Much has been written about the burnout artists are experiencing when it comes to social media. From the viral Halsey TikToks, to thinkpieces from Trapital, MIDiA, and our own blog, everyone seems to be discussing the fatigue of working social media as a full-time artist.

Luckily, short-form videos have become ubiquitous across social media platforms, and with a little help, you can effectively repurpose your content to save time and maximize your reach.

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Maximizing Reach

Most of us have watched Instagram follow TikTok’s lead, as short-form Reels have become the primary discovery engine for the platform. Facebook, too, has now adopted Reels in 150 countries, making it the fastest growing content format on Facebook.

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Youtube Shorts now boasts 30 billion daily views, and shows no signs of slowing down. Even Twitter is reportedly testing their own version of short vertical videos in feed.

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Staying active on all these platforms may seem intimidating, but content creators can rest easy after recognizing the short-form video product is essentially the same everywhere.‍

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Save Time by Repurposing

Most artists should start with a TikTok-first mentality. This is the platform with the most potential for a video or song to go viral, and the app that all others are mimicking.

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Create your video with the usual TikTok specifications (ideally under 60 seconds), and post it on the platform.

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Now, it’s time to syndicate that video to your other platforms. We use a powerhouse web app called Repurpose.io to easily queue up TikTok posts, remove the watermark, and repost them to Reels, Shorts, or even Dropbox.

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You can set it up to automatically repost all videos, or manually choose your favorites to syndicate.

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Repurpose.io has been a huge time-saver for many of our artists, and allows them to spend more time creating, and less time posting.

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However, we would still recommend adding a bit of manual care to match the nuance of each platform, such as adding metadata, tags, or an Official Sound when needed (which Repurpose doesn’t currently support). You will also still need to engage with your audience on each platform, so set aside a small window of time to respond to comments after posting.

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If you don’t want to fork out the $25/month for a Repurpose account, there are great free tools you can use as well. TikMate is currently our favorite free TikTok watermark-removal tool. The app allows you to download a full HD video without the watermark, as opposed to some competitors that use heavy compression.

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The lifespan of these apps tend to be fleeting, but once you’re aware of them, you’ll always be in the loop.

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Consider Exclusivity on Platforms

Of course, you may not want to syndicate every piece of content to every platform. You want to give people a reason to follow you on TikTok if they already follow you on Instagram, for example.

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In this fashion, maybe your more niche videos stay on TikTok, while your top performance videos are broadcasted to YouTube Shorts, your coolest aesthetic to Instagram Reels, and the most family-friendly on Facebook Reels.

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Whatever your content mix, give people a reason to follow you on the platforms you use the most, and dig in to your reposting strategy.

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Repeat Content

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Music reps at TikTok have recommended that artists should repeat good content. Since TikTok’s algorithm (and now many others) are based around the “For You” discovery page, you should assume most of your short-form videos are reaching a new, cold audience.

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Good videos will reach new and untapped fans, so when you have a video with some success, lean into it. Repeat the song snippets and video styles that are connecting with an audience. Focus on utilizing the Stitch, Duet, and Reply functions with your original post to lean in further to that success.

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These are low-effort, authentic ways to engage your audience without having to create more content from scratch. This is finding your niche, and working smarter.

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Keep It Original

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Some creators had an existential crisis when Adam Mosseri, the head Instagram, tweeted that Instagram is changing their ranking system to value original content compared to reposted content. What would this mean for creators repurposing their own content from TikTok?

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Luckily Adam clarified, “The idea is if you made it, it’s original. It’s okay if you edit it outside of Instagram and then bring it in via the gallery.”

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As always, keep it original, and keep your fans in mind. And at the end of the day, rest easy knowing you can use these shortcuts to save a little time whenever you’re posting to socials.