Being across all social networks at the same time requires a meticulous approach.Ritesh Gupta investigates

When it comes to cross-platform marketing, there are a few things that brands should know:

1. Cross-pollinate content across platforms: Try using Instagram to publish content across multiple channels. Take one-year old hotel booking mobile specialist app, HotelQuickly, as an example. It is actively using Instagram alongside Facebook and Twitter. “The cross-platform sharing capability of Instagram makes it an efficient tool for publishing content across multiple channels, which HotelQuickly uses mainly for Twitter, as the frequency of posts on both channels can reach similar levels,” says Huong Giang To, the firm’s market coordinator and key account manager. As HotelQuickly has a larger fan group on Facebook, it embeds its Instagram stream here to encourage cross over of traffic.

2. Review social media on a weekly basis: This is especially true for a company like UK airline bmi regional, which became an independent company in June 2012, and had to start its social media initiatives again from scratch. Today, the team reviews its social media with a weekly report documenting an increase in follower or ‘like’ counts - this helps to measure brand development. Its main focus right now, however, is not return on investment, but developing a social media presence and creating ‘noise’ and customer engagement for the brand.

3. Be goal-focused and creative: Different platforms work for different things and today many brands will make posts platform specific. So clips from a commercial featuring a celebrity could be used on YouTube. Meanwhile stills from that same commercial could be showcased on Instagram to highlight behind-the-scenes fun. In an example of being goal-oriented, bmi regional has become more destination-focused in the last few months. So it promotes new destinations and route launches by using strong imagery across all platforms like LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+. For Stephanie Scott, social media specialist at American Airlines, engagement success all depends on the objective of each post. Here are some examples:

Goal 1:Generate awareness

Aim: Extend the reach of a post as measured by impressions.

Goal 2: Engender loyalty through brand conversation

Aim: To encourage interactions like comments, likes and shares.

Goal3: Drive traffic to a website to generate registrations or bookings

Aim: To measure clicks on a link.

In short, American Airlines uses a wide variety of metrics to determine success and view each piece of content through a unique lens.

4. Plan in advance and know what you stand for: Have a marketing plan of action and a clear understanding of what your brand is about. It is important to try to retain the brand voice across all channels. An editorial calendar that tracks product launches, ad campaigns and so on is a must. Finalise times and dates as far as possible, so that posts on each platform result in a cohesive strategy.

5. Maximise content and use the right tools: Hashtags are an important element of every post. It is possible to extend content’s reach with hashtags, using a mix of unique and crowdsourced ones. Also, look at SEO keywords to make the most of them, but remember keyword search and hashtag search aren’t the same. Using tools, a brand can find out who is engaging with their content, how engagement rates vary across channels and what competitors are posting. Established travel brands use an array of tools to measure the performance of social content. Some of the most popular include: Facebook Insights, Netbase, Unmetric, Sysomos, Radian6 and TweetReach.