How to Craft Content for Different Platforms
To help you master the art of platform-specific content creation, we've gathered insights from a diverse group of professionals, including content creators and business leaders. From focusing on high-traffic platforms to adjusting content to target audience preferences, here are the top twelve tips these experts shared on how to adapt your content writing for different platforms.
Focus on High-Traffic Platforms
Mold Content According to Platform Essence
Harness Emotional Resonance
Understand Unique Language
Repurpose Long-Form Content into Nuggets
Consider Reader Context for Content Creation
Leverage Authenticity on LinkedIn
Publish Content Across Platforms
Develop a Thorough Platform Understanding
Tailor Messages to Platform User Behavior
Create a Content Matrix for Adaptation
Adjust Content to Target Audience Preferences
Focus on High-Traffic Platforms
Adapting your content to more platforms means more exposure. That's what we've been told, right? Unfortunately, it's where a lot of creators go wrong. Instead of repurposing your content for every platform under the sun, focus on two or three. Delete the rest.
I once helped create content for a small digital marketing agency. We built dirt-cheap websites for small-business owners, and we signed them up on several social media platforms.
My team worked themselves to the bone creating graphics and copy-pasting the same text for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and the client's website.
The reality? Less than 1% of our traffic came from half of the platforms! Once we took into account that all our clients were in service-based industries, it was obvious that Facebook and Google Ads were the only platforms they needed.
Unsurprisingly, the quality of our content improved, the clients were getting more leads, and my team suffered less.
Chad Davis, Content Writer, team-building.org
Mold Content According to Platform Essence
As a content writer, molding my content according to platforms is vital. While writing, keep in mind the essence of the platform for which you are writing is my recommendation to everyone.
For instance, while writing for a website, I always keep the content informative, well-organized, and in accordance with the audience that regularly visits the site. Whereas for social media platforms like Instagram, keeping the content concise and engaging is important.
Faizan Khan, Public Relations and Content Marketing Specialist, Ubuy UK
Harness Emotional Resonance
While adapting content for various platforms, an unconventional approach I advocate for is focusing on the emotional resonance that each platform fosters. Recognize that every platform has a unique emotional ecosystem that dictates how users interact with the content.
For instance, as a professional networking site, LinkedIn thrives on inspiration, motivation, and industry-specific knowledge sharing. Therefore, I sculpt the content, like success stories or insightful industry reports, to align with these emotions.
Conversely, Instagram, primarily a visual platform, leans more towards personal, aesthetic, and aspirational content.
Beyond the technical requirements of each platform, the emotional undercurrent can shape how your audience receives your content.
Madhurima Halder, Content Manager, Recruit CRM
Understand Unique Language
Adapting content for different platforms is a critical part of our work at Authors On Mission. The key to effective content adaptation lies in understanding the unique attributes of each platform and the audience that uses it.
For example, while website content should be comprehensive and professional, demonstrating our expertise, our social media content is designed to engage and initiate conversations. It's more casual and often uses storytelling elements to connect with the audience on a personal level.
Also, our blog posts provide in-depth insights, helping our clients and potential clients understand the intricacies of book writing, publishing, and marketing.
One tip for platform-specific content is to understand the unique language of each platform. This means comprehending the user behavior, platform algorithms, and the types of content that resonate most with the users of each platform.
Repurpose Long-Form Content into Nuggets
Slice, dice, and spice it up! Take those knowledge-packed blog posts or lead magnets and give them a social media makeover.
Break down the juiciest insights into bite-sized nuggets: Instagram carousels, LinkedIn documents, YouTube Shorts/Reels, polls, threads (and the list goes on). Turn your blog's subheadings into engaging social media questions. Encourage your audience to share their thoughts, or even tag their friends. This sparks engagement, boosts reach, and establishes your brand as a leader.
Think of each platform as a different space to shine. You might see that polls perform best on LinkedIn, while carousels bring in the likes on Instagram—you'll need to play around a bit and always test your content. Try to turn your long-form content into videos as well (and even interviews with your colleagues), as this is currently one of the top-performing content types on most platforms.
So, get slicing, dicing, and spicing, and watch your social media presence soar!
Andreea Constantin, Social Media Manager, LearnWorlds
Consider Reader Context for Content Creation
Understanding the context of how your readers found your content is crucial. It's the first thing our team at Performify investigates when creating a new piece of content.
Writing for your homepage requires a different approach than writing copy for a landing page. We've found that leading your users through a journey that delivers value every step of the way can transform your business.
For example, most of our homepage traffic comes from our blogs or from social media posts. Visitors at this stage are in the "discovery phase," where they just want to learn more about our product and what we do. With that in mind, we try to make our value propositions as clear as possible.
On the contrary, we take a different approach when writing dedicated landing pages for ad campaigns. For those pages, our readers may already be familiar with our brand or are currently experiencing a problem we solve.
So, we highlight our benefits and position our product as the solution.
Sam Sarvas, Product Lead, Performify
Leverage Authenticity on LinkedIn
For LinkedIn, for instance, personal experience is key. From my perspective, sharing personal experiences and genuine case studies is even more valuable here than on other platforms. I regularly post such content and observe that it gathers significant engagement.
One heartfelt story can attract 100 times more comments, likes, and shares than a hundred generic posts filled with faceless tips. It shows that LinkedIn users appreciate authenticity, meaningful experiences, and lessons drawn from real-life situations. So, my top recommendation is to leverage personal experiences and concrete case studies on LinkedIn for the best engagement outcomes.
Dmytro Sokhach, CEO, Editorial.Link
Publish Content Across Platforms
Creating content for different platforms can be downright overwhelming. The trick is to create long-form content that is either human-written or AI-assisted. Once you have a full-length article, you can repurpose the best insights from your content for social media, email marketing, and website content.
A tip for executing this with ease is to ask ChatGPT to dig out the best insights from your article. Then, have it create the content based on the platform to which you will distribute it.
Jason Vaught, Director of Content, SmashBrand
Develop a Thorough Platform Understanding
Before writing for any platform, the first step is to develop a thorough understanding of the platform itself. This includes the purpose of the platform and the expectations of your target audience when it comes to that platform. Even though your target audience may be active on multiple platforms, their expectations of your content will differ based on the platform. While they may be looking for more in-depth insights via blogs, they could be seeking bite-sized and crisp content on social media channels.
Furthermore, the type of social media platform would again be a huge factor in deciding the right tonality. For instance, your target customers could follow you on both Instagram and LinkedIn. But, their expectations of your content may be completely different for both of these platforms. You'll need to use platform-appropriate tonality to ensure that you're catering to the audience's expectations.
Hence, a thorough platform understanding is always a good place to start from.
Saksham Gogia, Co-Founder and Managing Director, WrittenlyHub
Tailor Messages to Platform User Behavior
When adapting content writing for different platforms, it requires a nuanced approach that tailors the message and format to suit the unique expectations and characteristics of each platform. From my experience, one tip I find valuable is understanding the user behavior and engagement patterns specific to each platform.
For example, on social media, capturing attention with a concise caption, compelling visuals, and attention-grabbing headlines is key. On a website, what works best is providing concise and scannable content. For blogs, what tends to be effective is providing informative and in-depth content that explores topics in detail and encourages audience interaction.
Content can be optimized to maximize engagement, resonate with the target audience, and achieve the desired result by adapting the tone, format, and delivery style to each platform.
Ajayi Ayomide, Growth Marketer and Writer, Howsociable
Create a Content Matrix for Adaptation
As a finance blogger, understanding the unique characteristics of each platform is key to adapting content effectively. For instance, while a blog post allows for in-depth analysis, social media and recently released Meta Threads platforms need to be concise and engaging. The golden rule is to always keep the audience in mind and tailor the content to their preferences and the platform's format.
One tip that has greatly eased work is creating a content matrix. This is a framework that outlines the type of content, tone, and style suitable for each platform. It serves as a guide, ensuring consistency while allowing flexibility.
With the recent release of Meta Threads, there is an opportunity to further diversify content. Meta Threads, with its focus on immersive, content-only experiences, requires a more interactive and engaging approach where the words selected will matter the most.
Johannes Larsson, Founder and CEO, Financer.com
Adjust Content to Target Audience Preferences
Each platform may have unwritten rules when it comes to the formats that are acceptable for their users. However, it is still better to know who you're talking to. Each platform also caters to different types of users, and if you know who your target is, you should know how to create content that would really connect with them.
It's not just about conforming to the format of a specific platform—you should also adjust your content for the people you really want to reach. For instance, Gen Zs are said to prefer video content over written ones. So, if Gen Zs are your target, try looking into video content creation.
Mark Damsgaard, Founder and Head of Client Advisory, Global Residence Index
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