At the end of the “The Pros and Cons of Cross-Posting on Social Media” article, I mentioned that there are certain situations and types of posts that cross-posting will work.

We’re all busy with the daily tasks of running a business, but if we can save a little time along the way then we’re onto a winner. So, we’re going to let you into a little secret of cross-posting from Instagram to Facebook without your post looking all weird and crammed with hashtags.

This only works if you want to post a standard photo post on Instagram and share it on Facebook. Here’s what you need to avoid and consider…

- Hashtags

- Mentioning other accounts using in @name feature

- Links

- Timing

- Over-posting

Don’t use Hashtags

Yes, you read it right, don’t use hashtags in your post. Hashtags work wonders on Instagram but still haven’t caught on fully on Facebook.

What you need to do is cross-post your content minus the hashtags. This will make the Facebook post look perfect and no-one will know that it came from Instagram.

Next, you need to add all your hashtags in a comment on your Instagram post. Although it’s not in the post content they still work in exactly the same way.

Don’t mention other accounts

Mentioning an account on Instagram, e.g. @wearemechanised, in your post is a good way to get people’s attention. However, if you cross-post this to Facebook the mention will not work. This can be frustrating for users because they cannot click on the mentioned account and sometimes the account name isn’t the same as the actual business name.

To get around this issue instead of using “@name” use the official business name in your Instagram post. Next, use the “tag people” feature to tag the account to the photo rather than a mention in the text.

This will have the same effect as using “@name” but will also make your Facebook post appear normal.

Don’t use links

Links do not work on Instagram. The best technique to add links to Instagram posts is the state the following…

“Click the link in the bio to read more” and change the link in your bio to the relevant website.

If you do include a link in your Instagram post, it will be displayed in the text but not clickable. On Facebook, a clickable link will be displayed but it won’t be in the preferred Facebook link post format. Using the correct link post format on Facebook will help your post perform better, as Facebook prefers the use of correct formats.

Timing

Although cross-posting can save you a few minutes it’s best to see when the best time is to post. Using your Facebook and Instagram Insights you can find out when your audience is online. If you’re cross-posting you’ll need to compromise on the timing, but I’d generally lean towards the best time for Facebook.

Over-posting

Instagram users are used to seeing multiple posts from accounts throughout the day, but this can lead to over-posting on Facebook. Facebook users are used to seeing one or two posts per day from business pages. If you post more than this is can lead to unfollows and people hiding your posts, which can have negative effects on your organic reach.

How to save the most time

If you really want to save time and spend more time running your business, you should consider letting an agency handle your social media marketing. Allowing an agency to manage your social media means that you can be active on all your social accounts and not have to worry about it.

Email hello@mechanised.co.uk or call 0161 791 0100 if you’d like to know more about our social media marketing services.