What is Platform Differentiation & How Does It Benefit Your Social Media Strategy?

We hear all the time that knowing your audience on social media is important, and that’s completely true. But if your audiences across platforms are different or resonate with your content in varied ways, how can you make your social media strategy stronger to suit this?

If the people who interact with you on Facebook are quite different to those that interact with you on Instagram, how can you improve your content engagement on both social media platforms?

Two words.
Platform. Differentiation. 

This refers to the practice of posting content differently across two or more platforms, whether that be in the form of creative, tone of voice, or even time of posting. Platform differentiation takes into consideration your difference in audiences across platforms, as well as what performs best on the platforms themselves.

Sure, it’s easy to post the exact same thing across all your social media accounts and sometimes… it makes sense!
But what about when it doesn’t?

That’s where this handy practice comes in.

Below are three key things to think about when differentiating content across platforms:

What is your tone of voice on this platform?

How you talk to your audience is just as important as what you say.

Take some time to look through the insights of your previous posts and pay close attention to the kind of captions your audience resonates best with. This can include thinking about the caption length, the message, and the call to action.

Then, going a step further, have a look at some of your audience’s comments to see what the overall community’s tone of voice is.

Most customers value brands that engage in  conversation with them. They remember brands that make them feel they are being spoken to, rather than spoken at. That’s why, if you can match your community’s tone of voice on each platform while staying true to your brand, you’re more likely to receive a positive response and push your audience further down the customer journey funnel.

What kind of creative performs best on this platform?

Even if gorgeous photography works wonders on one platform, that won’t necessarily be the case across the board.

Take Instagram and YouTube, for example. While you can post video on both platforms, it’s become clear that the kind of video you post on each, will have an effect on how well it is engaged with. Although YouTube has jumped on the short-form video train with Shorts, it is still more well-known for its long-form, landscape video content. With this in mind, it may cause you to think twice about simply uploading your 10-second, portrait Instagram Reel onto the platform.

Additionally, it can be helpful to think beyond content formats such as videos or stills. Take a look at your previous content and think critically about what it was about certain posts that captured your audience’s attention, and whether this is different across your platforms.

Does your Facebook audience enjoy more lo-fi content than your Instagram audience, who relish the highly curated feed? Take these insights into consideration the next time you create your content, and you’re likely to see a difference in how your audience engages with you.

When is your audience on this platform most active?

While it can be tempting to post across all your platforms at the same time, why not maximise the lifetime of your post by scheduling it to go live when your audience is more likely to see it?

With a myriad of insights now available to us for each social media platform, you’re able to see who in your audience is most active, and when. When creating your audience personas, make sure to consider their lifestyle too, as understanding this will allow you to schedule posts at a time that makes sense for them.

For example, posting at 9am on Facebook when trying to reach parents and young adults might not be the most effective way to increase your engagement. We can assume that both audiences are likely to have just begun work for the day, meaning they are not looking at their social media feeds, and your post is not reaching anyone yet. 

In conclusion…

While it does take some extra time to craft each post to suit your audience and each particular platform, seeing improved levels of engagement and conversion can make it all worthwhile in the end. There are now many social media platforms to choose from, and even more brands utilising more than one to reach their own customers (some of which might be yours!).

Put simply, platform differentiation is the best way to maximise each of your accounts, truly resonate with your audiences, and stand out from the crowd.

Need a hand with curating your content and making the most out of your platforms? 

Get in touch with us today at [email protected] or give us a buzz at 1300MILKYB to see how we can help!