Many marketers mess up when it comes to promoting brands on Twitter and Facebook. They think the two networks are interchangeable, so they use them both the same. In reality, these two networks are very different from one another, so you need to use them for different purposes. If you know when to use Twitter and when to use Facebook, you will get a lot more out of your campaign. To start, you may want to download this free social media content calendar from HubSpot to plan and organize the timing of all your social media posts.
Twitter Is the King of Live Events
If you are hosting a live event, log out of your Facebook account, learn as much as you can about follower campaigns on Twitter and head over. While Facebook’s algorithm shows posts out of order, Twitter displays a tweet in a live format, except for a few important tweets at the top of the feed.
When you live tweet events, you can put your spin on what is happening in real time. Whether you are promoting an idea, products, or your brand, this is an excellent way to put yourself out in front of the public.
The Republican debate that took place on March 3 is a great example of live tweeting. While the candidates themselves didn’t tweet during the debate, their teams kept people updated on Twitter.
Some took to the network to ask for donations during the debate.
Show Marco you're on the team! Chip in $5 right now, right from Twitter: https://t.co/zSEhDV6oFY #GOPDebate
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 4, 2016
Others, like NBC Political Reporter, Doug Adams used the opportunity to retweet posts from supporters.
With only 4 cands on stage @JohnKasich is getting opportunity to shine. This is his best debate. His gubernatorial exp is strong contrast
— Doug Adams (@DougNBC) March 4, 2016
Still others used the platform to take jabs at political opponents.
Watching the #GOPDebate? Get your #TrumpUniversity certificate of deception here —> https://t.co/BwfVMBbHfU pic.twitter.com/AYFEvIxLMM
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 4, 2016
In each of these cases, the candidates created a two-screen experience for their followers. That experience kept people engaged as they enjoyed the live event.
Facebook Excels with Stories
While Twitter is the king of live events, Facebook shines when it comes to storytelling. You can create these stories using text or pictures. Once they are created, they are a part of your timeline and people can view them at any time.
Various brands excel at storytelling on Facebook, but none of the brands do it better than Nokia. The brand took to Facebook to tell its company’s story.
Using text and images, the tech company told its story in a clear and engaging way. Now, people can easily access that story anytime they visit the company’s Facebook page. This gives them a better idea of the Nokia brand.
While this works wonderfully on Facebook, Twitter doesn’t have the platform for it. The tweets would disappear quickly and end up in Twitter oblivion.
Post Evergreen Content on Facebook, the News on Twitter
Twitter has a high level of engagement, but the window for that engagement is much shorter than it is on Facebook. Once people see something on Twitter, they move on from it. On the other hand, people will go back to a Facebook page to re-read an article they love.
Because of that, your brand’s evergreen content, blog posts, and brand imagery needs to go on Facebook. If you have an outstanding user guide to share or a great market study, put it on Facebook so users can reference it as needed. In addition, Facebook apps can deliver the content as a reward for a call to action.
If you have breaking news, you need to put it on Twitter. It will pop up in people’s feeds immediately so they can read it in a timely fashion. That makes this the network of choice for breaking company news.
Post Sound Bites on Twitter
If you are a sound bite machine, you will do better on Twitter. The fast-paced nature of Twitter makes it perfect for short little sound bites. If these sound bites rack up a lot of retweets, your little gem might even go viral.
You see this all the time with comedians. They take to Twitter to test out jokes. They immediately know what people think, due to the fast nature of the site.
On the other hand, if you tend to be more long winded, you will do better on Facebook. Since Facebook doesn’t have a character limit, you can say your peace without any problems.
Twitter for Cities, Facebook for Rural
If you use laser targeting for your marketing campaign, you might have one message for your city-dwelling customers, and another one for your rural customer. If that is the case, spread the city message on Twitter and the rural message on Facebook since Twitter is popular with people in the city and Facebook is popular with those in rural communities. That doesn’t mean you need to separate every marketing message, but you can do so for those that are laser targeted.
You need to use Facebook and Twitter for your marketing campaign, but it is important that you use them differently. There is lots of information out there regarding strategies, and a separate strategy for each network, gets the results that you want. That is the key to dominating social media.