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Creating content for social media takes time and effort. Because of the significant investment, you might want to reuse your vertical content across other platforms. In addition, because vertical content has specific ratios on each platform, you will need to perform enough research and preparation before creating content to ensure you can share it on all your platforms to maximize your return.
Learn how to create vertical social media content and when you can share it on several platforms.
Vertical content is content that is taller than it’s wide. It was made popular by platforms like Snapchat and TikTok that work entirely with vertical content. However, since the growth of vertical video’s popularity, other platforms have adopted this format in addition to traditional horizontal video.Some examples of mixed content platforms include:
Since 94% of smartphone users prefer to consume content vertically, it’s quickly becoming a staple format for every marketer to adopt if they want to be successful on social media today.
Image from AARKI
Vertical content is primarily a video format that users create by holding their smartphones upright when they record. However, you can also post vertical images. You might even use vertical pictures shot with your smartphone in your vertical video. For example, slideshows use a combination of images and video.Many platforms, like TikTok and Snapchat, overlay audio with your video to add another dynamic to the video. The audio can be a quote from a video or a popular musical piece.
Use these four steps for creating your social media content strategy that you can use across channels.
Before you create vertical social media content, you must first understand who you want to reach. Each social media channel has a unique audience with specific needs.Research data on each platform you intend to use to understand your audience. The data will reveal information including:
Because social media platforms require users to fill out extensive profile information, most of that information is readily available and accurate, which will help you create your audience persona.In addition to research, perform market research to understand who you’re trying to reach to align your business’s ideal customer profile with the most relevant social media platform.
Even though all social media offers similar content, such as video, text, and images, not all social media channels have the same themes. For example, many users go to Instagram for inspiration or shopping, while Facebook is for building relationships. On the other hand, TikTok is primarily a platform for entertainment.If you were to post a business video on TikTok, you wouldn’t see as successful results as if you posted it on a platform like Facebook or LinkedIn.To understand what type of content performs best, look at what the most popular pages are posting and how the audience interacts with the content.
Image from ittisa
Each platform needs a unique strategy built around its audience and content themes. In addition, this strategy should include specific goals for that platform that act as benchmarks for you to use to measure your success.Some benchmarks you can use to measure your performance include:
As you build your strategy, establish how long you want to run your campaign and a specific benchmark relevant to the platform you want to reach within that timeframe. For example, you might want to attain a particular engagement rate by the end of the quarter.
Not only should your marketing goals be relevant to each platform, but they should also be pertinent to your marketing goals as a whole.For example, if your marketing goal is to generate more leads, you can create individual benchmarks that would help you identify and collect those leads. Each platform’s strategy will build on the other platforms for a unified marketing strategy that works together.
Your investment in your vertical content will allow you to distribute it on multiple channels and leave it on those channels permanently. Your published piece acts like a building block, creating a solid marketing foundation.For instance, your brand awareness content might introduce users to your brand, whereas conversion posts promote specific products. You can’t have one without the other content form as they work together to fill every marketing funnel stage.
Here are some examples of content you can create that will help you build a complete content strategy:
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Learn how to effectively manage your omnichannel social media strategy:
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If you try to use too many social media channels in your marketing strategy, you may stretch yourself too thin and end up not doing well on any single channel. Instead, narrow your focus to a few platforms that align with your marketing goals and audience and invest in those strategies for the best return on your vertical video marketing.
While research will give you an idea of what channels will perform best, running test campaigns is the most accurate way to explore the most successful channels. After running a small campaign on multiple platforms, you can measure your results to see which yielded the most valuable results. Then, those can be the platforms you focus on in the future.
However, you can save time and significant investments by working with a content agency that has already performed testing and can recommend the best platforms based on their data.
Use these five steps to successfully publish content on multiple platforms.
Even when you cross-publish the same content on multiple channels, you will still want to adjust your content for each platform. For example, Facebook has four different potential video sizes you can use. However, TikTok only has one vertical aspect ratio.To ensure your video is optimized for each channel, you may need to create multiple formats of the same video to ensure it fits the aspect ratio of each platform.
Sometimes video platforms will adjust the video for you, like YouTube. However, when you rely on the video platform to optimize your content, your video might not always be adjusted in the best way, and you might end up with a blurred, stretched, or cropped video that distracts from the message.
Image from Hootsuite
Even when you create a vertical video, you will still have a place to add text. For example, most platforms have a comment section where you can insert necessary tags and information.
While you can reuse the vertical video on multiple platforms, adjust your comments to the specific audience for each platform and use relevant tags to ensure it appears in your audience’s feed and searches.
As you post your content, collect data on how it performs, such as how users interact with the video, what video they respond best to, and what content isn’t performing well.
For example, you can monitor how long users view your video, which can help you identify where the vertical video content has potential issues preventing it from engaging your audience.
While your content might be the same across your channels, you can still offer each user a unique experience by addressing comments and interactions with your brand. Personal responses increase your audience engagement and can improve the audience’s experience with your brand.
By commenting, you build a community and increase brand loyalty. Generally, your audience expects a response to their comments or inquiries within 24 hours.
Even though you can share your vertical video across platforms, you should mix your strategy with platform-specific content and fresh social media content ideas. This ensures you provide customized content to each platform’s unique audience and needs. In addition, you can use platform-specific features to create more creative content.
The average person has 8.4 social media accounts. Because of each user's multiple accounts, many of your followers will also be on your other platforms. If you only post the same content, your followers will grow tired of repeated information and may unfollow some of your accounts.
However, when you mix platform-specific content with cross-posted content, you can create a unique experience for all your audience, even those who see your posts on the other channels.
Kubbco can help you mix platform-specific content with cross-posted content to reach your audience with relevant information effectively. We also provide the data you need to adjust your strategies for the best results.Contact us to learn more about our content strategy services.
As Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) @ Kubbco, I lead the global strategic efforts and oversee the research and planning, community, content strategy and paid social teams.
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