Dos and Don’ts of Content Creation

The Dos and Don’ts of content creation and distribution for different social media channels and audiences.

As content creation and distribution are the core activities of any online marketing strategy. In this blog post, I will share some insights from various sources on what are the best practices and common mistakes of creating and distributing content for different social media platforms and audiences, how to tailor your content to fit the purpose and format of each platform, and what are the best tools and platforms to create and distribute your content.

According to a guide by sitecentre ¹, there are some general dos and don’ts of content creation and distribution that apply to any social media channel and audience:

• Do research your target market and audience, and create content that is relevant, valuable, and engaging for them.

• Don’t create content that is irrelevant, boring, or spammy for your audience, or that violates the rules or guidelines of the platform.

• Do use keywords, hashtags, and tags that are relevant to your content, your audience, and your platform, and that can help your content rank higher and reach more people.

• Don’t overuse or misuse keywords, hashtags, or tags that are irrelevant, misleading, or inappropriate for your content, your audience, or your platform, or that can harm your reputation or credibility.

• Do use images, videos, infographics, or other visual elements that can enhance your content, attract attention, and convey your message more effectively.

• Don’t use low-quality, generic, or irrelevant images, videos, infographics, or other visual elements that can detract from your content, distract attention, or confuse your message.

• Do use analytics, feedback, and testing tools to measure and improve your content performance, and to learn from your successes and failures.

• Don’t ignore or disregard the data, feedback, and results from your content performance, or fail to adapt and optimize your content accordingly.

However, these general dos and don’ts are not enough to create and distribute content effectively. You also need to consider the specific characteristics, features, and preferences of each social media platform and audience. According to a guide by Social Media Today ², some of the most popular social media platforms and their dos and don’ts are:

• Facebook: This platform is the most widely used and diverse social media platform, with over 2.8 billion monthly active users in 2024. It allows you to create and share various types of content, such as text, images, videos, stories, live streams, polls, etc. It also offers various tools and features, such as groups, pages, events, ads, etc. Some of the dos and don’ts of content creation and distribution for Facebook are:

  • Do use a mix of content types and formats to appeal to different audiences and preferences, and to keep your content fresh and interesting.

  • Don’t use the same content type and format for every post, or post too frequently or infrequently, as this can bore or annoy your audience.

  • Do use Facebook’s tools and features to create and join communities, to promote and host events, to advertise and sell products or services, etc.

  • Don’t use Facebook’s tools and features to spam or scam your audience, to violate Facebook’s policies or standards, to infringe on others’ rights or privacy, etc.

  • Do engage with your audience by responding to their comments, questions, or messages, by asking for their opinions or feedback, by thanking them for their support, etc.

  • Don’t ignore or neglect your audience, or be rude or disrespectful to them, or delete or hide their comments, questions, or messages, etc.

• Instagram: This platform is the most popular and influential social media platform for visual content, with over 1.2 billion monthly active users in 2024. It allows you to create and share images, videos, stories, reels, IGTV, etc. It also offers various tools and features, such as filters, stickers, effects, hashtags, etc. Some of the dos and don’ts of content creation and distribution for Instagram are:

  • Do use high-quality, original, and creative images or videos that showcase your brand, your products or services, your behind-the-scenes, your testimonials, etc.

  • Don’t use low-quality, generic, or copied images or videos that do not represent your brand, your products or services, your values, your personality, etc.

  • Do use Instagram’s tools and features to enhance your images or videos, to add fun or interactive elements, to reach more people, etc.

  • Don’t overuse or misuse Instagram’s tools and features, to make your images or videos look unnatural or unprofessional, to annoy or confuse your audience, etc.

  • Do use hashtags, tags, captions, and comments to add context, information, or emotion to your images or videos, to connect with your audience or other users, to join or start conversations, etc.

  • Don’t use irrelevant, inappropriate, or excessive hashtags, tags, captions, or comments that can distract from your images or videos, that can offend or mislead your audience or other users, that can spam or violate Instagram’s rules, etc.

• Twitter: This platform is the most popular and influential social media platform for news, trends, and opinions, with over 330 million monthly active users in 2024 ³. It allows you to create and share short text messages, known as tweets, that can include images, videos, links, etc. It also offers various tools and features, such as hashtags, mentions, retweets, likes, etc. Some of the dos and don’ts of content creation and distribution for Twitter are:

  • Do use concise, clear, and catchy tweets that can capture the attention and interest of your audience, and that can convey your message or point of view effectively.

  • Don’t use vague, boring, or lengthy tweets that can lose the attention and interest of your audience, and that can confuse or dilute your message or point of view.

  • Do use Twitter’s tools and features to add variety, value, or engagement to your tweets, to reach more people, to join or start trends, etc.

  • Don’t overuse or misuse Twitter’s tools and features, to make your tweets look cluttered or spammy, to annoy or alienate your audience, to abuse or violate Twitter’s rules, etc.

  • Do engage with your audience and other users by replying to their tweets, by retweeting or liking their tweets, by mentioning or following them, by joining or starting chats, etc.

  • Don’t ignore or neglect your audience and other users, or be rude or disrespectful to them, or block or report them without reason, etc.

These are some of the most popular and effective social media platforms and their dos and don’ts of content creation and distribution for different social media channels and audiences in 2024. By following these best practices and common mistakes, you can create and distribute content that can help you achieve your marketing goals.