Is linking Twitter to Facebook a good idea?
by Mike Saunders on 19/01/10 at 6:45 am
13 comments
I have noticed something very disconcerting in the social media marketing arena. People have taken to duplicating their status updates and blog posts into as many social networks possible. What’s even more disheartening is that most people thinks that this is a great idea.
Duplicating updates to social networks shows that we have technical expertise but no marketing expertise. I believe that there have been two primary untruths that have made their way into social media circles. These are:
1) I need to be on as many social networks as possible
No you don’t! In fact, unless you start focusing your attention on one or two social networks your are doomed to failure. Every network you are a part of demands a small (or large) portion of your time. Add it all up and you will find that you spend much of your time on networks that return very little value.
It is more valuable to have one loyal, engaged database than to have five databases who donʼt feel engaged with your brand. Choose a network that shares the values you share and that are full of people who are interested in your business or industry. Then focus your energy in providing them with the best social media campaign you have ever created.
2) I need to make sure that all my networks hear everything I have to say
Each network you participate in has a culture. An unwritten code that depicts how you act and communicate with others in the network. Not playing by these rules means that you will simply be ignored.
An example is linking your Twitter status to your Facebook account. In most cases this works great for communicating your message to both followings. However Twitter users have a very particular ‘language’ that is not understood by most South Africans in the ‘Facebook only’ community.
Here’s an example of a Facebook status from twitter that makes no sense:
• The @ mentions (which link to the twitter profile) are not supported by Facebook
• Hashtags mean nothing to a ʻFacebook onlyʼ user
These are very popular Twitter tools that just end up confusing your Facebook following. This results is you being ignored by the people in your carefully cultivated network. You wonʼt necessarily lose the friendship or the fan base, but they will ignore you because you have become irrelevant to them.
A better option would be to send a custom update to Facebook like this:
My suggestion is simple.
Choose your social networks wisely (think about network users and culture) and then focus on achieving valuable results through them. At the very least take some time to schedule custom status updates for Twitter and Facebook.
Mike is the CEO of DigitLab, a digital marketing and social media agency, as well as Keynote Speaker and Social Media Coach at TomorrowToday. An internet strategy consultant by day, and blogger by night on www.mikesaunders.co.za, Mike is the guru on all things digital and provides training, presentations, and consulting on strategy, social media, social business, internet marketing, and the new world of work. View more articles by Mike Saunders.
Tags: facebook, small business, social media, Twitter
uberVU - social comments
Jan 19th, 2010
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by ideateblog: Is linking Twitter to Facebook a good idea? http://ff.im/-euYwX...
FeistyFemale
Jan 19th, 2010
It makes good business sense to choose your social networks wisely, and in addition not to have too many of them. However I disagree that you should advise the world that integration of networks is a completely bad idea.
Integrating Twitter and Facebook really does depend on the client, the market and the context.
Often your target market is split between Facebook and Twitter. Ever notice how non-geeks prefer Facebook over Twitter? Those people are still the majority. The commentary and the input found on Facebook can often be more valuable from those received on Twitter. In addition the slower streaming means that people actually have time to see the update and respond. This could also be attributed to the fact that follower numbers on Twitter exceed the number of friends a person has on Facebook – the bottom line is that there is less clutter.
A marketing message should be simple and clear cut . So although each network “has a culture” very little changes in the terms of the central message going out – the channel you use is merely to facilitate the process and to reach your audience/reader on their preferred platform.
I do believe that there is no generic one-size-fits-all approach – and this definitely cannot be preached to an audience who has very little understanding of the medium – it would have been wiser to give a more objective view of the pro’s and con’s of the process.
Mike Saunders
Jan 19th, 2010
Hi Fiesty Female
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you!
I am not suggesting that you don’t integrate your social media platforms but rather that, in your integration, you customise your primary message to gain the best response from your social networks.
The main message should never change – otherwise we will confuse our publice no end. We should be ready and willing to express our message in the different social network lanuguages though.
Hope this makes sense.
FeistyFemale
Jan 19th, 2010
In my rush before a meeting I might have expressed myself poorly. I disagree with the fact that all integration requires customization.
If you have a strategy that automates your updates and sends them to Facebook from your Twitter account – your content strategy which sets the parameters of tone and type of tweet/message should address this technicality. In other words: no tweet speak when integrated.
I do feel that articles should be written with pro’s and con’s in mind – truly outlining the opportunities and the pitfalls when implementing strategy.
Statements such as”technical but no marketing expertise” and “doomed to failure” on a subject that is one-sided make objectivity impossible.
I guess my strong and opinionated response to this article is based on the large amounts of misinformation and poor strategic thought on most social media related content. It makes the social media space questionable and ultimately makes a good marketer’s job tough – addressing an executive board/business owner with fragmented knowledge that they gain from an article like this is but one of the challenges they face.
Mike Saunders
Jan 19th, 2010
Hi
I am not suggesting all cases of intergration need customisation. Simply suggesting that in some circumstances (example outlined in the images) a lack of customisations shows a lack of understanding of the social media user.
Customisation should be considered in every campaign as it will increase relevancy and exposure. After all a syndicated campaign that posts custom updates to different social networks does not take up anymore additional time, if you are using the correct tools for your syndication.
I am happy to discuss this more over email should you wish to.
FeistyFemale
Jan 19th, 2010
I think both views are now fairly represented on this article through the comments.
Till next time then
Casie
Jan 20th, 2010
I think that everyone got really excited when the integration happened, like “Sweet, I don’t have to post in two places!” But #2 hits it perfectly – for a lot of people, twitter and facebook are used very differently.
Personally, I use facebook for personal use and twitter for posting more professional based information. I highly doubt thing things I post on Twitter, my FB friends would be interested in.
As FeistyFemale mentioned, there are in fact cases where this works, but people need to take a better look to FIND out it will work before just doing it.
Gareth Cotten
Jan 20th, 2010
Wow, first article up, and you’ve got your work cut out for you, Mike…
Welcome to the fold
Mike Saunders
Jan 21st, 2010
Hi Casie and Gareth
Thanks for the comments.
I use twitter and Facebook in a similar fashion to Casie. Although I do have a few business specific projects that have a stronger presence on Facebook than on Twitter.
It all comes down to what you want to achieve.
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Meegan Rourke
Oct 24th, 2010
I agree that custom status updates are important, and that duplicating across social networks can lead to failure. The pressure on social media users is to be connected at all times, in as many ways as possible, but juggling too many online profiles can lead to the temptation to auto-publish the same feed across all platforms. When this happens, the value of social networking is lost and all that a person or company is doing is creating noise, distancing them from the very communities they’re hoping to connect with.
The trick is to be consistent without repeating yourself. Each online profile is supposed to connect us with different online communities in different ways, but this requires commitment to managing and updating each individually. Each online profile should be consistent with who the person or company is, and their ‘voice’, because a disjuncture across social networks can lead to disengagement from the person or the brand. But consistency doesn’t equal repetition. Each online profile is building a reputation amongst different groups, and simply duplicating from one network to another means that you’re not targeting your audience. There should be a distinction between your Facebook page and your LinkedIn profile for example, because these will be accessed by different groups of people. The whole point of connecting with others via social networks is interaction, and duplicating status updates is a one-sided conversation that makes no sense to the person on the other side.
Mike Saunders
Oct 25th, 2010
Hi Meegan
Thanks for your insight in this! A few very interesting points were made.