That’s why it’s important to know what to post on each social media platform. So in this article, we’ll share the nine most valuable types of social media content according to marketers and how brands are using these formats to strike a chord with audiences.

The most engaging types of social media content in 2023

Keeping up with the latest in social media is a difficult task with all the different platforms, features and algorithms. That’s why we created The 2023 Content Benchmarks Report to help you identify the most valuable types of social media content.

In this report, we collected data from 729,000 public social profiles in 2022. Then, we analyzed trends to derive what types of social media content will inspire your audience and make them more likely to engage with your brand. Let’s take a look at which formats are most engaging.

1. Short-form video

Short-form videos are the most captivating type of social media content thanks to their capacity to break down and present information in less than one minute. Plus, the length makes it more shareable and ideal for social media.

You’re facing an audience that’s busier than ever. People are looking for immediate gratification with fast and entertaining content they can consume on the way. So a 15-minute video seems impractical when a one-minute video can do the job just as well.

Why short-form video works on social

About 66% of consumers find short-form videos the most engaging out of any other social media post types. And before you say it’s because bigger brands have the resources to produce high-end videos, the truth is successful videos don’t require unlimited time, resources or heavy editing.

According to our research, consumers find short-form videos 2.5x more engaging than long-form videos. So humor and relatability are enough to draw people to your brand. In fact, a survey shows that 34% of consumers like to see authentic, less-produced videos.

Additionally, short-form videos are perfect for different types of social media post ideas. From highlighting how to use your product or service to influencer collaborations and behind-the-scenes content.

Best social media platforms for short-form video

The popularity of TikTok videos, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts is evidence of their effectiveness when it comes to short-form video.

Both TikTok and Instagram have a variety of tools that help create short-form videos for free. You can record a few shots, add a soundtrack, use a filter and follow popular social media trends. Additionally, you can promote your content with native ad campaigns.

Even though YouTube Shorts are a recent feature from YouTube, they have become increasingly popular with 15 billion global daily views.

4 use cases of short-form video from Last Crumb

Last Crumb is a small business born in LA that bakes luxury handmade cookies. This brand stands out for using sassy language and an almost seductive tone to reach its audience.

Last Crumb uses short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram to encourage their audience to crave their cookies with:

1. Content relating their cookies to popular holiday celebrations. Last Crumb uses their holiday-themed videos to hop on relevant trends and conversations, prompting their audience to share their content with friends and allowing the brand to reach a wider audience.

   @lastcrumb

   There’s no better way to “I love you” than with a box of decadent cookies. @Sugar Pusher ® #LastCrumb #LastCrumbTikTok #LastCrumbCookies #cookietok #cookie #foodie #lastcrumbvalentines

   ♬ It’s A Wrap – Sped Up – Mariah Carey

2. Influencer collaborations to taste-test their cookies. In these videos, influencers unbox the luxury package and eat the cookies. This tactic leverages influencers’ loyal followings to generate interest within an untapped audience with “reviews” people trust.

   @lastcrumb

   @Keith Lee is back and this time, he went Platinum. #LastCrumb #LastCrumbTikTok #LastCrumbCookies #cookietok #cookie #foodie #lastcrumbtastetest #lastcrumbunboxing

   ♬ original sound – Last Crumb

3. Last Crumb’s destruction collection, in which the brand destroys their extravagant cookies, merge “demos” with entertaining content to show the delicious texture of the cookies to keep people watching and drive engagement.

   @lastcrumb

   It’s what’s on the inside that counts ❤️ #LastCrumb #LastCrumbTikTok #LastCrumbCookies #cookietok #cookie #foodie #smashorpass #lastcrumbvalentines #valentinesday

   ♬ Pass or Smash – 💜The Simple Touches💜

4. Last Crumb’s sandwich collection shows how you can make different luxury ice cream sandwiches with their cookies. This helps them stay connected with their customers by sharing recipes they might want to try the next time they order cookies.

   @lastcrumb

   A simple solution for when you can’t decide which cookie you want. #LastCrumb #LastCrumbTikTok #LastCrumbCookies #cookietok #cookie #foodie

   ♬ f urself in vegas – SHIMA

2. Images

Images are the second most valuable type of content out of the nine popular social media content categories. They’re also one of the types of social media most frequently posted across social networks.

Static images are absorbed and appreciated in an instant. The colors, composition, text (or lack of it) and other details give social users an immediate impression of your brand.

Why images work on social

Amongst the types of social media content, 61% of consumers find images the most engaging type of in-feed social content. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather look at a picture than read a thousand words.

Since mobile devices are equipped with high-definition cameras, and there are many free editing tools, anyone can embrace their inner photographer and graphic designer. This means social media marketers can create images for their content strategy without enlisting a ton of resources.

Best social media platforms for images

Instagram and Pinterest are platforms that naturally lend themselves to images. These social media platforms have unique advantages to leverage your visuals like filters, effects and editing.

Instagram started as an image-sharing platform and even though it has evolved to be much more, its content is still made of 87% images.

When consumers go to Pinterest, they’re looking for inspiration and creativity. In fact, 97% of all searches on the platform are unbranded, creating the perfect environment for audiences to discover your brand and spark their interest in a future purchase.

As a bonus, both platforms have social commerce features that allow you to tag products, transforming images into “shoppable” content.

3 use cases for image posts from Williams Sonoma

Williams Sonoma is known for its kitchenware, home furnishing and gourmet foods. It maintains a strong following, clear reputable brand identity and “shoppable” feeds across social platforms. They achieve that with sumptuous, vibrant images in the following ways:

1. Williams Sonoma uses top Pinterest trends to create Pins and carousels with colorful dishes and recipes. These images catch the eye of their target audience, enticing clicks to learn more about how to make the dish, which drives engagement and traffic to their website.
2. They support the full shopping experience on Instagram using eye-candy imagery and product tags. Thanks to these, consumers can get the product they like with a few taps, reducing friction to the final purchase.
3. Across platforms, they leverage their organic presence by using captions to enhance their image content and CTAs to their blog or online store to continue the buying journey.

3. Live video

The ongoing digital transformation has left businesses thinking differently about how they can engage with customers in real time. In 2020, Live video came out as a winner during the pandemic with live video viewers reaching 152.5 million (20.4% more than in 2019).

Why live video works on social

37% of consumers find live video the most engaging type of social media content. It enables businesses and creators to broadcast conversations, webinars, Q&As or other virtual events. And unlike text or image posts, where you wait for an interaction, live videos give audiences a chance to react in real time.

Live and simultaneous viewing also gives people a sense of community and togetherness. What’s even better is you can repurpose your livestream video to get more value from the content. For example, you could create multiple shorts or text snippets from your livestream for posts on other networks.

Best social media platforms for live video

Many platforms have livestream capabilities, but the best ones are Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Live and LinkedIn Live.

YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn Live experienced a boom during the pandemic. YouTube and Facebook Live acted as entertainment for people. While LinkedIn Live allowed brands to reach and communicate with a professional network. On average, LinkedIn live videos get 7x more reactions than native videos.

According to Statista, 43% of US social media users aged 18-34 watched Instagram Live in 2021. That’s in part because the platform is designed to better your chances of followers joining you. When you go live on Instagram, your Live content appears at the beginning of Instagram stories.

How BuzzFeed uses live video to spark interest

BuzzFeed is a news and entertainment company that talks about viral topics. One of its branches, BuzzFeed Video, produces original video content about their articles.

From trying viral TikTok products to, home decor andor easy meal preps, BuzzFeed Video attracts a wide audience around pop culture. They use Facebook Live to bring their blog content to life and be part of the conversation on social. Jumping on viral trends or speaking directly to their audience’s interests enables them to stay relevant in real time and be an entertaining source of information that makes you want to come back for more.

4. GIFs/memes

GIFS and memes are a particular type of social media content favored by younger generations. When words can’t describe the mix of gestures and feelings we all relate to at some point, memes can add meaning to these situations.

These types of social media content assure your audience gets the message and helps your brand relate to your audience through comedic takes on daily life.

Why GIFs and memes work on social

Besides the fact that they’re shareable and enjoyable, their relatability makes it almost personalized content. Something that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver.

When people see personalized content, their immediate response may be to interact with it and share it with friends. That’s how memes become viral if they’re used with the right audience.

GIFs can have the same effect but are more dynamic due to their animated feature. This makes them an excellent way to start conversations with more than words and still leave an impression.

Best social media platforms for GIFs and memes

Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are ideal to post memes. But for GIFs, we recommend Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. If you post a GIF on Instagram, it will be added as a short video.

Memes drive engagement, that’s why Instagram users share over one million memes daily. They also drive traffic, as proved by a study from Social Media Today. They posted memes on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for a month, which increased their website traffic by 12%.

In the case of GIFs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have special features for sharing this type of content. Twitter and LinkedIn make it as easy as tapping on the “GIF” icon and selecting the GIF you want to share. And Facebook’s boomerang feature allows you to capture moments in a loop so you can create your own GIFs.

How ProWritingAid uses GIFs/memes to connect with their audience

ProWritingAid is an AI writing assistant software that corrects your grammar and style with automated suggestions. If you go to their Instagram profile, you’ll notice that their most engaging posts are memes from writers for writers.

They use memes to convey their audience’s common tasks, like finishing a book outline, the struggles that come with it and wholesome messages. This relatable content builds relationships with their audience by speaking to their pain points, while still providing comedic relief.

5. Text-based posts

It’s important for businesses to prioritize visual content, but they shouldn’t lose sight of the power of words. What’s more, 32% of consumers say text-based posts are still one of the most engaging types of social media content.

Written content needs the same attention, consistency and creative elements that you give other content formats. But developing a distinctive brand tone and voice that aligns with your visual identity will help your written content stand out from the crowded social chatter.

Why text-based posts work on social

According to our index, 34% of consumers follow their favorite brands on social to see the brand’s personality. And the most direct way to give that to your customers is with text posts.

Short-form video is reigning and an image is worth a thousand words. But that doesn’t mean text-based content is redundant. And that’s especially true for social media, where text-based content can be valuable for starting conversations that help you get to know your customers better.

Best social media platforms for text-based posts

Reddit, Twitter and LinkedIn are top-of-mind for text-based posts in the social media content categories.

Reddit is a great platform to engage in Q&As and get conversational with your fans. While LinkedIn is perfect to share thought leadership, articles and engage with your professional network.

Still, Twitter is by far the most popular platform for text-based posts. It’s perfect to share digestible bits of information, ideas and news. That’s why it’s always buzzing with conversations. And engaging in conversations that interest your audience can help you widen your reach and build a community.

4 use cases of text-based content from McDonald’s

McDonald’s is one of the most successful fast-food chains with millions of customers served each day. On Twitter, the brand uses text posts to communicate with fans in a relatable, casual and humorous voice that brings the brand down to earth. Specifically, they use these types of text posts to define their brand values and start conversations:

1. Asking their fans questions and encouraging them to engage in fun trends.

   what’s your drive thru hype song? there are no wrong answers

   — McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 7, 2021

2. Using Tweets to collect and act on the feedback shared directly from their community.

   about to present this to my boss do u guys have any feedback? https://t.co/yp3NreJaXy

   — McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 10, 2021

   Y’ALL WE DID IT. Hi-C Orange is coming back 💥 pic.twitter.com/wIaUa6vzPZ

   — McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 10, 2021

3. They don’t just post, wait for engagement and leave it at that. The brand addresses nearly every response they get.
4. McDonald’s cross-promotes their text tweets and repurposes them on other social platforms using graphic elements.
   if u can do this u can have my job

   Posted by McDonald's on Thursday, February 25, 2021

These examples show how McDonald’s uses text-based content as a way of building a community and engaging with them. Plus, this makes customers perceive the brand as approachable which builds trust.

6. User-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is content created by fans, consumers or users that brands repurpose for their feed. When consumers create content showcasing your products, they’re essentially giving you social proof and testimonials.

UGC has opened the doors for brands to reach a wider audience as people enjoy being part of a community. Also, UGC shows real-life uses of your products or services, which makes your followers more willing to try them.

Why user-generated content works on social

Of all the types of social media content, UGC is the most trustworthy. Consumers want to see real customers showing their experiences with your brand.

According to our 2023 content benchmark report, around 39% of consumers like to see testimonials or customer demos from the brands they follow on social because that’s the type of content they consider authentic. This creates trust, which ultimately affects the decision of 58% of consumers to pick a brand over a competitor, according to our Index data.

Also, you can take advantage of UGC to maximize your budget while reaching more consumers. When a user tries your product and posts about it, their followers may want to try it and post about it as well. This creates a chain reaction in which you reach the followers of your followers. Yet, over 93% of marketers aren’t using the full power of UGC, so there’s a lot of opportunity with this type of content.

Best social media platforms for user-generated content

Instagram and TikTok are the go-to social media platforms to find user-generated content. This is because both are highly effective for visual content, especially short-form videos. And since video content is best for showcasing a product over text or static images, 79% of marketers are willing to invest more in video leveraging authentic content (UGC) in 2023 according to the SOUGC report.

How L’Oreal Paris USA leverages UGC content with TikTok

L’Oreal Paris is a cosmetic brand that empowers women through beauty. They launched a TikTok contest to win $25,000 in which TikTokers had to upload a 15-second video showcasing their new telescopic lift mascara.

This tactic generated tons of UGC videos that fueled their brand awareness. Also, their mascara went viral on TikTok, promoting more sales. And they got lots of product demos for future campaigns.

7. Long-form video

Long-form video is the type of social media content you look for when you want educational and informative videos. Even though short-form videos are the most popular type of content, they lack the depth you crave when you’re genuinely interested in a topic. While videos that last longer are packed with information that builds authority.

Why long-form video works on social

Long-form videos are great for developing relationships with your audience. What’s more, 24% of consumers report long-form video content as the most engaging type of social media content.

Also, long-form videos are one of the best types of social media content to share educational topics. In fact, 93% of viewers use YouTube for educational purposes, and as of March 2021, users spent an average of 29 minutes and 36 seconds per visit.

Best social media platforms for long-form video

YouTube and Facebook are the most popular platforms for long-form content.

When you think about long videos, your mind naturally drifts to the giant online video-sharing platform we know as YouTube. And with good reason, as YouTube is designed to share videos of all lengths and keep people watching.

It’s also important to note that 71% and 51% of consumers expect to use Facebook and YouTube (respectively) more in 2023, according to our Index data.

How TED uses long-form video to connect with its audience

TED Talks discuss specific topics that move the world. Speakers present “Ideas Worth Spreading” from innovative research in their fields hoping to ignite imagination and give space to possibility.

TED’s long-form video content has become a worldwide phenomenon because the ideas click with people, giving them a feeling of belonging and community. But how does TED keep people interested in a 10+ minute video?

Because of storytelling!

The script of every TED Talk is packed with knowledge and information, but also strategic rhetorical questions, pauses and a bit of humor. The talks are meant to be stories that draw the listener in. So it’s all about how you present this information. YouTube creates the perfect space for this as it enables TED Talks to appeal to their audience through education and entertainment.

8. Audio

Social audio is about using your voice rather than comments, emojis or reactions to communicate. You record yourself talking about hot topics or experiences you think will interest your audience.

And the single best format for this type of social media content is podcasts.

Why audio content works on social

Around 32% of people in the US put their headphones on and listened to podcasts while in the car in 2022. A smart way of learning something new and passing the time when you need your eyes on the road. And sometimes people want information without the commitment of being in front of a screen for an hour.

Even though podcasts have at least a basic outline to plan their episode, most of the talking, expressions or personalities are genuine. This allows listeners to connect with the host, but the quality of the content is also important to prompt your audience to hear the next episode.

Best social media platforms for audio

Podcasts are best found in libraries like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be repurposed to fit your social media networks.

TikTok and YouTube are great platforms for podcasts as they can play long audio recordings, just like they do with video. You just need to add an image or film the recording of your podcast.

2 use cases of audio content from HerFirst100k

HerFirst100k strives to give women financial education and create a supportive community that thrives. Their podcast, The Financial Feminist, aligns with their financial freedom and community goals. Here’s how they repurposed their podcast on their social to achieve more visibility:

1. TikTok teaser videos that increase their reach and promote their podcast to get more subscribers.

   @herfirst100k

   Whatever she’s doing is working because @nadyaokamoto has redirected the attention to important issues like period poverty. #financialfeminist

   ♬ original sound – Tori Dunlap — Money Expert 💸

2. YouTube gives HerFirst100k a chance to address questions important to their audience on a platform they frequent. Also, it expands its reach beyond podcasting platforms by increasing their visibility on one of the popular search engines.

9. URL/links to other content

Using links helps you bring more followers to your website or other content. As the links are in your social media posts, it gives your audience easy access to content of interest and extends their experience with your brand.

URLs allow your brand to share more details, or go beyond the limits of character count within a social media platform with a single click.

Why URL/links to other content work on social

If you put a link in your social media posts to respective content on your website, you’re creating more opportunity to drive traffic to your site.

What’s more, when you promote a new product or service on social media, a link to the checkout or pricing page can help drive sales. It also reduces friction to purchase by making it easy to go from one platform to the next.

Best social media platforms for URL/link to other content

The best social media platforms for URL/links to other content are LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook. On these platforms, linking to other content is as easy as including the link in the character field and posting it.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter emphasize your links by showing a thumbnail image in your posts. For Pinterest, the process is similar, but you can customize the thumbnail image by uploading an image, titling your pin and adding a description.

3 use cases of URL content from Sprout Social

Sprout Social uses specific platforms to expand the reach of their website content. They meet people where they’re at in the format they want to consume it. Here are three types of URL content Sprout Social uses:

1. Updates of newly added functionalities and integrations to get the attention of potential customers in the decisions stage. This can lead to sales but also drive engagement among current customers that enjoy the new features.
   
2. Social media articles in Sprout Social’s Insights blog which drives traffic to their website and more visibility when it comes to industry topics.
   

Find the types of social media content that work for your audience

Thanks to all these types of social media content, there are multiple ways for you to express your brand voice and make meaningful connections. And while best practices are a good starting point, your audience and brand are unique, so you need to find what works best for both.

Discover what type of content your brand should use on social media by taking our social media content mix quiz to find the ideal fit.

The post 9 popular types of social media content to grow your brand appeared first on Sprout Social.

Here’s a comprehensive guide on what a target audience is, and how to find and reach yours through social media.

What is a target audience?

In simplest terms, a target audience is a group of people that’s most likely to be interested in your product or service. And members of this group usually share common traits.

Let’s look at a few examples of target audiences.

Canva, the design tool, has an audience of designers and design enthusiasts, this audience can be further segmented by how the tool is used.

For example, one of Canva’s target audiences is teachers, who may use the tool to create worksheets, infographics or posters.

Another major target audience group for Canva is social marketers who need to create captivating visuals for their brand’s social media and digital campaigns.

Why should you define your target audience?

Why is defining a target audience so important? Below are some of the ways you can benefit from marketing to a targeted audience:

• You can spend your advertising budget more effectively.
• You know which social media platforms to focus on.
• You can develop messaging that truly resonates with current and potential customers. This makes it easier to connect with them and earn their loyalty.

Now that you know why you should define your target audience, let’s find out who your target audience is.

Start by taking a closer look at your existing audience

To understand your target audience, start by taking a closer look a who’s already following you or buying from you.

Here are a few questions that’ll help you with this step:

1. Who is your current audience?

Monitor who follows you on social media and interacts with your posts. Who likes, shares and comments on your content? Look for common characteristics such as age, location, language and interests.

Then you can use that demographic information to target similar people who aren’t yet following your brand.

2. What kind of information are they looking for and why?

Knowing the kind of information your followers look for and interact with will help you understand your audience. And you’ll identify their needs and how to approach them on social media.

People will have different reasons why they follow brands on social media. And you’ll have to adapt your social media content strategy accordingly.

The top four reasons why consumers want brands to use social media to help connect people with each other are:

1. Connect with likeminded people (57%)
2. Meet people different from them (52%)
3. Learn new skills (42%)
4. Build community (36%)

3. Where do they go for this information?

Which social media platforms does your target audience frequent the most? The answer to that question will help you know where to focus your marketing efforts.

For instance, launching a Twitter campaign doesn’t make sense if a majority of your target audience is most active on Instagram. Understanding what your target audience wants and on which platform will define your content strategy.

4. What are they talking about?

What are your target audience’s likes and dislikes? What challenges and what solutions are they looking for? What are they saying about your brand or products? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you understand their biggest pain points and desires.

A platform such as Sprout Social makes distilling online conversations easy with its social media listening tool. This tool tracks conversations around your brand, examines target audience preferences, identifies trending topics and more.

5. Who do they trust?

Trust is important when building relationships with your followers.

Think about your social habits: Do you trust any brand online? Do online reviews from other customers sway your purchase decisions?

You should also think about how your business handles its reputation. Do you respond to all inbound messages or social mentions? Being responsive is important for building trust, retaining customers and attracting new followers.

Define the key benefits of your products or services

Now that you understand your audience, you can explain how your products or services solve their problems. What value does your business offer? Think about how their pain points align with your key benefits, and you’ll be able to position your business in a way that resonates with your target audience.

Check out the competition

To properly define and reach your target audience, you also need to conduct market research about what the competition is doing. Ask questions such as:

• What types of people are your competitors targeting?
• How are they reaching out to their target audience?
• What are they doing right?
• What’s missing from their strategy?
• What key benefits are they emphasizing in their marketing?
• How often are they posting?
• Which content formats seem to work the best for them?
• What tone are they using?

Once you understand your competitors, you’ll be able to identify your key competitive advantages. For example, one of American Express’s biggest competitive advantages is its loyalty program for customers. And to promote this unique selling point, the company leverages Amex Ambassadors for its social media content strategy.

Create content for your social media target audience

Now that you have all this insight about your target audience, it’s time to start creating content.

Here are a few best practices to guide you:

• A/B test different content elements, formats and publishing times. Fine-tune your content strategy based on to the types of posts your target audience tends to engage with. Monitor what kind of captions they like and which timing works best to engage them.
• Create content for different stages of the marketing funnel. Entertaining content may be great to capture attention at the awareness stage, for example. But for members of your audience at the consideration stage, informative and instructional pieces work better.
• Be more direct with your audience research. Instead of assuming or using analytics alone, consider what your followers really think by putting those insights into context. Conduct polls and ask them questions so you can engage them better. And create customer personas to ensure your content is highly relevant for all members of your target audience.

Ready to connect with your target audience?

Now that you’re armed with knowledge to identify and engage with your target audience, you can create a strategy to connect with them. To take it one step further, use our free worksheet on how to create authentic connections with your audience.

The post How to define and reach your target audience on social media appeared first on Sprout Social.

You already know that the first step for creating sponsored posts is to know your audience. There’s no need to repeat it. It’s time to expand your knowledge into something more actionable.

In this comprehensive guide about sponsored posts, you’ll learn best practices, discover strategies, get resources and find inspiration for your social media campaigns.

What are sponsored posts?

A sponsored post is a piece of content used as an advertisement in any of the major social media networks to increase your brand exposure by targeting a specific audience. Sponsored posts look like native content on the social network, blending with organic content in the user’s feed.

There are two different sponsored posts, which are:

• Promoted or boosted posts: Amplifies the reach of your content by paying the platform to “boost” the post’s visibility to a larger audience.
• Paid sponsorships or paid partnerships: Promotes your brand through a creator or influencer’s account on their social network(s). Their audience will see a post similar to organic content, except it will be tagged or indicate in the copy that it’s being sponsored by a brand.

With sponsored content, you can create a better experience for your audience by leveraging these less intrusive ads for your influencer and paid social strategies. Plus, sponsored posts expand your reach by tapping into new audiences.

Tips for creating effective sponsored posts

Whether you’re a small business trying to put your name out there or an established brand seeking to boost engagement, here are some tips to help you get on the right track.

Outline goals

This is one of the most difficult—but crucial—steps to get started with your sponsored content campaigns. That’s why you need a clear direction for what you want to achieve with your sponsored posts.

You can define specific campaign KPIs based on your target audience, past campaign performance and potential reach. To evaluate this potential reach, have in mind if you’ll be working with influencers or not.

Here are a couple of questions to help outline your goals:

• What are your business goals? Determine the overall business goals that you’re trying to achieve. If your leadership expects to generate leads or $$$ from social media marketing efforts, start breaking that down into smaller goals.
• What are your objectives? You know this one too well. Use the SMART goals framework to make sure your goals are attainable within a timeframe.

Set a budget

To figure out a budget for your sponsored posts, look at your social media marketing budget as a whole. Knowing how much you can spend helps you allocate your resources wisely. Download our custom budgeting spreadsheet to start outlining your expenses.

Remember, the money you spend on your social media strategy depends on the amount of sponsored content you want to incorporate. Or if you’re willing to work with influencers.

For sponsored content efforts, here’s what you need to consider:

• Define your strategy: Determine if you’re going to use sponsored posts for a single marketing channel or as a pillar of your social media strategy. Knowing this will allow you to determine the investment you need to make for sponsored content.
• Research the costs: The cost of sponsored posts is determined by your social media advertising strategy. These costs can involve creating new content, boosting existing content or hiring influencers. Have in mind that the cost of influencers varies, depending on their audience size (micro vs. celebrity), caliber of their influence, experience and more.
• Compare your budget with your expected ROI: Think of your budget as an investment. Naturally, your return on investment (ROI) should be suitable enough to justify the cost of your sponsored content.

Determine your ROI

The goals you outline can be translated into key metrics (think: reach, engagement and conversions) that calculate ROI.

In the case of sponsored posts, justifying your marketing budget based on likes and comments may seem like a difficult task. But ROI isn’t just measured by bottom-line profit.

You can measure ROI by money saved or used efficiently to expand reach, brand awareness or conversions (think: clicks to your website or sign-ups). However, through social shopping, you can impact the bottom line through direct sales or influencer endorsements (think: influencer discount codes).

Here’s our take on figuring out your ROI:

• Identify your metrics: Reach, engagement and conversion metrics are a good rule of thumb for your sponsored content.
• Track those metrics: Keep track of your sponsored post as soon as it is live. This will help you understand what content and which influencers are performing well.
• Communicate your key metrics to influencers: Make sure you tell influencers what metrics you want to track from the beginning so you can monitor performance and social media ROI efficiently.

Note: Focus on relevant metrics when measuring your sponsored post performance. Tracking too many metrics can distract you from your initial goals. More information isn’t the same as better information.

Create quality content

Sponsored posts can take on a variety of formats, such as videos, testimonials, infographics or static images. Regardless of the type, you can follow best practices to create effective posts.

The anatomy of high-performing sponsored content consists of:

1. Addressing your target audience: You don’t have to directly mention your audience, but a slight reference to them can help capture their interest.
2. Writing strong copy: Put yourself in your audience’s shoes by highlighting benefits or pain points they care about. What’s in it for your audience? Why should they be interested? The same applies to video scripts.
3. Balanced design, visuals and colors: Make sure your sponsored post catches your audience’s eye while being true to your brand and the creator’s identity.
4. A call-to-action: This is how you generate conversions. If you don’t tell your audience what action to take next, you’re losing opportunities.

Decide if you’re working with Influencers

Sponsored content doesn’t have to be paid partnerships. But influencers are a highly effective way to expand your reach and build trust. They’re experts in their niche with an engaged, loyal audience. So, if you partner with them to generate sponsored content, it’s likely some of that trust is going to rub off on you.

Here’s what you need to have in mind for your influencer marketing efforts:

• Find an influencer that belongs to the same niche you’re targeting. This ensures the influencer aligns with your target audience.
• Review your marketing budget to choose the right influencer for you. Influencer rates vary across platforms. But the more influence and followers they have, the more expensive their services will likely be.
• Make sure the influencer understands the message you want to transmit. You don’t want them to post something that doesn’t align with your brand values. Give clear directions but leave room for collaboration. Influencers are also content creators that want to stay true to their audience.

Use tools to look for influencers or do your own research on social media. They’ll usually have their contact info for paid collaborations on their profile.

Instagram sponsored posts

Sponsored posts on Instagram enable you to promote a post from your business profile or partner with an influencer for a paid sponsorship. Additionally, you can promote Instagram story ads.

Instagram sponsored posts have a “Sponsored” tag below your brand name and call-to-action buttons like “Shop now”, “Learn more” or “Sign up”.

This is what a promoted post on Instagram looks like:

For paid partnerships, sponsored posts on Instagram have a “Paid partnership” tag under the influencer’s name, and sometimes also lists your brand’s name.

This is what a paid partnership on Instagram looks like:

How to create a sponsored post on Instagram

To create a promoted post on Instagram, you’ll need to boost an existing post:

1. Go to your profile and select the post you want to promote.
2. Press the Boost post button.
3. Select your goal (whether that be more profile visits, website visits or messages).
4. Choose your target audience (it can be automatic or you can create your own).
5. Set your Budget and Duration.
6. Pay and you’re done.

To manage your Instagram advertising efforts and see how your sponsored post is performing, go to your profile, select your post and press on View insights or Ad insights. From there, you can view your engagement and goal metrics.

With paid partnerships, the influencer will create and post the content. It’s up to you to approve the influencer as a content creator associated with your brand. To achieve this, you:

1. Go to your Settings and press Business.
2. Select Branded content and then Approve content creators.
3. Enter the username of the influencer you’re working with.
4. Press the Approve button that’s next to their username.

With your approval, the influencer will be able to tag you as a business partner in their sponsored post. And you’ll be able to see the reach and engagement metrics from the influencer’s post.

Facebook promoted posts

Facebook only gives you the option to do promoted posts (no influencers here).

Facebook promoted posts have a “Sponsored” tag below the name of your brand and include a call-to-action button that can be “Shop now”, “Learn more” or “Sign up”.

This is what Facebook promoted posts look like:

How to create a promoted post on Facebook

These are the steps to create a promoted post on Facebook:

1. Go to your Facebook page.
2. Select the post that you want to promote and press Boost post.
3. Choose a campaign goal based on the stages of Awareness, Consideration or Conversions.
4. Select a recommended audience or create your own custom audience.
5. Enter your Budget and Duration of the campaign.
6. Pay and boost your post.

To view the results of your boosted post, you can go to your Facebook page, select Ad Center, choose your boosted post and press the View results option. The Ad Center lets you track all your paid posts, so you can see the performance of your entire Facebook advertising strategy.

TikTok sponsored posts

Sponsored TikTok posts have both promoted posts and paid partnerships as options for your TikTok ads.

Much like the others, a “Sponsored” tag appears below your brand’s name and the captions, along with a CTA button.

Here’s what promoted TikTok posts look like:

TikTok sponsored posts have a “Paid partnership” tag under the influencer’s username and captions.

Here’s what paid sponsorships on TikTok look like:

How to create a sponsored post on TikTok

Sponsored posts are just one of the many ways you can make money on TikTok. Since TikTok users are 1.4x more likely to research brands or products on the platform, these types of posts can be especially effective.

Here’s how you create promoted TikTok posts, assuming you already created the sponsored content and posted it on your account:

1. Go to your Profile and tap on the three-line menu.
2. Select Creator tools and then Promote.
3. Pick the TikTok video you want to promote.
4. Choose your goal: more video views, website visits, followers, messages or profile views.
5. Choose your audience (it can be a default or custom audience).
6. Set your Budget and Duration.
7. Pay and start your promotion.

To monitor your post’s performance, go to your Profile, tap on the three-line menu, select Creator tools and check your Analytics.

On the paid partnership side, you can contact a TikTok influencer to collaborate with you by following these steps:

1. Log into the TikTok Creator Marketplace.
2. Click on Explore and use the filter to find TikTok creators that you want to reach out to.
3. Select Create campaign and fill in your campaign details.
4. Click on Upload Message to initiate contact with your chosen TikTok creators or influencers.

Later on, when you reach an agreement with an influencer and the sponsored TikTok post is live, you can check how your post is doing. For this, log into your TikTok Creator Marketplace account and click on Reporting to see your Campaigns, Views and Engagement rate.

LinkedIn promoted posts

For LinkedIn promoted posts, the format remains similar, with a predominant “Promoted” tag along with a CTA.

How to create a promoted post on LinkedIn

These are the steps you need to follow to create a LinkedIn ad:

1. Sign in to the LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
2. Select an objective from Awareness, Consideration or Conversions.
3. Build your audience by selecting multiple attributes.
4. Choose an Ad format.
5. Set a Budget and a Schedule.

To manage the results of your sponsored content, go back to your LinkedIn Campaign Manager and click on the Performance Chart to see clicks, impressions, conversions, leads, the average cost per lead, etc. You can also click on Demographics and display information like job title, company, company size, location, country and more information about the people who have interacted with your ad.

Twitter promoted Tweets

Twitter promoted posts have a “Promoted” tag at the bottom left with a little arrow pointing upwards. Twitter doesn’t have defined CTA buttons, but once you press the ad, it redirects you to the associated landing page.

How to create promoted Tweets

This is how you create promoted Tweets for your Twitter advertising campaign:

1. Go to Twitter’s ad platform.
2. Input your Country/Region and Time zone.
3. Choose your objective: Reach, Engagement, Followers or Website traffic.
4. Write your ad text and add media.
5. Select the demographics of your audience.
6. Add targeting features like keywords your audience uses, followers of similar accounts and even their operating system.
7. Set a Budget and Schedule.
8. Add your payment method and launch your campaign.

To monitor the performance of your promoted Tweets, go to Twitter’s ad platform once again and click on Analytics. Then select Tweet activity to see the impressions, engagement, engagement rate, likes and other metrics for your Top and Promoted Tweets.

Boost your presence with sponsored content

Now that you leveled up your sponsored content knowledge, it’s time to explore how sponsored posts fit into your social media strategy.

As you test sponsored posts and learn what works best for you, also consider how they can be a part of your larger creator marketing strategy. Working with creators has become a must, so check out our article to learn how you should be integrating creators into your social strategy.

The post Sponsored posts: How to create effective sponsored content appeared first on Sprout Social.

Table of Contents

• What is an API?
• What are the different types of APIs?
• How do APIs & social media relate?
• Why are APIs important?
• How APIs add a layer of security
• 5 things you should know about APIs

What is an API?

API stands for application programming interface. It’s a software interface that enables two applications to communicate with each other. The API serves as an intermediary for different software applications to share data with one another.

How APIs work: A practical example

To use an analogy here, we’ll compare this to ordering a drink at a bar. When you step up to the bar, you get a menu with a list of drinks. To look at this like an API, there’s an existing convention you can follow (i.e., the bartender) to state your order and get a drink.

The menu, as you can see, is the interface. All the drinks on the menu are what the bartender has agreed to serve. When you ask for a certain drink on the menu, you receive it. But say you ask for something off the menu, such as a vodka martini instead of a gin martini. The bartender won’t be able to provide it because it’s not something they agreed to serve.

Let’s say you want that gin martini delivered to your home. You call a delivery service and you order a martini that appears on the menu. When you order it, someone will tell the bartender your order, the bartender will make the martini and then someone will deliver it to your home. This is an example of an additional service (delivery) built on an “API.”

To relate this back to software, an API can help one application retrieve specific types of data from another. If the API doesn’t support certain types of data, it won’t be able to facilitate the retrieval of that “off-menu” data.

How APIs have evolved

With APIs seeing more adoption, they’ve evolved to deliver more seamless integrations. Modern APIs follow standards that are developer friendly and easy to access. As a result of improved standardization, they support better security, governance, and documentation.

Additionally, they’re more productized. Many APIs today cater to specific audiences such as mobile developers and web developers. Now that we’re entering a cloud age, cloud computing has further helped to transform API development and deployment.

There are multiple types of APIs

Open APIs

These are APIs that companies make available to the public, such as the Google APIs and the WordPress API. Anyone can use them without submitting their app for approval.

Partner APIs

These types of APIs require specific rights or licenses and are only available to specific parties. The Airbnb API falls under this category.

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Internal APIs

These are private APIs that companies develop to use in their internal systems. They allow those different systems to work together to increase productivity.

Composite APIs

These are a combination of different API requests into a single API call. This helps to improve efficiency and save on data usage.

How do APIs relate to social media marketing?

All the major social media platforms have an API. You can use these APIs to build on them and improve the user experience. Additionally, many social media marketing and management platforms use these APIs to unify the experience. This means they can enable users to perform certain actions in one place.

Sprout Social, for instance, uses the API of leading social media networks to offer management capabilities. That way, you can use the platform to schedule and publish posts across all these social networks. You can even monitor and respond to your messages and comments all in one place. Having a single dashboard adds convenience and is one of the many ways APIs power social media marketing.

Twitter API

Twitter offers a number of API endpoints that allow you to complete certain tasks on the platform. For example, the Retweets API lets you Retweet posts from other users, while the Ads API lets you create ad campaigns. Although the API is free to use, you’ll need to sign up for paid versions for a higher level of access.

YouTube API

The YouTube API is free to use and allows you to add YouTube functionality to your website. This would enable users to play videos on your website or application. They can also complete other tasks such as searching for videos, uploading videos and subscribing to channels.

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Instagram API

There are several Instagram APIs that you can use for free to enhance your app capability. You can use APIs to let users manage their Instagram messages and posts from your app. The Instagram Graph API even lets users access valuable data from their Business and Creator accounts.

LinkedIn API

LinkedIn offers a number of APIs that you can currently access for free. These APIs allow you to enhance the sign-in and content-sharing experience. You can also find APIs to help with marketing, sales and recruitment.

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Facebook API

Facebook offers several APIs and SDKs that are free to use for developers. These APIs will allow users to conduct searches, create and publish posts, manage ads and complete plenty of other tasks.

TikTok API

TikTok gives you access to several toolkits that you can use to enhance the user experience. The Login Kit, for instance, lets you set up your app so that users can quickly and securely sign in using their TikTok credentials. You can also find API kits for sharing videos, embedding videos, adding green screens and displaying creators’ profiles.

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WhatsApp API

WhatsApp offers three different types of APIs for businesses. This includes cloud API, on-premises API and business management API. You can use these APIs to customize your business profile, send automated messages and respond to your customers. The WhatsApp API for businesses is available on a freemium basis, with fees charged on a per-conversation basis.

Salesforce API

The Salesforce data API comprises four different APIs–REST, SOAP, Bulk and Streaming. These allow you to make changes to your Salesforce data. You can use the API to customize page layouts or develop custom tools to enhance the user experience.

Why are APIs important for you?

It’s safe to say that your entire online experience runs on APIs. They help simplify tasks without the need to switch between multiple applications. This offers benefits not just for regular internet users but also for marketers and industry professionals. Let’s break down why APIs are so important for you.

APIs streamline your processes

APIs enable you to connect multiple applications and create a more streamlined process. Instead of switching between four different applications, you’ll be able to use one software to access all four.

As such, APIs are particularly useful for social media managers and marketing professionals. Many of the platforms they use integrate with one another, allowing them to complete countless tasks from a single dashboard.

The Sprout Social Smart Inbox is an excellent example of this. Before, you would log into Facebook and Twitter separately, check messages, run search terms and respond to tagged posts. Now, thanks to the networks’ APIs, you can see it all in one view, cutting out on extra time.

APIs improve connectivity and speed up everyday tasks

APIs allow different applications to communicate seamlessly. As a result, they create conveniences in our daily lives even without us realizing it.

It’s with the help of APIs that we can quickly check the weather on our phones and decide whether to bring an umbrella. We’ve also seen rapid growth in convenient mobile applications that make it easier to do things. This could be anything from ordering groceries online to tracking your budget.

Moreover, APIs have enabled the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT). This has created better connectivity between the devices we use in our daily lives. For example, we’re now able to monitor our doorstep even from miles away or adjust the thermostat right from the couch.

Businesses expand with APIs

Offering an API can help you expand your business’ potential. There are only so many resources a business can offer. Having an API available, with developers who are eager to build on them, can expand their offerings to more people.

A good example is software like Mint, which can connect with multiple banks and compile it in one area. A bank’s core offering is storing your money and recording your credit card expenses. The bank allows Mint to connect to its API, so you can better manage your money and consequently, continue being a customer at the bank.

How APIs add a layer of security

APIs apply different security practices so applications can safely transfer information. This typically involves adding another layer of security between the sensitive data and the client.

With the help of APIs, you can ensure that the server never has full access to your device’s data. Instead, the different applications and devices will only share the necessary data.

Additionally, users also have control over the data they want to share. For example, you can choose to deny a request for a website to access your physical location via a location API.

5 things you should know about APIs

To recap, here are the five takeaways for APIs.

1. Developers work with APIs to create software and apps. It’s rare for you, the end user, to interact directly with an API.
2. APIs operate as a gate, allowing companies to share select information while keeping unwanted requests out.
3. APIs can make your life run a little smoother. When airlines share data about flights and prices, travel aggregating sites can compile them and help you compare.
4. Businesses run on APIs. Sprout Social is an example of software that depends on the APIs of social media networks.
5. If you’re using a third-party app to manage your social media, it might not be the app’s fault that a feature isn’t available. It’s more likely that the network doesn’t have it as part of its API.

For social media managers, APIs have made it all the easier to manage multiple social profiles using a single tool. Learn more about how to leverage them and optimize your social media management strategy.

The post What is an API & why does it matter for social media? appeared first on Sprout Social.

Staying relevant and capturing your audience’s attention is a constant challenge for marketers. And now that brands rely on video content more than ever, it’s critical to use the correct social media video specs and advertising video sizes.

However, we couldn’t find all the correct social video sizes in one place. So we decided to create a complete guide of every single social media video spec and advertising video dimension.

Before we start, here are some additional resources to help you keep the information in once place:

• Easily reference our social media video specs in our always up-to-date Google Doc.
• Looking for image sizes? Check out our social media image sizes guide for help.
• Want to get better results with video? Download our social media video content workbook.

Social Media Video Specs & Ad Sizes Per Network

We’ve gathered a plethora of information on each social network’s specific video sizes and specs. Simply click the links below to jump to your desired network:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• TikTok
• Snapchat
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest

Collaborative Publishing Made Easy with Sprout

Visually appealing content can often be found at the heart of successful social posts.

Whether it’s a video, image or text, Sprout’s Asset Library serves as the central hub, making accessibility, organization and collaboration easier than ever.

Experience how easy asset management can be when you get started with a free trial today.

Facebook Video Specs

Facebook video is consumed at higher rates each year, so it’s no wonder why so many marketers search for the correct Facebook video specs.

The challenge for marketers is that there are simply so many types of videos you can share on Facebook and the platform updates its design frequently. Each video format has different dimensions and specs, which can make it confusing to know whether or not you’re uploading the correct format for organic or paid posts. Follow the specs below to optimize your posts.

Shared Post Video (Landscape & Portrait)

Easily the most common type of video on Facebook comes from shared posts. This type of video lives in your Facebook feed, and can be shared by brands or your friends. While it’s not as easy to get organic reach on Facebook, it’s still a viable way to share video. You can choose between two video orientations: Landscape and Portrait. Here’s a look at the video specs for both.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended video dimensions 1280 x 720 for Landscape and Portrait.
• Minimum width is 1200 pixels (length depends on aspect ratio) for Landscape and Portrait.
• Landscape aspect ratio is 16:9.
• Portrait aspect ratio is 9:16 (if video includes link, aspect ratio is 16:9).
• Mobile renders both video types to aspect ratio 2:3.
• Max file size is 4GB (3 GB maximum in Sprout).
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length max is 240 minutes (45 minutes if uploading in Sprout).
• Video max frames 30fps.

360 Video

Facebook’s 360 Video allows users to get a complete 360-degree view by scrolling with a cursor on web, by touch or turning the device on mobile.

Video Guidelines

• The resolution and aspect ratio depends on the type of content:
  • Monoscopic: 5120 x 2560 maximum, aspect ratio 2:1
  • Stereoscopic: 5120 x 5120 maximum, aspect ratio 1:1
• Recommended max file size is 10GB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length maximum is 30 minutes.
• Recommended framerate is 30 fps.

Facebook Reels

The convenience of cross-posting your Instagram Reels to Facebook expands the viewership and reach of your videos. This format appears organically in feeds, but often gets “priority” on Facebook feeds.

• Recommended video formats are MP4 and MOV
• Allowed Frame Rate: 23 FPS minimum
• Allowed Duration: 4 seconds – 60 seconds
• Allowed File Size: No file size limit
• Resolution: 540 x 960 (540p) minimum (1080×1920 or greater recommended)
• Allowed Aspect Ratio: 9:16

Facebook Video Ad Specs

In-Feed Video Ads

These ads are the sponsored equivalent of in-feed posts and follow similar guidelines.

Video guidelines

• Recommended to upload the highest resolution video possible.
• Recommended resolution: 1080×1080.
• Recommended aspect ratio is between 9:16 to 16:9 (Horizontal: 16:9, Square: 1:1, Vertical: 4:5 or 2:3 and Full Portrait: 9:16).
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV (see full list here).
• Max video file size is 4GB.
• Video length max is 240 minutes.

Character limits

• Primary text: 125 characters.
• Link description: 30 characters.
• Headline: 40 characters.

There are more than 5 million advertisers now on Facebook and having the right specs for your ads can be tricky. Each type of Facebook video ad is different, so let’s go ahead and break down the specs for each type of video you can produce.

Carousel Video Ads

Facebook Carousel Video ads allow brands to showcase multiple videos (or images) and a link within a user’s Facebook feed. It has grown in popularity because its unique scrolling feature allows users to see more content before clicking a link. In fact, Digiday estimated Carousel Ads to be 10 times more effective than standard social media ads.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended video resolution 1080 x 1080.
• Aspect ratio is 1:1.
• Max video file size is 4 GB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video duration range is 1 second to 240 minutes.
• Video max frames 30fps.

Collection Video Ads (Mobile)

The Facebook Collection ads showcases multiple images and a main video above it. This is perfect for displaying multiple products (or various colors of a single product) and a video as well. The ad type has been popular so far with retailers and clothing companies.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended video resolution 1080×1080.
• Square aspect ratio is 1:1.
• Max video file size is 4GB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length max is 120 minutes.
• Video max frames 30 fps.

Character Limits

• Primary text: 125 characters.
• Headline max: 40 characters.
• Landing page URL required.

Instant Experience Video Ads

Facebook Instant Experience ads open up a full-screen experience after the first click, which can be further customized with a variety of interactive features. This can include multiple video experiences, including features to auto-play on loop.

Video Guidelines

• Minimum resolution: 720p
• Portrait aspect ratio of 9:16 with pillarboxing for all others uploaded.
• Max video file size is 4GB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Maximum length of all video content must be 2 minutes combined.
• Video max frames 30fps.

Slideshow Video Ad

Facebook’s Slideshow videos were built for advertisers wanting to reach audiences with slower internet connections. Instead of a regular video, slideshows are just that–a slideshow of images or video in an ad display.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended video resolution 1200 x 720.
• Aspect ratios available are landscape (16:9), vertical (4:5) and square (1:1)
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Slideshow duration max is 15 seconds.

Facebook Stories (Ads & Organic Posts)

Facebook has also added the Stories feature, disappearing short photo or video updates that are only available for 24 hours. In addition to user-generated organic posts, Stories ads that run in between sets of user stories are also available.  While most users will be sharing immediate & organic updates from their phone’s camera without worrying too much about their video specs, the guidelines for this format are similar for paid & organic posts.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended resolution 1080×1080
• Aspect ratios: 1.91 to 9:16, with colored gradient bars rendered above and below videos under 9:16. The text field will also be placed under below videos smaller than this aspect ratio.
• Max video file size is 4GB
• Duration is 1 second to 2 minutes
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.

Character Limits

• Primary text: 125 characters
• Headline: 40 characters

For more information on the video specs for Facebook, visit the Facebook Help Center.

Instagram Video Specs

Instagram launched video capabilities in 2013 and quickly saw enough success to start advertising on the platform in 2015. Since then, video only continues to grow as an engaging social format. So needless to say, Instagram videos are absolutely worth the investment.

In-Feed Video (Landscape, Square & Vertical)

Since 2015, Instagram crafted its videos formats to allow three different styles: landscape, square and vertical. The predominantly-mobile social network is perfect to share videos of any size organically to reach your audience.

Video Guidelines

• Minimum resolution for all formats is 1080 x 1080
• Recommended horizontal pixel resolution is 1920
• Multiple aspect ratios are supported: Landscape aspect ratio is 16:9, square aspect ratio is 1:1, vertical aspect ratio is 4:5.
• Max file size for all formats is 4GB (*100MB maximum for Sprout Direct Publishing and 512MB maximum for Sprout Mobile App Flow Publishing).
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length is 3 to 60 seconds.
• Recommended frame rate is 23 to 60 FPS.
• Recommended data rate/bitrate for posting through Sprout: 5 Mbps (megabits per second)

Character Limits

• Primary text recommendation: 125 characters.
• Maximum number of hashtags: 30

Instagram Reels

Introduced in 2020, Instagram Reels are another option for your video strategy on Instagram. These short-form, easily digestible videos are becoming the preferred type of content in Instagram feeds.

Fortunately for social content creators looking to easily generate a lot of content for Instagram, most of the video specs for Instagram Reels are fairly similar to other formats on the platform, with the main differences being the short length and the ease of editing in-app to add effects and sound.

As Instagram has started to add separate tabs for different content types, thumbnails will be cropped differently on each view. If the viewer is on the first tab that has all content types, the thumbnail will be cropped to the traditional square post size of 1:1–center your subjects and plan to avoid undesirable vertical cropping.

• Allowed file extensions: .MP4 or .MOV
• Allowed Frame Rate: 23-60 FPS
• Allowed Duration: 3 seconds – 15 minutes
• Allowed File Size: 4 GB max (1 GB or less in Sprout)
• Allowed horizontal pixels: 1920p
• Allowed maximum bitrate: 5Mbps
• Allowed aspect ratio: 0.01:1-10:1 (9:16 recommended)

Instagram Video Ad Specs

Instagram’s advertising revenue has significantly increased over the last year. In fact, Instagram predicts to earn $4 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2017 alone. The push for Instagram advertising is real and marketers have to be ready to take advantage with engaging videos.

In-Feed Video Ad (Landscape, Square & Vertical)

Much like the in-feed organic Instagram video options, the network provides similar options for advertising. These video ads appear nearly identical to organic posts to blend in with users’ feeds. In fact, the Instagram video specs are the same for organic and paid content.

Video Guidelines

• Same as In-Feed Video.

Video Character Guidelines (Mobile)

• Same as In-Feed Video.

Carousel Video Ad

Much like Facebook’s Carousel Ads, Instagram offers a similar feature. Carousel ads allow users to see more of a product or feature than a single image or video. With Instagram, your carousel video ads can have 2-10 cards with a full-width call to action below the ad.

Video Guidelines

• Minimum resolution is 600 x 600.
• Max resolution is 1080 x 1080.
• Aspect ratio is 1:1.
• Max file size is 4GB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Max video length is 60 seconds.
• Instagram allows 2-10 videos/cards per ad.

Instagram Stories (Ads & Organic Posts)

It didn’t take long for Instagram Stories to feature ads within users’ story feeds. Brands can seamlessly integrate their video content between other Instagram users. Much like Snapchat, it’s smart to make these videos more raw and in-the-moment to avoid drastically standing out as an ad, especially since users can immediately swipe to leave.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended resolution is 1080 x 1080.
• Aspect ratio is 9:16.
• Max file size is 4GB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length max is 2 minutes for ads and 15 seconds for organic. If you upload a longer video on organic, it will be clipped into multiple Stories slides.

If you’re looking for further information including images, check out our complete guide to all the Instagram ad sizes!

For more information on the video specs for Instagram, visit the Facebook Help Center.

TikTok Video Specs

TikTok has quickly gained attention in the social space, and some social marketers might be feeling caught off guard by the rush to understand what works and what doesn’t on the platform. Fortunately, TikTok’s focus on easy to create and share videos means it’s not hard to start producing video content for the platform, and there are plenty of trends to inspire TikTok content creation. Read on for the specs.

TikTok Organic Videos

TikTok videos are all about the ease of creation, editing and sharing, so it makes sense that specs are more or less oriented around typical mobile phone dimensions. One key trait to keep in mind if you’re trying to repurpose video content across platforms is that videos uploaded from another file source, rather than recorded on the app, can be longer than 60 seconds.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended resolution: 1080×1920
• Aspect ratio: 9:16 recommended to fill a standard mobile phone screen (1:1 with letterboxing)
• Length: 15 seconds recorded in-app, 60 seconds in-app (4 sections of 15 seconds), or over 60 seconds when uploaded from another source
• Maximum file size: 287.6MB
• Video formats: MP4 or MOV recommended

TikTok Feed Ads

TikTok ads are a rapidly evolving opportunity for brands. The in-feed option for paid TikTok content is fairly similar to the formatting for existing organic content. To fine-tune paid content for the best performance, be sure to consult TikTok’s business center for the latest tips.

Video Guidelines

• Resolutions must be at least: 540×960, 640×64 or 960×540
• Aspect ratio options: 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9
• Length: 5–60 seconds, but 9–15 seconds is recommended
• Maximum file size: 500MB
• Bitrate minimum: 516 kbps
• Ad description character limits: 1-1000 Latin characters or 1-50 Asian characters
• Video formats: .MP4, .MOV, .MPEG .3GP, .AVI

Twitter Video Specs

Twitter is a popular space to share and interact with different social media videos. For marketers, it’s all about keeping a user’s attention with enthralling and click-worthy video content. In the sports and entertainment industry, Twitter is often the go-to for sharing video content, so it’s critical to learn the correct Twitter video specs.

Twitter Landscape & Portrait Videos

Twitter provides two formats of in-feed video content to share with your followers: landscape and portrait. These specific formats are only available for uploading video directly to Twitter, rather than sharing YouTube or Vimeo links. Luckily, Twitter makes it easy to share organic content, but the dimensions do change as the video bitrate alters.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended resolutions are 1280×720 (landscape), 720×1280 (portrait), 720×720 (square).
• Aspect ratios recommended at 16:9 (landscape or portrait), 1:1 (square). 1:1 is recommended as the best route for rendering across devices with the best output.
• Max file size is 512MB.
• Recommended video formats are .MP4 for web and .MOV for mobile.
• Video length max is 140 seconds.
• Recommended frame rates are 30 or 60 fps.

Character Limits

• Maximum count: 280 characters.

Twitter Videos Ad Specs

Looking to promote your video through paid ads on Twitter? Luckily, you can use the same exact formats from Twitter organic videos. Stick to the same specs for both organic and paid video to ensure maximum visibility.

For more information on the video specs for Twitter, visit the Twitter Help Center.

Snapchat Video Specs

Snapchat is still an active network for younger generations to share video content. Whether it’s through FOMO-inducing disapppfilters, Snapchat is a hotbed for video sharing. And for your brand, it’s important to know the correct video dimensions for Snapchat.

Single video ad

This video format is the most common across the channel and is the main way users communicate back and forth through the app. However, your business can post videos to its story so others can see what your business is up to. Just follow these specs:

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimension is 1080 x 1920.
• Aspect ratio is 9:16.
• Max file size is 32MB.
• Accept video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length is between 3 and 10 seconds.

Long-Form Video Ad

Snapchat currently offers one main video format for ads, which is known as the long-form video. While there are partner opportunities to put video within Snapchat’s discovery option, most dimensions are the same, but require your business to reach out to the social network for more details on advertising. However, the Snapchat Long-Form Video Ad is what users see in between viewing users’ Stories.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimension is 1080 x 1920.
• Aspect ratio is 9:16 or 16:9.
• Max file size is 1GB.
• Accept video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video length is 3 to 180 seconds.

For more information on the video specs for Snapchat, visit the Snapchat Ads Help Center.

YouTube Video Specs

Known as the second-largest search engine behind Google, YouTube is an essential network for video content. For marketers, YouTube is a great space to promote, educate and share video content around your brand.

As YouTube continues to grow as a destination for video content, it hosts everything from short form promotional videos to full-length movies and TV. This means users are streaming content on all sorts of devices, which could have different levels of zoom or overscan.

While there’s no hard and fast rules from the platform on how to approach the video editing concept of ‘title safe’ areas where text like titles and subtitles aren’t cut off, you do want to avoid placing these types of visual elements right at the edges of your video area. Read on for more specifics on each format available on YouTube.

Video Player (Standard YouTube Video)

While YouTube allows users to upload various types of media formats and use plenty of different dimensions, organically, there’s truly only one format for the video player. Organic videos should all follow 16:9 ratio, but can be uploaded 4:3. However, the smaller ratio will automatically pillarbox the sides to still make it fit in the player. YouTube has seven recommended dimensions and ratios for standard YouTube videos:

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimensions: 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p).
• Aspect ratio is 16:9 (auto adds pillarboxing if 4:3).
• Max file size is 128GB or 12 hours, whichever is less.
• Accepted video formats include: .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.
• Video length max is 12 hours.

YouTube Video Ad Specs

Standard YouTube videos are pretty straightforward, but there are a few video ad formats to learn if you want to advertise on the network. According to data from Google, Brands advertising on YouTube often receive a 20% increase in traffic.

Skippable, Non-Skippable, Mid-roll & Bumper Video Ads

We’ve put these four YouTube video ads specs together because in the end, they all play through the standard YouTube video player. That means all of these ad types follow the same dimensions as the non-ad videos, but only differ in video length. Let’s look at each ad type:

• Skippable Video Ad: This YouTube ad type is played before, during or after the content and becomes skippable after 5 seconds. This ad format is the only one allowing advertisers to monetize views from any viewing device.
• Non-Skippable Video Ad: This YouTube ad type is played before the content and users must watch the full 15 seconds (can also be added during or after video). However, views from TVs or game consoles don’t count toward a monetizable view.
• Mid-roll Video Ad: This YouTube ad type is played mid-view (like TV commercials) and is only available for content longer than 8 minutes. Ads are added either manually or automatically and again, views from TV or game consoles don’t count toward a monetizable view. Mid-rolls can be skippable, but users must watch 30 seconds or entire ad (whichever is shorter).
• Bumper Video Ads: This YouTube ad type is played before the content.It’s a small 6-second video ad that cannot be skipped, which is usually optimized for mobile views.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimensions: 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p),1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p).
• Minimum dimension is 426 x 240.
• Max dimension is 3840 x 2160.
• Aspect ratio is 16:9 (auto adds pillarboxing if 4:3).
• Max file size is 128GB or 12 hours, whichever is less.
• Accepted video formats include: .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.
• Skippable video length max is 6 minutes (skippable after 5 seconds).
• Non-skippable video length max is 15 or 20 seconds (30 seconds in some regions).
• Mid-roll video length minimum is 30 seconds.
• Bumper video length max is 6 seconds.

Display Ad

YouTube display ads are shown in users’ search queries and sometimes appear in the right video column when watching a video. These ads are static, which means they don’t automatically play. However, once the video is clicked, the type of content displayed can simply follow the standard video player guidelines mentioned above.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimensions for the static image is 300 x 250 for the larger side view or 300 x 60 for the smaller side view.
• Actual recommended video dimensions are: 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p),1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p).
• Aspect ratio is 16:9 (auto adds pillarboxing if 4:3)
• Max file size is 128GB or 12 hours, whichever is less.
• Accepted video formats include: .MOV, .MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.

For more information on the video specs for YouTube, visit the Google Help Center.

YouTube Shorts

Introduced late 2020, YouTube Shorts have recently made its debut as another short-form video feature. These videos are a new way to watch, create and discover short-form content. Shorts can be captured and edited from a smartphone or uploaded through the standard upload workflow from desktop or mobile. Because people are watching more short-form videos globally, using Shorts is a new way to reach wider audiences to entertain, education or make them feel good.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimensions: 240×426 (240p), 360×640 (360p), 480×854 (480p), 720×1280 (720p), 1080×1920 (1080p), 1440×2560 (1440p), and 2160×3840 (2160p),
• Aspect ratio is 9:16.
• Video length is 60 seconds max.
• Accepted video formats include: .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.
• Music from the YouTube music library is limited to 15 seconds.
• Title character limit: 100 characters max.

For more information on the video specs for YouTube, visit the Google Help Center.

LinkedIn Video Specs

Even though LinkedIn is still in the early stages of video content adoption, the network is still a go-to source for sharing. In fact, nearly 75% of business executives say they watch online videos every week. With that number only likely to grow, it’s safe to say LinkedIn will continue to put video content at its forefront.

Shared Video

The only video format you can upload is through a shared video. While there are options to share YouTube links in shared posts and in LinkedIn Pulse articles, there’s still just one way to upload your own video.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio is 1:2.4 to 2.4:1.
• Max file size is 5GB.
• Accepted video formats are .ASF, .AVI, .FLV, .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-4, .MP4, .MKV, and .WebM.
• Video length minimum is 3 seconds, max is 10 minutes.
• Video max frames 60fps.

For more information on the video specs for LinkedIn, visit the LinkedIn Help Center.

Video Ads

As of 2018, LinkedIn now offers video ads. The requirements are a little bit different than shared video, so be sure to consider them when developing ads for your paid campaign.

Video Guidelines

• Required dimensions are:
  • Landscape video: Minimum: 640 x 360, maximum: 1920 x 1080.
  • Square video: Minimum: 360 x 360, maximum: 1920 x 1920.
  • Vertical video: Minimum: 360 x 640, maximum: 1080 x 1920.
• Aspect ratios are:
  • Landscape: 16:9
  • Square: 1:1
  • Vertical: 9:16
• Maximum file size is 200 MB
• The accepted video format is .MP4
• Video length max is 30 minutes, although LinkedIn’s guidelines state most ads perform best at around 15 seconds
• Frame rate must be less than 30fps.

For more information on the video specs for LinkedIn ads, visit LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help.

Pinterest Promoted Video Specs

Pinterest allows video upload for business accounts only, so they have specs designed for brands to get the most out of the highly visual and inspirational lifestyle content frequently shared on the platform.

Shared Video

In addition to ads, business accounts can upload organic video content. There are two formats: standard and max width video.

Video Guidelines

• Standard video recommended aspect ratio: 1:1 (square) or 2:3, 4:5 or 9:16 (vertical)
• Max width video required aspect ratio: 1:1 (square) or 16.9 (widescreen)
• Max file size is 2GB.
• Acceptable video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• Video duration is 4 seconds to 15 minutes (for ads, the platform notes that 6-15 seconds are optimal).

Character Limits

• Title: Up to 100 characters.
• Description: Up to 500 characters.

Promoted Pinterest Video

There are two formats for Pinterest Promoted Video: standard and max width. Both versions have the same specs as the options for organic uploads. These video ads appear in users’ boards, but advertisers can select the style in the ads manager.

Video Guidelines

• Same as shared video

The post Always Up-to-Date Guide to Social Media Video Specs appeared first on Sprout Social.

As more brands understand the impact social media can have on business outcomes, agencies need to reevaluate how they work with clients.

To understand how agencies are adapting to the changing digital landscape, we surveyed 228 agencies about their service offerings, client pricing and packaging and how they’re planning to build agency resilience in 2023 and beyond.

What you’ll find in this report:

• The most common agency pain points
• The evolution of agency service offerings
• Agencies’ approach to pitching and packing services
• Where to focus during times of economic uncertainty

Download this report to learn how to effectively price and package your agency service offering.

The post The Agency Pricing and Packaging Report appeared first on Sprout Social.

Being one of the first things a user sees when viewing your social profile, a social media bio is crucial for helping your audience understand your brand’s voice.

Alfred Nobel, the renowned Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite and patron of the Nobel Prize, once said “For me, writing biographies is impossible, unless they are brief and concise, and these are, I feel, the most eloquent.” While he died before the turn of the 20th century (so the timing’s a little off), he could have easily been describing the perfect social media bio.

There’s an art and science to crafting a perfect, brief statement that is descriptive and compelling at the same time.

In this article, we’ll explain how to write an effective social media bio by sharing best practices and examples from each of the most popular networks to help you really nail it.

Table of contents

• Why you need a good social media bio
• Social media bio basics: What goes into a bio?
• Social media bio examples to inspire you
• Pick your platforms, then optimize your social media bios

Why you need a good social media bio

Your profile bio is prime real estate for building credibility and optimizing your searchability across platforms. It can be tricky to convey your brand’s personality and communicate a clear reason for people to follow or buy from you in an extremely limited character count. That’s why learning how to write a social media bio effectively and efficiently is important.

When people first run across your brand, your social media presence is likely one of the first things they’ll check out. And when they pull up your profile, they’ll likely see your bio first. From there, they’re either going to decide they like what they see or exit stage left.

If you get it right, your social media bios can benefit you in a variety of ways, such as:

• Help create trust and customer loyalty
• Make your brand easier to find (via search)
• Grow your audience
• Drive more traffic to your website

Social media bio basics: What goes into a bio?

While each social media platform has its own set of rules, there are a handful of universal guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to social media bios.

In each one, you should include information that explains:

• Who you are
• The services or products you provide
• Your brand’s personality or vibe
• Where you’re located (if you have a physical location)
• The industry or niche in which you operate
• Links to your website (at minimum) and any other relevant online real estate
• A clear call to action (CTA) that helps visitors decide what to do next
• Keywords that help people find your brand via search

Also, don’t forget about your profile and header images. No one wants to see a gray avatar or a default graphic staring back at them. Be sure to use this valuable space to reinforce your brand visuals and messaging!

Social media bio examples to inspire you

Now that we’ve covered the basics, we’ll break down the specifics for each platform, provide some templates to use and share real-life examples to inspire you.

Facebook

Facebook’s profile for business pages is a bit unique because its bio information is split up into different sections. The About section gives you limited space to briefly introduce your brand while the Additional Information section offers quite a bit more room to expand. There’s also separate fields to list out your website and contact information.

Character limit: 255 in the About section; 50,000 in the Additional Information section.

What to include:

• Profile and header images
• About section statement
• Details about your brand
• Website link
• Service area (if you have physical location/s)
• Other social media links
• Customer reviews (if applicable/available)
• Hours
• Prices
• Services
• Contact information

Template 1:

• About: Use your company’s mission, vision, tagline, positioning statement, etc.
• Additional Information: Tell your brand story or company history.

Ben and Jerry’s Facebook profile is a good example of this template.

Template 2:

• About: Use a simple “we help” statement: We help _____ do _____ by _____.
• Additional Information: Speak to your ideal customer’s pain points and illustrate clearly how you can help them overcome those challenges.

Jennifer Garner’s company, Once Upon a Farm, does a good job of using this template.

Template 3:

• About: Outline your differentiators. What makes you stand out?
• Additional Information: Help people get where you want them to go by offering several different calls to action with links.

To see this template in action, check out Encircled Clothing.

Instagram

Instagram’s bio for businesses is an important part of a strong social strategy. While the character count is quite limited, there are a lot of details you’ll want to make sure you share with your followers. Apart from your profile and header images, also remember that your story highlights are one of the first things new visitors will look at when they get to your profile.

Character limit: 150

What to include:

• Social proof
• Links using a link in bio tool
• Hashtags and keywords
• Emojis
• Links to other Instagram accounts, if applicable (e.g. founder’s personal account, related brands, specific programs, distributors/sellers, etc.)

Template 1:

• Share your unique selling proposition (USP).
• Offer a few branded hashtags.
• Give an incentive for clicking your link.

Zoya Nail Polish does a bang up job of using this template for their Instagram bio.

Template 2:

• Give people a way to get in touch.
• Craft a “we help” statement (see above).
• Use your link in bio page.

This template’s on display in Hello Seven’s bio.

Template 3:

• Use emoji bullets to feature keywords and explain what you do.
• Link to other relevant accounts.
• Offer a clear CTA with link.

Graydon Skincare does an admirable job of employing this template in their bio.

TikTok

TikTok offers, by far, the least amount of space to craft your perfect bio. You’ll need to really “kill your darlings” to fit the parameters for this platform. Strip it down to the bare bones and focus on the information that will really help people know, like and trust you.

Character limit: 80

What to include:

• Keywords that relate to your industry/niche or what you do
• Keywords that describe your primary content topics
• Call to action
• Location, if applicable
• Contact information
• Website or link in bio page
• Emojis, as relevant

Template 1:

• State your mission.
• Throw in a fun emoji for good measure.

Barkbox takes advantage of this straightforward template.

Template 2:

• Explain what you sell.
• And explain who it’s for.
• Link to your website.

Owala’s TikTok profile delivers a solid example of this template in use.

Template 3:

• Outline how you help people.
• Use a branded hashtag.
• Maybe throw in a unicorn emoji, if it makes sense. 🦄

Check out Asana’s TikTok profile to get a look at this template in action.

<h3id=”#tw”>Twitter

Your Twitter bio is an opportunity to engage with your followers and ensure that anyone new to your sphere of influence understands exactly who you are and what you do. Keep it brief, but make it impactful.

Character limit: 160

What to include:

• Keywords
• Hashtags, sparingly
• Your brand personality
• Links to other Twitter accounts, if applicable
• Emojis, within reason
• Call to action

Template 1:

• Make a joke or pun related to your brand.
• Link to another Twitter account.

Target’s Twitter bio uses this template well.

Template 2:

• Explain what you offer using keywords.
• Include a branded hashtag.
• Round it off with a couple of relevant emojis.

Jump over to Zenni’s Twitter account to get a glimpse of this template at work.

Template 3:

• Share your tagline and include keywords.
• Give a clear CTA.

West Elm leverages this template on their Twitter account.

LinkedIn

It’s time to go buck wild. LinkedIn has a comparatively laissez faire attitude when it comes to the character limit for your profile’s About section. It can be tempting to fill all this space, but note that it’s unnecessary to do so if you can communicate the brand’s major points in fewer characters.

Since LinkedIn is also a common resource for job hunters, consider going beyond your customer base and include some information for prospective employees. Keep in mind that links don’t work in your description section, but you can add a link in a different field.

Character limit: For a personal profile, the Summary section allows 2,600 characters; for a company page, you get 2,000 characters for the Description section.

What to include:

• Your accomplishments
• Brand history or brand story
• What you do
• Your location, if applicable
• Employer information like values, perks and company culture details

Template 1:

• Detail your company history.
• Give relevant statistics and details about the organization.
• Explain why people might want to work for your company.
• Share your accomplishments.

Check out Navy Federal Credit Union’s LinkedIn company page for an example.

Template 2:

• Detail what makes your company unique.
• List out your accolades.
• Publicize open positions.

If you want to get a feel for this template, take a look at Maven Clinic’s company page.

Template 3:

• Outline who you are and what you do.
• Explain your unique point of view on your industry or niche.
• Give an overview of where you operate and how people can find you.
• Highlight the skill sets and personality traits you look for in your team members.

Briogeo Hair Care does a great job of putting this template to work on their page.

Pinterest

Perhaps the most visually-focused platform on this list (with the possible exception of Instagram or YouTube), the words you share about your brand here are less important than the graphics and imagery that go with them. Keep your copy short and focused on keywords that will help people find you via the platform’s powerful search functionality.

Character limit: 160

What to include:

• Keywords
• Who you are
• What you do
• Who you do it for

Template 1:

• Explain what can people expect from you.
• Give categories and keywords to help people know if they’re in the right place.

On Pinterest, Jen Wagner Co. has this template locked down.

Template 2:

• Offer a witty remark that relates to your brand.
• Tell people what kind of content to expect.

Looking for inspiration for this template. Try Madewell.

Template 3:

• Explain your value proposition or why people should buy from you.
• List what you offer or what you sell.
• Integrate keywords throughout.

Clare’s profile offers an example of what this template could look like.

YouTube

Another social platform that doubles as an effective search engine, YouTube, is where many people go when looking for answers. That’s why you want to ensure your channel is optimized to be found if people need what you offer.

Character limit: 100

What to include:

• Keywords
• What you do or offer
• Links to your website or other social media accounts
• Call to action

Template 1:

• Cover what you do, using relevant keywords.
• Offer social proof.

Sunny Lenarduzzi leverages this template on her channel.

Template 2:

• Explain the kind of content people can expect from your channel.
• Give a clear CTA (subscribe, etc.).
• Outline your channel’s policies and guidelines.

Check out Yeti’s channel for an example of this template in action.

Template 3:

• Detail who your people are (i.e., who do you work with?).
• Brag on yourself a little.
• Give some relevant stats.
• Bring it home with a blurb about what you do.

Stitcher uses a similar template on their channel.

Pick your platforms, then optimize your social media bios

Optimizing the bios on your current social platforms is always going to be a good idea. It’s valuable real estate, and you’re wasting it if you haven’t spent some time intentionally filling that space.

We covered a lot of platforms here, and your brand might engage with all of them or only some. As you think about your perfect bio, now is the time to take a pause and complete this quiz to identify which platforms you should focus on and find your ideal social media content mix.

The post How to write an engaging social media bio for your brand appeared first on Sprout Social.

That’s because so much political discourse happens on platforms like Twitter. Over half of the US consumes political news via social.

Debates. Fundraising and fact-checking. News and results.

With social media serving as the modern-day public forum, all of the above are just a tap away for voters.

That’s why the stakes are high for candidates on social media. Rather than wait for stories to publish, politicians can break their own news in real time.

The challenge? Navigating social media and politics is tricky if you’re responsible for managing a public account. Below we break down how candidates can step up their social game.

How social media has transformed political campaigns

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of our tips, let’s address a bigger question:

Why is social media such a staple of politics in the first place?

Social media might not be new to the public at large. However, incorporating social media in political campaigns didn’t see significance until the 2008 United States presidential elections with then- candidate Barack Obama. With the power of social networking, political candidates reach wider audiences than traditional media and in real time.

As a result, a lot has changed in social media and politics since the 2020 US presidential election. Let’s look at the specifics below.

More people get their news from social platforms

There’s no shortage of news sources sending stories directly to our smartphones.

According to 2022 data from Pew, the top social networks for news are Twitter (53%), Facebook (44%) and Reddit (37%). Surprisingly, TikTok (33%) isn’t too far behind these sources.

Transparency and trust versus mainstream media

Data from Gallup says 36% of citizens in the US have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in mainstream news sources. This includes cable news and print media. Only 11% of self-described Republicans (and 31% of independents) claim to trust the media.

To say that citizens have trust issues when it comes to traditional media would be an understatement.

Social media is also blurring the lines of what’s considered a “trustworthy” new source. Pew data says that adults under 30 trust news from social media about as much as traditional outlets.

Social media is far from a perfect news source.

Still, the benefit of real-time fact-checking is a big plus for social-savvy consumers. Social platforms also provide politicians with a direct line to the public.

That means the value of social media transparency carries over to candidates. After all, they’re able to speak to voters in their own words and on their own terms.

Consider also the massive reach of social media versus mainstream sources. With shrinking TV audiences, social is the biggest show in town for politicians.

More opportunities for fundraising

The explosion of political advertising on social media since 2020 is well-documented.

But the degree to which campaigns are spending now is truly night and day.
Facebook remains a massive force for fundraising and political ads. The Facebook Ad Library lets anyone see to see how much any given campaign is spending. And it’s a lot.

In fact, $3.6 billion has been spent on political and social issue ads since May 2018.

Consider that the top Senate fundraisers also have engaged and active social teams.

As a result, those candidates can translate their presence into serious campaign cash.

10 tips for running a political campaign on social media

Below we’ve broken down key best practices of social media for political campaigns. From figuring out your content strategy to dealing with trolls, we’ve got you covered.

1. Engage the public via live content

Traditional newscasts aren’t going anywhere quite yet.

That said, social media video lets politicians broadcast their own news and chat with constituents.

For example, many politicians regularly stream on Facebook and Instagram. Rather than just talk at voters, live video encourages meaningful and personable dialogue.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s IG Live streams rack up massive engagement. For reference, this June 2022 IG Live on the state of Roe v. Wade earned over a million views:

Social video is powerful for politicians addressing local issues not covered by bigger outlets. This includes local ordinances and disaster relief.

2. Fact-check your content prior to publishing

Social media represents a massive news source for voters. Still, unchecked platforms can be a breeding ground for misinformation.

MIT research says that falsehoods are 70% more likely to be Retweeted than the truth. A staggering 38% of people have admitted to accidentally sharing misinformation themselves.

Yikes.

Walking back comments because you didn’t take the time to fact-check them is a bad look. Also, False claims and misinformation are difficult to contain once they’ve been made.

Our advice? Make sure to put together some sort of approval process for your account. Always double-check your sources and wording before making claims that could be twisted.

If you use a platform like Sprout, take advantage of publishing features to keep the above in check.

Social media and politics aren’t a free-for-all. For example, did you know that Presidential Tweets are considered public record? There are real-world consequences that go along with a politician’s social presence.

3. Don’t count out “younger” social media platforms

Twitter and Facebook are the go-to platforms for political accounts.

And based on social media demographics and how age groups vote, this makes perfect sense.

Of course, don’t count out Millennials and Gen Z. Both represent growing voter bases interested in activism. As a result, we’re seeing more politicians investing in Instagram and TikTok.

The fact that 33% of citizens consume news and political content on TikTok is also telling. Notably, Tim Ryan has managed to earn 33,000+ followers with his self-aware TikTok presence. Meanwhile, President Biden is inviting influencers to the White House in a push to reach younger voters.

There is no “single” platform when it comes to social media and politics. Demographics matter and the largest voting blocs are active on Facebook and Twitter.

4. Put your fundraising efforts front-and-center

Running an effective social media political campaign is about much more than “Likes.”

We won’t get into the anatomy of a perfect political ad on Facebook. Just note that fundraising is central to social media and politics.

Beyond running Facebook ads, requesting donations via secure links is likewise fair game. Many candidates put donation links in their social bios or as a dedicated “pinned” post.

Of course, don’t use social media as a place to spam donation messages. Instead, weave them into your content strategy as needed alongside your updates.

5. Learn how to deal with trolls

It’s common to deal with burnout as a social media manager.

And if you’re managing social media for political campaigns, you know this all too well.

Trolling and harassment. Comment spam. Mass reporting.

Unfortunately, this all comes with the territory of social media and politics.

Beyond developing a thick skin,  the best advice we can offer is to not feed the trolls. Try to emphasize a sense of community in the comments and don’t encourage needless fighting.

Just keep in mind that public officials can’t block people on Facebook. There’s plenty of debate over whether or not doing so is legal or ethical as social media is seen as a public forum.

Leave it to supporters and community members to report inappropriate posts. Try to push more intense disagreements into your DMs when appropriate. Whatever you do, be civil.

6. Recognize that not everybody is interested in politics

Comparing social media and politics to that of a business or brand is apples and oranges.

Sure, your goal is to grow your follower account and increase the exposure of your campaign.

But as noted in our guide to social media and government, political accounts are seen as the most “annoying” by the public at large.

Some people go out of their way to block and avoid political discussions via social media. The “Muted words” function on Twitter is handy for this.

Attracting followers and support might seem like an uphill battle at times. Focus on your goals and engage with accounts relevant to your cause.

7. Consistently ask (and answer) questions

Asking questions is a proven way to boost engagement on social media.

Q&As are the bread and butter of political accounts. Posing topical questions to your follower is a simple way to encourage a bit of back-and-forth. Likewise, it’s a way to show that you’re willing to listen to your constituents.

Using Instagram Stories, you can vet questions privately and post answers to followers publicly. Make a point to respond to comments when appropriate. This allows you to publish more thoughtful responses. Publishing Stories as highlights also gives voters something to reference in the future.

8. Earn engagement with visual content versus just text-based posts

Visual content such as videos and infographics are among the most-shared social posts. This rings true across pretty much every platform.

If you’re making an important announcement, consider how you can put together a visual to match up with it. Infographics are particularly popular among politicians.

Bite-sized videos also have viral potential, especially on Twitter or TikTok. For reference, Katie Porter’s short-form videos regularly pop off and earn huge engagement.

Don’t worry about investing a ton of time and energy into editing if you’re looking to get on board with video, by the way. Off-the-cuff cell phone footage has become a staple of political social media, too.

9. Find time for positive, non-partisan posts

It’s no secret that tensions are high among parties. Data says political polarization is reaching a fever pitch.

Not everything has to be partisan, though. Note what we said earlier about the fact that not everyone wants to hear about politics. This might also be the case for people that do follow you.

A positive story “just because” can be a much-needed break from fierce debates. Consider some types of content for followers regardless of party affiliation. Uplifting and local stories are always a plus.

Younger, social-savvy politicians likewise can capitalize on memes and humor to boost their posts.

10. Make a point to post consistently

With so many political campaign strategies made possible by social media, there’s a lot of content to juggle.

Donation requests. Upcoming events and elections. Legislation updates.

And that doesn’t even include real-time news that happens from day to day.

Given how quickly the world of politics evolves, it’s important to have your most important updates and content organized and queued up. By reviewing the best times and how often to post on social media, you can maximize your account’s reach and get in front of more voters on the regular.

That’s where Sprout Social’s publishing tools can come in handy. Allowing you to schedule and publish content across multiple platforms, you don’t have to second-guess if a crucial update was sent out to voters.

Ready to take on the world of social media and politics?

There’s a lot that goes into any social media political campaign.

Understanding what to post and how to wrangle your responses will empower you to build support and a sense of community. Doing so matters for politicians.

And if you want help with doing exactly that, we encourage you to check out our social media marketing strategy guide. Given how busy political accounts are, having more help is always a bonus!

The post Social media and politics: why it matters + 10 tips for campaigns appeared first on Sprout Social.

Retail, food, entertainment and real estate are just a few industries that can benefit from having a social media presence. Brands are leveraging social media to support their lead generation and business goals, but the beauty of social media is that it encompasses several purposes.

Here are 11 social media management benefits that often fly under the radar for modern businesses.

1. Uncover industry trends in real-time

Social media is a goldmine of business intelligence. Think about the transparent nature of it. We’re able to see unfiltered, real-time conversations between consumers and brands alike. If you want to know what a brand is doing well or what customers are complaining about, it’s out there in the open.

Also, your target audience’s social activity and shared content can clue you in on industry trends. For example, Instagram hashtags such as #summerootd can highlight everything from relevant influencers and content creators to fashion trends.

You can also use social listening to tap into those trends via social conversations.

For example, Sprout has a trend reporting feature that enables you to hone in on what customers are saying about your brand. You can track key terms and hashtags associated with your business, but these mentions and hashtags represent more than online chatter.

For example, social conversations can reveal everything from customer favorites to areas where your company is falling short. A flurry of praise or customer complaints can spur you to take action based on follower feedback. In turn, brands can come up with real-time solutions and products that their customers will buzz about.

2. Comprehensive competitive analysis

Perhaps one of the most valuable social media business benefits is the ability to study your competitors. You can use competitor analysis tools to help you understand your competition.

What are they currently promoting? What sort of ads are they running? How is your content strategy different from theirs?

By conducting social competitive analysis, you can uncover opportunities to experiment with your own content or advertising.

For example, maybe you notice that your competitors are crushing it with Facebook Ads but their Instagram presence is lacking. In turn, you might explore influencer marketing or user-generated content campaigns for the sake of standing out from the crowd.

You can look at your competitors’ social performance in a cinch with Sprout’s tools. Our competitor and sentiment analysis reports allow you to monitor growth and engagement to ensure that you aren’t falling behind.

Through this analysis, you can also discover which pieces of your own content are earning the most engagement. Understanding your top-performing content is key to understanding how to break through the noise in your industry.

3. Provide better customer service

Whether it’s listening to feedback or addressing specific concerns, social media gives you the ability to provide quick, quality customer care. According to the Sprout Social Index™, 53% of brands say customer service contributes to the organization’s social strategy.

Unlike phone calls or emails, social customer service is quick and to-the-point. But it still allows brands to have meaningful, forward-facing conversations with customers.

Prospects, customers and competitors alike can see how you interact with your audience online. Putting positive interactions front-and-center is a huge plus for any business.

Social media also provides a prime channel to gather customer feedback. Responding to questions and concerns signals that you’re invested in serving your audience.

But how do you know if you’re truly making an impact on your customers? Sprout can help you measure the quality and success of your social customer care. Our suite of Social Listening tools includes sentiment tracking to monitor your brand health based on positive or negative social mentions. An influx of complaints or questions could signal big-picture problems with your customer success strategy. On the opposite side, a flurry of positive sentiment could indicate your brand is meeting or exceeding expectations.

Monitoring sentiment can also give you insight into what your audience enjoys seeing, which leads us to our next social media benefit for businesses: creating customer content.

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4. Curate customer content and stories in a snap

The ability to quickly share customer content and stories is another great social media business benefit. Customer photos and success stories go hand-in-hand with higher engagement and conversion rates.

For example, monitoring your mentions and tags can help you uncover positive customer interactions that you can share with the rest of your followers. Many brands and retailers even curate customer photos to use throughout their marketing campaigns.

This is why having a branded hashtag is so important. By encouraging your customers to tag their content, you can uncover shareable posts that your followers will love while also making a connection with your customers.

For example, the fashion brand Pretty Little Thing is known for embracing user generated content and has a branded hashtag customers can use. They encourage customers to post their outfits and tag the brand for a chance to be featured on Pretty Little Thing’s page and/or Instagram Story.

Social proof in the form of customer content not only shows that you have satisfied customers, but also provides your brand with a sense of authenticity.

5. Positioning power for your brand

Simply having an active presence on a social channel represents positioning power for your business. Let’s say your closest competitor has an Instagram account that’s booming with customer photos, Stories and sleek snapshots showing off their product.

On the flip side, you have an Instagram profile that’s gathering cobwebs. Not a good look, right?

Consistently publishing on channels relevant to your business signals that you’re active and open to new customers.

You can also have positioning power of social media in search engines when someone looks up your brand. Your Facebook or Instagram could very well be your business’ first impression on a customer versus your website. This again speaks to the importance of maintaining an active presence.

6. Build backlinks and a better search engine presence

The impact of social media on search engine optimization (SEO) has been debated for years.

That said, the relatively recent concept of linkless backlinks signals that there is a correlation between social media and search performance.

Shares and click-throughs via social represent positive search signals to Google, making social a sizable traffic source. You can track your social traffic with tools like Google Analytics.

Don’t neglect social media as a content distribution channel. A popular piece of content scores hundreds of likes and shares can drive serious referral traffic to your site. Plus a piece of content that ranks high on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) can bring in traffic too. You can optimize your social scheduling with Sprout’s patented ViralPost technology that ensures you’re utilizing optimal send times.

7. Appeal to younger, social-savvy customers

To say that social media has transformed the traditional advertising landscape would be an understatement. Social media is an advertising channel capable of reaching customers of all ages. According to social media demographics, the vast majority of users on Instagram are under the age of 30.

Younger audiences like Gen Z are shaking up marketing by responding less and less to traditional advertising. Younger customers are growing up with social media and making the rules for their online experience on their own terms. Brands will need to adapt beyond in-your-face commercials and ads.

As younger consumers hop from platform to platform, brands should expect to experiment with new ad channels. For example, many major companies have joined the metaverse, hosting brand activations to connect with their audience in an innovative way.

Also, the popularity of user generated content, influencers and content creators highlights the authentic, experience-focused advertising that appeals to younger consumers—which leads us to our next social media benefit: it humanizes your brand.

8. Humanize your brand

According to the Sprout Social Index™, consumers are seeking authenticity when it comes to brands’ social media content. Businesses today want to show off their personality. Many brands have benefited from dropping the hyper-professional “suit and tie” vibe in lieu of getting personal with customers on social media.

Social media is all about connection, offering brands a unique opportunity to display their human side from their employees to their values.

Chubbies is a great example of a brand with a humorous, meme-heavy social presence. Although this sort of approach to social isn’t for every brand, Chubbies understands their target audience, which helps them drive and maintain engagement.

According to Index data, company alignment with personal values is 74% more important to consumers than it was in 2021, so brands can benefit from showcasing their values through philanthropy and activism.

We’re in an age where half of consumers want to see brands take a stand on social and political issues. Brands like Patagonia do a brilliant job of highlighting their human side.

Although the clothing brand has a history of activism, founder Yvon Chouinard recently relinquished ownership of the company in an effort to support environmentalism. 

Simply showing off your colleagues and coworkers is another easy way to put a face to your brand, much like Sprout does with our #TeamSprout series.

9. More top-of-funnel leads

Securing more top-of-funnel leads is another key social media business benefit. Billions of people are active on social media daily and there’s a large chance your audience is already online. Whether through paid ads or content promotion, you can reel in more top-of-funnel leads by raising awareness for your brand.

Having a social presence introduces people to what you’re selling and represents another way to score more sales. Even if these leads don’t make purchases directly through social, raising awareness could lead them to becoming full-fledged buyers later on. After all, they can’t buy until they know your brand exists.

10. Stronger talent acquisition

More than half of marketers say finding experienced talent is their number one challenge this year, but social recruiting can make it easier.

Applicants are using social to network and conduct research on companies. Many candidates also follow brands to stay on top of potential job opportunities.

Leveraging social media platforms allows for stronger talent acquisition because it widens your sphere of applicants. Employee advocacy can make your company even more attractive to candidates.

When current employees rave about your company on networks like LinkedIn, it strengthens your brand’s reputation. When a company publishes a “we’re hiring” post on social media, many candidates use social to research the brand’s culture, values, etc.

11. Extend your media and investor relations efforts

Social media has transformed so many industries, and communications professionals are familiar with the impact of these online spaces. Brands aren’t limited to traditional mediums like radio and print newspapers—you can use social media to supercharge your media relations and investor relations strategies.

Journalists use networks like Twitter for finding sources and potential stories, so meet them where they are. Follow and engage with journalists who report for your publications of interest to build rapport. Then when the opportunity arises, you can pitch to them.

Along with connecting with journalists and publications, you can bolster company announcements and accomplishments through social posts to catch the eye of investors. Similar to job candidates and reporters, investors use social media to learn about brands.

Disadvantages of social media

Okay, maybe we’re a bit biased when it comes to talking up the benefits of social media. But, it would be remiss of us to not discuss the disadvantages of social media management, so here are a few to consider:

Time-Consuming

Social media often gets a bad rap for being a time sink (many of us are guilty of scrolling for hours on end). Similarly, it can take some time to reap the benefits of social media management.

For example, measuring your ROI from social media can be difficult versus more straightforward marketing channels (think: PPC, email marketing, etc).

Although using social media for marketing, media or investor strategies is a long-game, it’s well worth the wait.

Reputation Management

The beauty of social media is the ability to reach and communicate with a plethora of people online, but it can transform into a disadvantage if you’re not careful. Brands need to practice reputation management to please their customers online and in real-life.

One well-intentioned post can quickly lead to a brand crisis in a matter of seconds. This is why mastering the pillars of brand reputation management is so important.

What are the biggest benefits of social media for your business?

A social media presence has become an expectation for brands rather than an exception to the rule. And we totally agree that businesses shouldn’t latch onto social media “just because.”

Instead, businesses should assess the potential benefits of social media themselves based on specific, actionable goals. Although the impact of the benefits above varies from brand to brand, there’s no denying the business implications of having a social presence.

To fully understand the opportunities of social, sign up for a one-month trial.

The post 11 overlooked social media benefits for business appeared first on Sprout Social.

Traditionally associated with gamers, the platform has gone mainstream.

Today the seven year-old company has grown to more than 300 million registered users.

This adoption of Discord is part of a much broader trend. Gen Z, in particular, is opting to spend time in smaller, private online communities.

According to the Harvard Business Review, “…even before Covid-19, Gen Z was eschewing traditional social media for ‘digital campfires,’ more intimate online destinations where they private message or connect either in micro-communities or larger shared experiences.”

Marketers, creators and community builders looking to future proof themselves should take a moment to reflect—are you part of that “digital campfire?”

The answer is likely…no.

So, how do you get started and what role should Discord serve in your audience engagement strategy?

What is Discord and what role does it play?

Discord is not a traditional social media platform. It’s not a place for organic growth and awareness. Instead, it is a community platform.

A Discord server is a hub. Its driving purpose is to deepen relationships with existing, hard core fans and evangelists.

This distinction is critical.

Brands on Discord should focus on two things. First, providing experiences that are unique and cannot be replicated elsewhere. Second, should be facilitating connections and conversations amongst community members.

It’s this deeper sense of community that has brands such StockX, Skittles and Chipotle flocking to the platform. The CMO of StockX, Deena Bahri, explained in Adweek, “The customer is looking for more—more engagement, more dialogue, more input—and Discord is one of the platforms offering that.”

The most active Discord servers have chats occurring across multiple channels 24/7. The pace at which conversations occur within Discord tend to be much quicker than other platforms.

Users participate in chats, have video and/or audio calls, screen share and send direct messages to one another. Topics within a Discord server are organized around “channels,” which ensures conversations are focused and easy to navigate.

All this to say, setting up a Discord community may require more attention and investment to reach fewer people. However, there’s a tradeoff. Those people and that community (when cultivated carefully) will build a deeper relationship with your company. Discord allows for a two-way conversation between the brand and its community, making them feel like they are part of the organization—not just end customers.

How do you set up a Discord server?

To start a new Discord server, click the plus sign below the server icons on the left side of the screen.

From there you can create a server from scratch or choose a template.

The templates give you a list of channels to start with that you can edit if you want.

Once you’ve selected your template (or lack thereof) you’ll be prompted to select your server name and upload an icon.

Congrats. Now you have a Discord server.

After you’ve created your server, you’ll need to create channels.

There are two types of channels: text and voice. Text is for all written and image-based conversation, while voice can be voice and/or video.

Regardless of the type of channels you create, you’ll want them to be focused around your community’s interests. This is where community members will congregate to interact with you (and one another) around the selected topics.

To ensure you cultivate a welcoming community you may want to create a rules page for new members. You can also create and assign roles for your community members. Roles determine a member’s admin permissions and as the community expands you could assign moderator status to users you trust.

Regardless, these are details you can finesse and refine over time.

How do you nurture a Discord community?

Great communities start as small communities.

It’s counterintuitive but true. With Discord, in particular, it’s about depth vs breadth. Especially, when you’re starting out. Here are three tips to consider as you build and engage your audience on the platform:

1. Identify your inaugural class

You may want to hand select the initial members you want to have join the community. Or, at least limit the initial number of members. This will allow you to refine your community management process and work out any kinks.

So who should join initially?

Are there avid fans of your brand? Who is regularly commenting on your social posts or creating content promoting your brand?

These brand evangelists make ideal members. They’re going to be excited about the opportunity.

2. Plan your content (and conversation starters)

Now that you’ve got your initial community, it’s time to activate them.

Ask yourself, what access and/or exclusives can you provide?

Inspire community activity by prompting (and sustaining) conversations within your server.

Develop a content calendar to ensure a steady drumbeat of activity and discussions. Ideally, surprise and delight your community so they feel like they’re spending their time wisely and have a reason to keep coming back.

Maybe your CEO or founder is admired by the community. Perhaps your brand has a big celebrity or influencer ambassador. Any of these would make exciting AMAs.

Exclusive first looks at products would also make a great incentive, and provide an opportunity to get valuable consumer feedback before a big launch.

You’ll want to focus on activities designed to spark high levels of engagement. Create momentum via a steady drumbeat of activity. Remember, it takes time for visiting a community to become a habit.

3. Test and learn, then loosen the reigns

During the early stages of cultivating a community, most activities will need to be prompted by you. Invest in fostering relationships with these early members. Get feedback and identify what keeps them engaged. Apply their input and test what works.

Ultimately, this is all being done to ensure the community is a worthwhile experience when you scale.

Once the community finally reaches a tipping point where the majority of conversation is not being prompted by you, that’s a sign to start adding more members and scale.

If your brand has accomplished this, you’ll have developed a truly meaningful Discord community.

Is it worth it? Should your brand invest in developing a Discord community?

Ultimately, it depends on your goals as a brand. An apt analogy would be comparing Discord to a house party. It’s a private and intimate affair. Whereas Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter is like a Vegas nightclub – a place to see and be seen.

Sure, they’re both parties, but they’re drastically different experiences.

If you’re looking for a platform that will help you quickly grow your audience, Discord isn’t it. But if you have the resources to invest in building a long-term community of people who can amplify and advocate for your brand, Discord is absolutely the place to be.

“Audience” and “community” are no longer interchangeable in the world of social. Read more to find out why.

The post Is a Discord community right for your brand? appeared first on Sprout Social.