Is Twitter the Best Place to be for Syndicated Content?
While Twitter has always had far fewer users than Facebook – 330 million to Facebook’s 2.4 billion – at the moment it’s one of the best places to post syndicated content for your brand.
You might wonder why Twitter is a better platform for sharing your created content as it’s almost ten times smaller than Facebook, but its relatively small size actually works in its favour for this purpose. There are some other factors that make Twitter a great platform for reposting your brand’s content, so read on to find out more.
Size actually does count
It’s Twitter’s relatively diminutive size that gives it an advantage over the more populous social media platforms like Facebook and even Instagram, which has around 1 billion devotees. Quite simply, Tweeps (or Twitter peeps) don’t have as much noise and chaff to struggle through to get to the good stuff.
The demographics are different
Facebook is the platform for all generations, even the oldies are logging on several times a day, as more than 40% of the 65-74 age group have an account that they log into daily. The site’s popularity among younger users has diminished in recent years, with FB being seen as the go-to platform for boomers to stay in touch with far-flung children and grandchildren. Even so, Facebook has a good all-round reach into society.
Twitter, on the other hand, is far more popular with the younger members of society, with almost 60% of its users being in the 18-49 age range. Over a third of Twitter users are aged between 18 and 29, so the fast-paced, always-moving environment of the platform is ideal for them. This age group is also more likely to share or retweet informational content from brands and companies with their friends than older users.
Journalists love Twitter
As well as attracting younger users, Twitter is also home to more journalists, publishers, pundits and other types of media people. It’s also much-loved by world leaders, as 83% of the heads of states around the world have a Twitter presence. Some are more – ahem – active than others, of course, but Twitter is seen as a good way to connect with politicians, economists and the like.
The platform has also become a rapid and reliable source of breaking news, whether it’s political, scientific or economic. Posting your syndicated content on Twitter usually gets it shared and retweeted much more rapidly than it would be on other platforms and because the nature of the site is quick-fire, your blog post or announcement can reach lots of other sites and audiences in minutes or even seconds.
People Trust Twitter more than Facebook
Whether Facebook will recover from these blows is still to be seen, but it’s remarkable how many people have turned to Instagram and Twitter over Facebook in the last two years. IG grew by 2% in 2018 while FB shrank by the same percentage.
LinkedIn also grew by 2% in 2018, to 336 million active users and this platform is ideal for republishing and long-form content and articles, as it’s the more “serious” face of social media. Users tend to share content quite enthusiastically on LinkedIn, too, and the platform doesn’t have any known security issues or any messes to clear up.
Twitter straddles the seriousness of LinkedIn and the friendly, almost disposable, nature of IG’s “stories”, which disappear after 24 hours. It also has very strong protocols and policies when it comes to harassment, inappropriate content and personal filters for users. A Tweep can choose who can see, respond to and retweet their content, making it a safer environment for anyone who feels too vulnerable for Facebook.
Syndication is not duplication
Many marketers worry that if they post their content on several sites Google will penalise them very harshly for duplicate content. Duplicating content across several sites will bring down the wrath of the algorithm upon you, but syndicating won’t, as you’re sharing content you’ve created and making it obvious that it’s already been published elsewhere.
Using a so-called canonical link in your various postings will tell the search engines that the article not only looks the same, but that it is the same and you’re merely spreading the love. Content syndication is a cheap and effective way of getting your message out there to lots of demographics, as well as enabling Twitter users to share it even further.
So, what's the verdict
I’m not so sure we can really break it down into a black and white of “which is better” or “which one should I put my content on” so much as a blanket statement that you should take advantage of every medium available to you to market your brand.
There’s no point limiting yourself, especially if there are no negatives (duplication, for example) associated with the mediums you are using. It’s also important to remove yourself; your experiences and practices, from the discussion. It’s not always a question of what platforms you use or what is dominant in your immediate headspace but, ultimately, where might you potential clients reside online? Where might they look that you haven’t considered yet?
Bluntly put; market your product every where you can. Take advantage of the platforms available to you and get yourself (your brand, your services, your product) out there. 🙂
