Want to learn more about buyer personas and how you can get started creating your own? HubSpot has a great article that will help you create detailed personas for your brand and it even includes free persona templates. Check it out here. 

Once you define your buyer personas, your brand can then determine how your audience might interact with content on different platforms. This will help when you develop your content strategy. 

2.Create a content strategy for each platform

Even your best content can fail if it isn’t reaching the right audience; that’s why it’s important to create specific posts for each platform. Once you understand your audience, you can develop a content strategy to target them on each social channel.

Every platform has its own specifications so we’ve put together a list of what type of content works with each channel to help your strategy. Some may resonate, and some may not – it’s up to your brand to choose what content to create.

Instagram

Instagram is a video-first platform that is doubling down on attracting Gen Z users and creators. Brands can use it to tell a story and to showcase their products or services in a more organic way.

STN’s hot tips for Instagram:

• Utilize Instagram Reels so your brand can reach as wide of an audience as possible. Reels are a must if you want to stand out. Click here to read our full blog on making quality Reels. 
• Influencers – partnering with creators allows your brand to reach new audiences and helps your brand message feel more authentic. Learn more about influencer marketing in our authenticity blog. 
• Share user generated content. It’s the modern day word of mouth and helps to create a more human and relatable side to your brand.

LinkedIn

As a professional-oriented network, LinkedIn is the place for thought leadership and building brand awareness especially for B2B organizations. It’s a great platform for networking and connecting with decision makers.

STN’s hot tips for LinkedIn:

• Text only posts – educate your audience by sharing tips, hacks, and starting conversations.
• Blog posts – Long-form content performs well. Make your teaser text engaging.
• Third party content – post industry related content that isn’t your own so your audience can associate you with providing value. For example, we recently shared an article on LinkedIn regarding one of Instagram’s big platform updates so our followers were aware of the changes.
• Native video – create short interviews, event recaps, or a tips and tricks video.

Twitter

Twitter allows you to share information quickly and start conversations with your audience. People want to see information that is relevant and interesting to them at a much quicker pace.

STN’s hot tips for Twitter:

• Use Twitter polls and ask questions.
• Post images.
• Drive discussions and jump on trends.
• Keep your copy short and sweet.

Facebook

Facebook allows you to share everything from static images, Reels, long-form video, text only posts and more, and remains the largest social platform among users and consumers. However, it’s most popular with Gen X and baby boomers so focus on posting videos or evergreen content pieces, and save your dance moves for TikTok.

STN’s hot tips for Facebook:

• Native long-form video.
• Posts that engage with followers.
• Facebook groups – spark engagement and build communities.

TikTok

As Gen Z’s playground, TikTok is where you can let loose and have fun as a brand. You can record videos anywhere between 15 seconds to three minutes long which allows for all types of content to flourish.

STN’s hot tips for TikTok:

• Tailor content to TikTok’s current trends and formats.
• Use captions, trending audio, voice overs, and other in-app features.
• Create digestible bite sized content that educates or entertains users.
• Like Instagram, user generated content works well here and helps show the human side to the brand.

For example, Starface’s target demographic is Gen Z. They know this generation is on TikTok and loves real, quick, and snackable content. So, the pimple patch brand focused on creating a social strategy specifically for TikTok that highlights their brand voice and personality rather than a perfectly curated aesthetic. 

You can see in the video they are using popular audio, short clips, and user generated content to promote their products. Their light-hearted strategy to target Gen Z with platform specific content has helped them gain over 1M followers on TikTok.

3. Create platform specific content that resonates

Once you’ve identified what types of content work best on each platform, you want to make sure all the time you’re spending to create platform specific content will actually resonate with your followers. 

To ensure your content will resonate, start with making sure the posts are aligned with the style of language and communication of the different social channels. You might write medium length captions with a light hearted tone and use emojis on Instagram, while on Linkedin you might stick to a more professional tone with a longer caption. It’s all about understanding the different platforms and knowing what your audience wants to see on each. 

It’s also important to always keep your audience’s needs and pain points top of mind so you know whether your content is relevant to them. 

Take a look at how Nike resonates with its audience on LinkedIn. They used long form text that was both formal but emotional and accompanied it with a native video. See the full post here. When speaking to internal initiatives, ensure your brand has an internal strategy in place so your social sharing remains authentic.

Here are some quick tips to make content that resonates:

• Before posting, take a look and ask yourself if it fits on the platform.
• Experiment with various caption lengths and tone of voice to find what works for your brand.
• Use emotion in your messages.
• Help your audience learn and provide value.
• Start conversation and drive engagement by asking your audience relatable questions.
• Make content that you would want to see.

4. Stay up to date on the current trends and updates

An essential part of creating platform specific content that’s engaging is making sure you stay up to date with the current trends. 

Social media channels are constantly coming out with new changes to their algorithms and platforms. If your brand stays on top of the updates, it helps you to prepare for the changes and plan your strategy accordingly. 

One way to ensure you are getting the latest social media updates is by subscribing to newsletters so the information goes right to your inbox. 

Here is a list of the top social media newsletters you should subscribe to:

• The STN Digital Social Report: Your expertly curated guide to the latest trends, updates, and best-in-class content each month. Sign up at the bottom of our website!
• ICYMI by Lia Haberman: a weekly roundup of social news and trends for the digitally curious. 
• Geekout by Matt Navaro: a weekly breakdown of EVERYTHING that went down in social – if something happened it’s in this newsletter. Great for platform updates.
• Marketing Brew: a daily newsletter with the latest trends and stories shaping the marketing and advertising world.
• Link in Bio by Rachel Karten: a bi-weekly newsletter all about social and the people who press post interesting and insightful takes about the current state of social.

You can also follow insightful social media sites and online magazines to make sure you are getting the latest trends. Our team posts weekly platform updates and shares the latest industry insights so be sure to follow us on social and check out our blog! 

Here is a list of our favorite social media resources that provide the best industry insights:

• Social Media Today
• TechCrunch
• Adweek
• eMarketer

5. Pay attention to your analytics

If you are creating platform specific content, one of the best things you can do is to track how well your posts are performing. This will not only help you know what content is resonating, but it will give you more insight on your target audience for each channel.

Before you begin tracking the metrics, it’s important for your brand to identify specific goals for each social platform. This will help you analyze your data and accurately pinpoint what’s working and what isn’t. 

Below are some general points of data to collect across social media platforms. Remember, the data will vary for each channel:

• Engagement: Clicks, comments, shares, etc.
• Reach
• Impressions and video views
• Follower count and growth over time
• Demographic data: age, gender, location, language, behaviors, etc.
• Profile visits
• Brand sentiment

When you analyze your data and make the necessary adjustments to your content strategy, your brand will become even more efficient and your engagement will increase.

In an age where there is excess content, you must find ways to break through and reach your target audience. Here at STN, we believe creating platform specific content is a must. Use our 5 steps to start creating content that’s engaging and that actually resonates with your audience.

If you’re interested in learning more in-depth social strategies, contact our team of social experts using the form below!