We recently wrote a blog post about using syndication and scheduling to save the time you need to spend on social media each day.

The blog (which you can read by clicking here if you missed it first time round) suggested that if you use it correctly as a support tool, syndication can be useful in effectively streamlining your efforts.

It did however make the case that using syndication as a shortcut or as an alternative to building dialogue would lessen and not increase the fruits of your social media labours.

Another point we wanted to cover off today is in relation to syndicating tweets on to social networks that are clearly destined for Twitter.

Tweets are by definition tweets.  They will often be written in a style constrained by the 140-character limit or in a tone of voice that is appropriate for the network and your followers.  Compare this to, for example LinkedIn; a network much more professional in nature and where there is no character limit on posts (this is not us condoning the writing of laboriously long LinkedIn updates!).

LinkedIn also has no use of hashtags, which are almost symbolic of Twitter and the tweets made on that platform.

When you see a tweet you will know it is a tweet.

We therefore go back to the point we made in our blog post ‘is syndication a friend or foe of social media’ and examine whether the time you are saving by syndicating content is outweighed by the loss in benefit of the action you are taking.

To post separately on to LinkedIn does take more time, all-be-it quite a small amount of time.  However, if you want to get a message across how much more impact will it give you if you have crafted it for the appropriate audience?

Can you expect something that you have tweeted and syndicated to LinkedIn to have the same impact as writing an update specifically for your business connections?

We think the answer here more often than not would be a no.

The time saved by syndicating from your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account is outweighed by the loss in impact.

It will appear as a tweet that has found its way on to LinkedIn.

This is why we suggest that you take the time to write separate LinkedIn updates rather than syndicating tweets across.  You will be spending a bit more time, but in tern you will also be gaining more from it.

For more information on how we can help your social media presence through training, management or support please do give us a call or email us at hello@mihidigital.co.uk