It’s critical to adjust the tone and style to fit the format of the target platform
This article originally appeared 30 Oct. 2025
You’re reading the Your News Biz newsletter. My goal is to help digital media entrepreneurs and small businesses find viable business models.
The most frequent question I get from colleagues is, “How can I get more clients/customers with digital marketing and social media?” For me, it’s all about building authentic relationships, trustworthy relationships. Social media can help, but it isn’t always the answer.
Last week I talked about how YouTube can help you market your business, your products, or your events — and the value of some short video testimonials from your customers.
This week I want to show how you can re-purpose that video for other platforms. Video is a powerful promotional tool when you focus on creating trustworthy content.
You should store the videos you make for YouTube on your computer or hard drive. Then put them to work on media that love video.
More channels for your video
Tip 1: If you post a video or image to Instagram, you can choose to automatically post it to Facebook as well. It’s usually a good idea to edit the Facebook text after you publish so that it’s appropriate for that audience (usually older).
Tip 2: If you want to post your YouTube video to TikTok, you can schedule up to 10 videos for future time slots. Here are some AI-generated suggestions, which I’ve reviewed, for getting engagement on TikTok.
I personally have had almost no success promoting my SCORE.org videos about mentors helping small businesses. But one received several hundred views when I used the hashtag #givingback, maybe because that hashtag was a trending topic that particular week.
You should know
- If you post a business message or event on Facebook these days, it’s unlikely to be recommended to users unless you’re paying for advertising. HOWEVER, if you post to Facebook Groups that you’re a member of, you’re likely to get more engagement.
- I have a client who is a member of a parents group on Facebook and has received some valuable referrals from there — the parents have business connections and trust her. They know her. But if you’re not paying, you’re unlikely to break through the noise in the main feed.
- Instagram does not allow you to post more than one video or image at a time. If you want engagement with your business’s products or events.
Another tool. This post explains the power of trustworthy relationships in a crowded digital ecosystem: Trust people not bots: Your guide to thriving as Google search results plummet.