Snapchat to share moments throughout my day and to give sneak-peek behind the scenes of my business. I love that Snapchat is quick and in the moment. I find that it fills in the gaps between the other social media platforms. Plus, if there is a snap I want to save and also share elsewhere, I can easily save and share it to Instagram or Facebook as I do from time to time.

Here is a breakdown and an example of how we are promoting our upcoming launch party:

How do you use each social platform personally?  I’d love to hear! Comment below or head on over to our #GetSocialSmart Facebook Group and jump in the conversation – I’ll see you there!

P.S. Tired of the social media time suck? Ready to get smarter about how you use social media? Looking for more guidance on how to best use each social media platform? Check out our #GetSocialSmart Academy here!