Should you share your Instagram Posts to your Facebook Page

Should you share your instagram posts to your facebook page

You’ve just crafted the perfect Instagram post.

You’ve cropped to the perfect angle…

You’ve applied your filter…

You’ve crafted a clever caption…

And devised the right hashtags….

Your next decision:  to share to Facebook or not.

 

STOP!  DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200!

Should you share your instagram posts to your facebook page

We know it’s easy to just share the same content across to your Facebook page, but we beg of you – please stop sharing your Instagram posts to your Facebook page!

While some studies have concluded that reposting Instagram posts to Facebook can increase your engagement, there have been others – such as this one by Agorapulse – that show otherwise!

We’d instead like you to consider something more important:  The User Experience.

 

The two channels have different user bases

Take a look at these two graphs from Statista, comparing the global user bases of Instagram and Facebook:

Global Instagram Users
Global Instagram Users – July 2018

 

Global Facebook Users - July 2018
Global Facebook Users – July 2018

 

So we can see the gender and age spread is slightly different, but we also know that Instagram is more of an aspirational-type platform where users go to scroll through gorgeous imagery.  Think holiday locations, cool coffee shots, pictures of food or cocktails, outfit inspiration, cute dogs, and more.  Instagram is also primarily accessed via mobile device, as this is way that most users are able to upload images.

Facebook, comparatively, tends to have better access across a larger span of age groups, and given the ability to share posts with links, Facebook tends to be a better space for distribution of informational based posts.  Such as blog articles, company news, and more.  Posts appear in the feed text-first and image/link below, whereas Instagram posts lead with the image.

Tip:  Check the Insights > People tab on your Facebook page, and compare with your Insights > Audience on Instagram.  See what the differences in your audiences might be.

 

Platform-specific features won’t work

If you’re posting to Instagram and tagging in other Instagram profiles via their handles, for example  @SocialMedia_AOK, these tags won’t work on Facebook.  Instead the post on Facebook will appear with ugly ‘@’ symbols throughout, and no helpful hyperlinks.

Posting natively in each platform enables you to tag the correct page or profile appropriately.

The option to ‘Tap image to shop’ is also unique to Instagram, and won’t be at all useful to your Facebook followers.

 

The captions won’t be suitable

There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a post on Facebook that posts a great product for sale, and instead of providing you with a handy link to go and purchase said item, the caption instead says something along the lines of:  “Shop via link in bio”, or “Tap picture to shop”.   😡

Instagram post with shop link in bio caption

 

Another example would be encouraging users to share something by “Regramming” it, which of course doesn’t work for Facebook.

 

Facebook posts shouldn’t feature as many hashtags

It is recommended that your Instagram posts should have around 11 or so descriptive and relevant hashtags on them.  Hashtags are used on Instagram as searchable assets, and Instagrammers use them as a way of exploring content that may interest them.  They can now even follow a hashtag if it interests them that much!  From a brand perspective, they are a great way to build a following, get in touch with a broader audience, and increase engagement.

Instagram caption featuring numerous hashtags

But the simple fact is that hashtags aren’t used as commonly on Facebook.  In fact, too many hashtags has been shown to lower engagement on Facebook, and it certainly won’t help you get more likes or followers.

 

Links

As mentioned above under Captions – the captions on Instagram posts don’t allow for hyperlinks, so you can’t direct the user to the product or service you’re promoting.  Instead they need to click on your profile, visit the link in your bio, and navigate from there.

Instagram users are used to this sort of structure, but Facebook users – who have the bonus of hyperlinks within posts – aren’t used to having to work so hard to get to what they want!

Social media should be all about making it easier for your customers (and potential customers!) to buy from you.  So don’t make it hard for your adoring Facebook fans; make it easy and give them their own customised post with links directly to what you’re posting about.

 

Don’t look lazy

And finally, cross-posting from Instagram to Facebook can appear lazy, like you haven’t taken the time to craft and tailor your social media posts for the platform – and your audience – properly.

The minute that you treat your audiences as one, and forget that you’re selling to and marketing to humans, it’s all a waste of time (and money!).

We know it can be a bit more time consuming to post separately, but we think your users will definitely appreciate the extra effort!  You’ll give them a customised and handy user experience, which will hopefully result in higher levels of engagement and enquiries/leads/sales  😀

 

 

If you’d like some help with your social media strategy, or social media content management ideas, just give us a call on 1300 65 85 43 – we like to start with coffee.

 

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Simone Douglas

Simone Douglas

Simone is co-founder and Senior Principal Solutions Architect of Digital Marketing AOK. Simone offers over 17 years in corporate management roles encompassing generalist HR recruitment and development of small to large teams across multiple sites, industry sectors and states. Experienced in a variety of social media platforms and their complimentary applications, social media strategy, risk management, disaster recovery and associated HR policies and processes.