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.

Throughout this article, we’ll talk more about what co-branding is, the benefits of the strategy and introduce some popular examples of co-branding done right.

Table of contents:

• What is co-branding?
• Benefits of co-branding
• Examples of co-branding

What is co-branding?

Co-branding is a marketing strategy where two brands collaborate together with the end goal typically being a new, collaborative product. We’ll cover more examples shortly, but one well-known co-branding partnership involves McDonald’s and their McFlurry options.

McDonald’s has two popular co-branded McFlurry’s: Oreo and M&Ms.

This is an example where two brands (McDonald’s and Oreo or McDonald’s and M&M) have partnered together to create a new product offering for their mutual customers.

Co-branding vs. co-marketing

We’ve talked about co-marketing on the Sprout Social blog before—but it’s key to know that while these two keywords sound very similar, they’re two different strategies.

As we mentioned, co-branding is a strategy where two brands work together to create a new product with both brand names attached to it.

On the other end of the spectrum, co-marketing is a strategy where two brands work together on a one-off marketing campaign or promotion.

One example of this is Pottery Barn and Sherwin Williams. These two complementary brands have created marketing promotions that enable them to help customers find both the right furniture and the right paint colors for their homes.

Benefits of co-branding

Thinking of investing in co-branding? There are a number of benefits and advantages this type of marketing strategy can have for your business.

Exposes your brand to new audiences

Co-branding allows you to reach an even wider audience by partnering with a brand of equal or greater caliber than your own. This exciting perk makes it much easier to market co-branded products.

Improves brand credibility and reputation

When you partner with a credible brand, it inevitably increases your own brand’s credibility. Improve your brand’s reputation by working with well-known brands that have positive brand sentiment. At the same time, be cautious about working with brands that may have a negative sentiment.

Generates more sales

Co-branded products can increase sales for your business. According to data from the same survey we mentioned earlier, 43% of consumers say they’d try a co-branded product from a brand they already like—and with two audiences, that’s double the interest.

Saves costs on marketing

When you and another brand are partnering on the promotion of a new product, it usually requires less out-of-pocket marketing costs. Save on ad campaigns, branded assets and more— since you and the other brand will be splitting the costs.

Co-branding examples

There are so many co-branding examples right under your nose that you might not even have realized. Let’s walk through a few popular examples of co-branded products so you can get an idea of which co-branding strategy might work best for your brand (and its lucky future partner).

Nike and PlayStation

This Nike and PlayStation co-branding partnership is a relatively new one. You’ve likely heard of the popularity surrounding the recently-released PS5. Everyone has been trying to get their hands on one of these new gaming systems for the 2020 holiday season—and over two years later, they’re still difficult to find.

To capitalize on the hype, PlayStation partnered with Nike to create a special pair of branded PS5 signature Paul George sneakers.

These sneakers were released in mid-2021, just seven months after the release of the Playstation 5. This was perfect timing, helping to increase interest in this co-branded product in anyone interested in the PlayStation 5.

Coca-Cola and Lip Smackers

Lip Smackers—a brand originally known as Bonne Bell—kicked off its co-branding partnerships in 1975 when it partnered with Dr. Pepper to create its first soda-flavored lip balm.

However, one of their longest-lasting co-branding partnerships—that still exists to this day—is with Coca-Cola. In fact, Lip Smackers now has an entire line of Coca-Cola-flavored lip balms sold in a single collection. This includes flavors like Coca-Cola, Cherry or Vanilla Coke, Sprite, Root Beer and Fanta.

This co-branding partnership has been a Millennial favorite since the ’90s and doesn’t look to be letting up any time soon. Some brands last through the test of time—try to see if you can partner with one that seems to be just as lastingly popular.

Hershey’s and Betty Crocker

We already mentioned that ingredient co-branding types are popular—here’s another one in a similar vein. Betty Crocker is a brand famous for its cake mixes, frostings and other types of desserts that are ready to be made at home. The brand partnered with Hershey’s to create cookie mixes, cupcake mixes and cans of frosting based on various Hershey’s desserts.

As we can see below, some of the favorites included Reese’s, Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme, Hershey’s Chocolate Chunk and Almond Joy.

Because both brands specialize in sweets and desserts, a co-branding partnership like this makes perfect sense. When you consider which brands you might want to partner with, make sure it’s one with a complementary or similar product—though not a direct competitor.

For example, you’d never see a co-branding partnership between Hershey’s and Nestle because they essentially sell the same product. That type of collaboration wouldn’t make sense. But Hershey’s and Betty Crocker create a beautiful conglomeration of two different worlds of desserts—cookies/cake and candy.

Clorox and Proctor & Gamble

This is a bit of a loaded example simply due to the sheer number of brands under both the Clorox name and the Proctor & Gamble name. However, there are a couple of well-known co-branded products thanks to this partnership.

Clorox houses brands like Glad (think garbage bags) and Fresh Step (think cat litter) while one popular Proctor & Gamble (P&G) brand is Febreze. Febreze, an air freshener, has partnered with both Glad trash bags and Fresh Step cat litter to help block odors from both.

This is a smart partnership because Glad and Fresh Step both work in a smelly business—garbage and pet waste. But with the help of Febreze’s odor-masking capabilities, the two brands are able to offer a particularly enticing unique selling point (USP).

Consider your product’s use cases. Is there another brand that might help make your product even more enticing? You can still sell your standalone product—but then you can sell a co-branded product at a premium price point, making the partnership beneficial to both you and the involved brand(s).

Create your own co-branding strategy

Consider reaching out to other brands to brainstorm your own co-branding partnership ideas. Put together a list of brands that it might make sense to partner with and connect with their marketing teams.

Looking for more ideas to take your marketing to the next level? Check out our list of marketing campaign ideas that will boost your brand engagement.

The post Co-branding: What it is and why your brand should use it appeared first on Sprout Social.

Part discovery machine, part social platform, YouTube touts over 2 billion monthly active users. And as the world’s second-largest search engine, it’s a key platform to use to connect with new audiences, grow brand awareness and more.

If you’ve been wondering how to start a YouTube channel but haven’t jumped in yet, this is your sign to get started. Use this step-by-step guide so you can get started in minutes.

How to create a YouTube channel in 5 steps

Whether you need the 101-level breakdown, or just a refresher, feel free to go straight to whichever section you need most.

With that, here’s all you need to learn how to make a YouTube channel:

• Sign into Google
• Create a new YouTube channel
• Customize your channel’s layout
• Customize your channel’s branding
• Customize your channel’s basic info
• How to make a YouTube channel that’s discoverable

1. Sign into a Google account

Before you start a YouTube channel, you need to sign into Google.

If you have a Google account that you already want to use for your channel, you’ll be prompted to sign in.

I recommend creating a new, dedicated account specifically for your YouTube channel. This way, you can share it with multiple people. This also limits any security issues tied to your personal account.

Once you create a Google account, head to YouTube and click Sign in. 

2. Create a new YouTube channel

Head over to YouTube’s homepage. Click on the avatar icon in the top right corner of the screen. Then, select Create a channel from the drop-down.

You’ll then be prompted by the following screen, which asks you to create a channel name.

Now, you can stop here. Or, you can create two channels: one for your Google account and a separate one for your brand. To do this, go to your Settings > Create a new channel > you’ll be prompted by this window.

Unless you’re a creator, dedicating your YouTube channel to a brand account makes the most sense and allows you to add multiple managers.

Pro tip: Make your account extra secure by setting up two-step verification. Head to your Google Account > click Security in the navigation panel > click 2-Step Verification > click Get Started under the “Signing in to Google” section and follow the steps.

Voila—your account is created, and secure! Now, you’re ready for the fun part.

3. Customize your channel’s layout

To get started, click the “customize my channel” button at the top of the screen.

From here, you’ll be taken to the YouTube studio where you’ll see options for customizing your channel, including Layout, Branding and Basic Info.

Let’s start simple with your Layout. This enables you to organize what content people see first. Let’s go through each of these elements:

Video spotlights

This is the first piece of content that appears on your channel. There are two types you can add. A channel trailer plays for people who haven’t subscribed to your channel.

A featured video plays for your subscribers, but only for those who haven’t seen it yet.

Featured sections

Choose up to 12 featured sections that will appear on your channel. These organize the content your visitors see first.

This defaults to a Short videos section and a Videos section. But click the + ADD SECTION button to choose from more.

The playlists and sections you choose will depend on how you use your channel. If you go Live often, the “Live Now,” “Past Livestreams” and “Upcoming Livestreams” sections would be winners.

For example, Monterey Bay Aquarium features a playlist full of relaxing livestreams that their channel is known for.

Once you’ve customized your layout, hit the Publish button in the upper right. Or, continue on to the next step: Branding.

Pro tip: If you don’t plan on uploading frequently, choosing the Feature channels section can make your channel look more active. This also positions you as an industry leader, and shows fellow YouTube creators some love.

4. Customize your channel’s branding

There are three areas you can adjust your channel’s branding:

• Picture (aka profile pic) appears on your channel, next to your videos and on comments you write.
• Banner image is the large graphic at the top of your YouTube channel.
• Video watermark appears in the bottom right corner of your videos. You can choose when and for how long it appears.

These visual elements should match your branding. For example, notice how Headspace’s visual elements all share cohesive designs, colors and shapes.

Resources like Canva will help you craft correctly-sized images in a matter of minutes with templates tailor-made for YouTube. Before you create images, confirm the dimensions for YouTube images:

• Profile picture: 800 x 800 px
• Channel banner: At least 2048 x 1152 px, but the safe area for mobile and web without cropping is 1546 x 423 px

YouTube will show you a preview so you can see if anything is getting cropped out on various views.

There’s no one right way to approach YouTube images—just pick visuals that reflect your brand.

5. Customize your channel’s basic info

Customizing this info will help you make a stronger impression with your channel. It’s also your ticket to funneling channel visitors to your website, other social profiles and more.

Let’s go through each piece of basic channel information you can adjust:

• Name: This should represent your channel, brand or you.
• Handle: A short and simple, yet memorable and searchable version of your name. This will also appear in your public URL.
• Description: With up to 1,000 characters, add a little personality to your channel description. You can also add versions of your description in multiple languages. Include popular search keywords relevant to your channel and content.
• Channel URL: Your channel’s web address as it displays with your user ID.
• Links: Include links to funnel visitors to your website and social channels.
• Links on banner: Choose up to five links to appear in the lower right corner of your banner. Just be careful that these links aren’t covering important information or text in your cover image graphic.

• Contact info: Include a public-facing email where people can contact you for business or press inquiries.

Once you hit publish, congratulations—your channel is officially set up, and you’re ready to add videos.

How to make your YouTube channel discoverable

Now that you know how to create a YouTube channel, it’s time to make yourself discoverable. This is an ongoing process of optimizing your channel and content.

Let’s get into some tips to attract new viewers and traffic to your channel. And if you want to dive deeper, check out these resources once you’ve finished this article:

• YouTube SEO
• YouTube hashtags
• 16 ways to promote your YouTube channel for more views
• YouTube analytics
• YouTube descriptions

Post videos regularly

An active channel means more chances to keep your audience engaged and growing.

If you’re not ready to create new videos for YouTube, start with what you have.  For example, when I managed social for Shedd Aquarium, we repurposed a video from a viral Tweet on YouTube, where it also racked up impressive views.

Then, we built an entire playlist based on the successful, viral videos.

Start building your library with videos that have performed well on other channels. Successful Reels and TikTok videos, for example, can be uploaded as YouTube Shorts.

Optimize your videos

Remember: YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine.

Keywords really are key when it comes to YouTube discoverability. Use them in your video titles, descriptions and chapter titles. Explore common search terms with YouTube’s built-in keyword and search tool. Find it in YouTube Studio > Analytics > Research to explore.

Also use the right tags. YouTube tags—not to be confused with YouTube hashtags—help YouTube’s algorithm determine what your video is about, and therefore how to rank it in search and who to show it to.

Create eye-catching thumbnails

Video thumbnails create interest and help you stand out in search results—90% of the best-performing videos have custom thumbnails.

Using bold thumbnails that include text (Think: your videos’ titles or themes) and feature a person all help grab attention. Unbounce uses all of these tricks, plus indicates which videos are in a different language.

Use playlists to categorize your videos

Playlists organize your content and make it easier for visitors to find the content that interests them and binge it—just remember to update them.

This also helps you extend the life of older videos by pairing them with more updated content.

If you’re not sure how to do this, check out our article on how to make a YouTube playlist.

Cross-promote your YouTube content on other channels

You have an existing audience on your other channels. Share your YouTube content across your social channels, and on channels outside of social—like on your website, blog and in email newsletters.

Doing so helps drive your existing audience to your budding YouTube channel.

Keep an eye on your analytics

From average view duration to followers gained, YouTube analytics give you a deeper understanding of what videos work, and which fall flat.

The analytics tab in YouTube Studio is a goldmine of analytics. But a tool, like Sprout Social’s YouTube Report, provides a more customized look at how your content performs.

Start your free Sprout trial

Put your knowledge of how to create a YouTube channel to the test

Learning how to make a YouTube channel is just step one. Mastering YouTube takes time.

By sticking to the tips outlined in this guide, your channel will be up and running in no time.

Once you create a YouTube channel and have your videos up and running, your next step is to get the word out there. After you build your channel, read our article all about how to promote your YouTube channel to get the word out, and the views up.

The post How to create a YouTube channel for your brand in 5 steps appeared first on Sprout Social.

Chances are you’ve heard some variation of this advice recently, right?

From marketers to creators, the concept of personal branding is all the rage right now. This makes sense considering that consumers today crave connections and authenticity.

The problem is, branding yourself can be a struggle—especially if you don’t know what your brand voice is.

That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate guide to personal branding to help.

Table of contents:

• What is personal branding?
• Why is personal branding important?
• Examples of personal branding
• How to build a personal brand

What is personal branding?

Personal branding is how you present yourself as an individual to your audience.

Think about how corporate branding works. We associate specific feelings, values and expectations with brands we trust. Every company has a story and image.

Well, the same applies to you and your personal brand as well.

“Personal branding” is sometimes synonymous with being an influencer. This does not have to be the case for everyone. 

Your brand should highlight your human side. Voices and personalities set brands (and people!) apart. Branding yourself means aligning your online persona and your real-life one. 

Building your brand is not simply marketing yourself (although that’s part of it). Here are the key pieces of a personal brand:

• Voice and values. That is, what you say and what you believe. Your brand voice shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all or robotic.
  

• Content. What are you promoting to build your following? How are you presenting it?  Whether through entertainment value or education, your content is what attracts your audience.
  

• Creativity. You don’t need to be a creative genius to build a personal brand. That said, having some sort of creative trademark can help you stand out from the crowd.
  

• Personality. No surprises here! Good news: there is no one-size-fits-all personality type for your brand. Energetic? Laid back? Suit-and-tie? Great! Again, you have to do you.
  

• Authenticity. The concept of “creating” a persona is a turn-off for some. Your personal brand shouldn’t be manufactured or made up. Aligning your online persona with who you really are should be seamless. Once you figure out how to do it, your brand will never feel forced.

Why is personal branding important?

Fair question!  Below we break down why personal brand-building is worthwhile.

Standing out from the crowd

The people who’d benefit the most from a personal brand are often focused on building something else. A company, art, you name it.

Like it or not, we’re entering an era where everyone is a content creator. That means that who we are and what we make are often one and the same.

Among the countless creators and marketers out there, growth is daunting. Our audience only has so much attention to give. 

With a compelling brand and consistent content, you give yourself a chance to shine. People don’t grow audiences or garner influence by accident. Both your personal brand and what you create are totally in your control, too.

Relatability and authenticity matter to modern audiences

Recent research says that consumers overwhelmingly trust authentic and relatable brands. Apply the same logic to individuals. This is especially important in an era where “influence” can feel manufactured. 

Making stronger connections with your community

Food for thought: brand alignment with personal values is more important to consumers in 2022 than it was in 2021.

Again, your voice and values are directly tied to your ability to grow your audience. 

Putting your personality front and center attracts like-minded followers. That also means making connections to understand your audience’s needs and challenges. This goes hand in hand with establishing trust and making meaningful connections.

Sprout’s #BrandsGetReal research reflects this phenomenon, too. 91% of people believe that social has the power to connect people.

Examples of successful personal branding

It’s important to note that anyone can build a personal brand (hint: not just celebrities). In fact, employee advocacy and personal branding are becoming intertwined as more employees post on behalf of brands.

Here are a few examples of people who’ve built personal brands across industries:

• Founders like Sparktoro CEO Rand Fishkin. Rand’s positive demeanor, sense of style and eagerness to educate has helped him build a massive audience over the years. According to Rand himself, personal brands should be a byproduct of building (and not a persona that’s forced).
  
• Twitch streamers like Pokimane. Pokimane amassed millions of followers across platforms including Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Her self-aware sense of humor and willingness to interact with fans are her trademarks.
• Celebrities like Dwayne Johnson. Despite being one of the most famous celebrities in the world, Johnson isn’t afraid to give a peek into his personal life. He regularly replies to fans with personal and vulnerable stories.

• Politicians like Maxwell Frost. Frost is making a name for himself as the first member of Gen Z in Congress. His candid posts and sense of humor represent a new brand of politician that’s far from the norm.

How to build your personal brand in 5 steps

Now, onto the good stuff!  Brand-building requires conscious effort. Below are five actionable steps you can take to get yours off the ground. 

1. Figure out where your brand currently stands

Building a successful personal brand means having a following. After all, followers validate that what you’re doing is valuable to others.

But this is a sort of chicken-and-egg situation.  You need followers to establish your brand, right? That said, you can’t establish your brand without followers.

So start from square one by asking yourself:

• Have many followers do you currently have?
• What communities can serve as the basis for a bigger audience?
• Where am I most active? Where is my audience most active?
• What are my goals? Followers, traffic, sales?

To avoid spreading yourself thin, we recommend prioritizing growth on one network at a time. Having a presence is one thing but actively branding yourself on a platform is serious work.

2. Brainstorm ways to provide value to your audience

Again, followers and clout don’t happen by accident.

What value you provide varies depending on your industry and audience. Generally speaking, building a unique personal brand means creating something, well, unique. New ideas and resources. That might be:

• Educational content (tips, tutorials, how-tos)
• Personal anecdotes and experiences
• Ratings and reviews on products or brands relevant to your audience
• Original artwork or music
• Fresh perspectives and opinions
• Motivational content

Heck, it could be all of the above.

In short, you need to create something that highlights your value and influence. People need a reason to follow you. Consistently creating valuable content is how you start.

3. Be consistent when putting yourself out there

Piggybacking on the point above, consistency counts.

Building your brand means maintaining your brand, too. Regularly sharing and creating content is a must-do. You can’t let your account gather cobwebs. This applies to responding to comments from followers, too.

Consistency is arguably the biggest challenge of building a personal brand.

Let’s say you have your audience split across Instagram and TikTok. As noted by how often to post on social media, different networks demand different publishing frequencies. Either way, it’s a lot of pressure to post on a regular basis. This circles but to what we said about spreading yourself thin.

Growing across networks is easier with social publishing tools like Sprout Social. Scheduling and cross-posting means you can publish to multiple networks at once. This means less chaos and no need to bounce between platforms.

Consistency also matters when it comes to your personal branding across networks. This is where your creatives like logos and color schemes come into play.

4. Prioritize trust, authenticity and relatability

Despite popular belief, building a personal brand doesn’t mean having a magnetic personality. You can absolutely be introverted or even “quiet” and still build a valuable brand. 

The key is being relatable and real. That means sharing content and experiences that speak to your audience. This could include challenges you overcame or resources to solve a problem. 

Before posting anything related to your personal brand, always ask yourself:

• “How does this build trust?”
• “Am I being real with my audience?”
• “Who does this post or piece of content speak to?”

If you have confident answers to all of the above, you’re golden.

5. Be conscious about avoiding brand burnout

• Don’t make personal branding too personal. There’s a fine line between being vulnerable and oversharing. Set boundaries for yourself in terms of what you’re willing to put out there. Branding yourself shouldn’t be uncomfortable.
• Don’t overdo it. When your brand starts growing, you might feel pressure to post more or create more content. That’s great! Still, don’t sacrifice quality for quantity.
• Don’t overthink it. We get it: “be yourself” sounds like cliche advice. It still applies, though. That’s because brand authenticity matters and people can tell when you’re faking a persona. You’ll be much happier with the process of brand-building if you stay true to yourself.

How are you building your personal brand?

Listen: there is no rulebook for building your personal brand. That’s because it’s all unique to you.

And hey, that’s good news!

Building a personal brand can feel daunting. Focusing on legitimately helpful content in your own voice is a good place to start.

Sticking to the steps below can help put you on the right track. If you haven’t already, check out our 30-day social media plan to jumpstart your branding journey.

The post The complete guide to personal branding appeared first on Sprout Social.

Between quiet quitting and a 54% increase in LinkedIn members changing jobs year-over-year, it takes more than having a “cool office” to attract and retain great employees. In fact, lacking work-life balance, quality compensation and company culture are the top reasons people are leaving their jobs, according to LinkedIn.

Let’s get into what an employer branding strategy is, how it can feed recruitment and retention and why investing time into your employer brand is an investment in your bottom line.

What is employer branding?

Your employer brand is the perception and reputation of your company among current employees and job seekers. Employer branding is the set of strategies and tactics you use to actively build this brand and reputation.

In other words, an effective employer branding strategy actively answers the question, “What makes your company the best place to work?”

Building your employer brand can include a mix of creating content that promotes your company culture, brand mission and values, encouraging employee advocacy and making improvements to your hiring process.

The benefits of an employer branding strategy

Your employer brand will always exist—with or without your involvement. Taking an active part in building yours can attract new talent, retain current talent and boost your reputation.

And building reputation matters—50% of work candidates say they wouldn’t work at a company with a bad reputation. Not even for a pay raise.

Here are a few ways employer branding benefits your entire organization.

Recruit top-tier talent

A world-class employer branding strategy puts you in the enviable position of having your pick of the talent pool. According to Glassdoor, 75% of candidates are more likely to apply at a company that actively manages its employer brand.

And this is a stand-out benefit for teams feeling the hiring crunch. While 62% of marketers plan on filling 2-6 new positions, more than half also say finding experienced talent is their top challenge.

A strong employer brand helps you reach and build trust with prospective talent by showing them why it’s the best next step for their career.

Reduce turnover and boost employee satisfaction

Your employer brand starts from within—employees who feel cared for at work are 3.2x more likely to be happy at work, according to LinkedIn.

Part of employer branding is emphasizing what your employees love about your company—and fixing what they dislike. Involving employees by encouraging feedback and empowering their advocacy can help them feel heard and engaged.

In the Edelman trust barometer, 60% of respondents would choose a place to work based on their beliefs and values. Communicating your company values through employer branding helps set expectations with new employees, and attract those who share your values.

Manage your reputation and build consumer trust

Every step of an employer branding strategy involves assessing and improving your reputation.

Talking to employees about their frustrations, checking your company reviews and understanding how people talk about you on social boosts your image. And building your reputation as a great place to work among the workforce extends to your bottom line by reducing turnover and the time it takes to hire employees.

Create powerful advocates

Like we said—improving your employer brand starts from within. And this includes leveraging the people who know your business best: your employees.

Employee advocacy is all about building trust. People are 3x more likely to trust company info from an employee vs a CEO. And according to The Sprout Social Index™, 58% of consumers say they’d purchase from a company they trust over a competitor.

Empowering employees to post about their work experience is one of the best ways to build trust in your brand—with prospective talent and consumers alike.

Fuels more effective corporate communications

Maintaining a strong employer brand is a responsibility shared between corporate communications, social teams and among all employees. According to Edelman, managing brand and corporate identity is an increasingly key function for communications professionals.

An employer branding strategy paints a picture of who you are as a company, from your values as a brand to your diversity and inclusion efforts and more.

Companies that don’t show how they care for employees or put values in action will fall behind.

Steps to creating a powerful employer branding strategy

In short: To improve candidate engagement and employee advocacy while reducing turnover, employer branding is the key to success.

Here’s how to create an employer branding strategy that brings your company’s values to life to stay competitive in the market and desirable to current staff.

Step 1: Assess where you’re at

Start at the beginning: Do an audit to see where your employer brand currently stands.

Here are a few action items to consider:

Survey your employees

Ask for their honest feedback through anonymous surveys to understand what’s going well and what isn’t.

If the survey reveals problems with your corporate culture or internal communications, address them. Share your action plans with employees and show you’re willing to adapt to meet their needs. This helps build a team of loyal brand ambassadors and demonstrates you’re not just talking the talk.

Look at your reviews

Regularly checking and interacting with reviews is crucial—so much so that according to Glassdoor, 62% of job seekers say their perception of a company increases after an employer responds to a review.

Reviews are an unfiltered source of information about your company culture and brand perception. These reviews can come from external platforms, like Glassdoor, or internal resources, like exit interviews.

Dig into social media

When it comes to what people really think about your brand, social media is an insights goldmine.

Tap your social team—what common praise, complaints and FAQs do they see?

You can also take this a step further by using a social listening tool to check in on your brand health, sentiment, common keywords people use to talk about you and more.

Review recruitment and onboarding processes

The hiring and onboarding processes are the first chances you have to show a potential employee how your company operates.

Talk to current employees—especially recent hires—about how these processes went. And assess the process with your recruitment team. What can be improved? What isn’t working?

Identify content and resource gaps

Content can play a role at every step of the hiring process—from recruitment to retaining talent.

It’s also a crucial tool for building your brand’s story.

Here are a few areas to look at to determine whether more content and resources are needed:

• Social media content: Audit the type and frequency of content your team is publishing around your brand, employees and open positions.
• Website content: Do you have a career page? If so, does it need a refresh?
• Job postings: Are these as clear and as accurate as possible?
• Onboarding materials: Do these help new hires as much as possible, or do they leave gaps that new hires must scramble to figure out?
• Internal newsletters: Are you staying connected to your employees regularly? Is there value in the content you already send out?

Step 2: Develop your employee value proposition (EVP)

A strong EVP will outline rewards—both monetary and non-monetary—you offer to employees in exchange for their experience, skills and effort. Think:

• Salary
• Benefits
• Growth opportunities
• Diversity and inclusion efforts and promises
• Remote work flexibility
• Company culture and more

Your EVP is the basis for your employer brand messaging and strategy.

Remember to be honest. Your EVP must be an accurate representation of what employees can expect when working at your company. Setting employees up for certain expectations that you can’t meet will only hurt your reputation.

Step 3: Define your goals and KPIs

Setting goals and KPIs is a crucial part of assessing how your strategy is going—and to secure buy-in.

What do you want to achieve with your employer branding strategy? Set SMART goals and identify KPIs to measure success. On the recruitment side, your goals may include:

• Attracting more leads
• Implementing campaigns for priority roles, departments and more
• Desired number of new hires
• Receiving more referrals
• More engaged employees
• More qualified candidates for new positions
• A higher offer acceptance rate
• Higher employee retention over time

On the marketing or content side, your goals might include:

• More employee-shared posts
• Increase in employer branding related posts
• A boost in positive reviews on sites like Glassdoor
• Adding awareness campaigns around your employer brand to boost perception and awareness

Step 4: Identify target audience and candidates

According to LinkedIn, 40% of professionals say colleagues and work culture are top priorities when picking a new job. Before you can focus on attracting more talent, you need to first identify what kind of candidate you want to attract.

Who is your target audience? What environment are they looking for? This goes beyond simply looking at job title or sophistication level. Creating a rough picture of your ideal candidate will guide how you build your job descriptions and more.

Step 5: Determine your channels and stakeholders

Just like no one person is responsible for your brand as a whole, employer branding is a team effort.

Determine individual responsibilities and get stakeholders on board now to prevent burnout and disorganization later. Who needs to be involved? What will each person be responsible for? How will you align stakeholders with the strategy?

Think about all of your communication channels, like social media, newsletters and internal emails. Determine which channels will be key to strengthening your employer brand and will reach the right audience—internally and externally.

Step 6: Involve your C-suite

At the highest level, C-suite buy-in is crucial to making any changes to the organization that are needed to improve your employer brand.

According to a McKinsey study, 62% of employees get some purpose from work, but want to get even more. Give your C-suite an opportunity to help provide that feeling of purpose by involving them in communications. After all, who wants to work on a ship when the captain doesn’t believe in its journey or purpose?

And don’t be afraid to involve your C-suite in your strategy’s day-to-day, too. Encouraging leadership to contribute to employer brand content, build their own social media presence or be active in internal communications can show current and future employees that they’re involved.

Step 7: Create a rollout plan

A rollout plan will keep your strategy organized and consistent. It will also ensure your stakeholders know what to expect and outline how employee advocates across your company can get involved.

Here are a few items to consider using in your rollout plan:

• An editorial calendar for blog and social media content focused on your employer brand (think: employee features, your values, etc.)
• Internal emails to source employee feedback, encourage posting, etc.
• Checking and responding to reviews, or encouraging current employees to leave reviews
• Regularly encouraging employees to post about open roles—regardless of team
• Updating career websites and your website as a whole to reflect your employer proposition

Step 8: Track results

Your strategy is a process—not a destination. Once you’ve launched your strategy, tracking your results will help you mark your successes, and pivot when something isn’t successful.

Track your KPIs to determine whether you’re meeting those goals you set. You likely already have a number of tools that can help you measure your success—from social platforms themselves, to employee advocacy tools. Set a regular review cadence to analyze your performance, evaluate your strategy and determine next steps.

Give employees a voice with employee advocacy

Employee advocacy is the internal and external promotion of an organization by its staff members—like posting on social media. Your employees are some of your best brand advocates. Employee content gets up to 8x more engagement than content on brand channels, so invest in amplifying their voices.

Encouraging them to post about your company is one of the most powerful ways to build trust with and attract talent.

With Sprout’s employee advocacy solution, Edina Realty saw a 674% MoM increase in social engagements.

Employee advocacy goes deeper than simply asking staff to post. Take an active role in making posting easier by curating content for them to share—72% of engaged users on social media say they would post about their company if content was written for them.

Using an employee advocacy platform, like Sprout’s, makes curating and sharing content with your employees easy. It lightens your load too by simplifying measuring the impact of your employee content.

If you use Sprout, you can curate employee advocacy content in the same place you schedule your brand’s social media posts.

Request a demo

Employer branding demands culture shift

Your employer branding strategy should be more than just a marketing effort—it should be a way of life.

Management and leadership teams must be fully devoted to the brand in order to follow through on commitments to their employees and adjust when growth areas are revealed.

A great employer brand starts from the inside out. Take it slow, and start from within by amplifying employees’ voices internally to reach new talent externally. Find out how Sprout’s Employee Advocacy platform can supercharge your employer brand.

The post Employer branding for retention and recruitment 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.

In this post, we’ll share some of the best TikTok bio ideas that will help you get more followers, views and likes. We’ll also show you some examples of awesome TikTok bios from successful brands and influencers.

• Where is the bio in TikTok?
• Best practices for TikTok bios
• TikTok bio ideas to inspire you
• TikTok bio examples from brands
• Creating the best TikTok bio for your brand

Where is the bio in TikTok?

Your TikTok bio is under your profile picture on mobile and desktop view.

Here’s what it looks like on mobile:

And here’s what it looks like on desktop:

You can edit your bio by clicking on the Edit Profile button beneath your profile photo.

The maximum length for a TikTok bio is 80 characters, including spaces. They can stretch across five lines, and each line break counts as one character. You may also add emojis (which count as two characters), hashtags and badges to your bio (if you’ve been verified on TikTok).

If you have more than 1,000 followers on TikTok, you can add a link to your bio as well. This is a great way to drive traffic to your website or blog.

How to add a link to TikTok bio

If you have a TikTok Business Account with over 1,000 followers, you can add a link to your bio. This strategy is useful if you have a website or campaign landing page you’re looking to promote.

1. Open the TikTok mobile app.
2. Go directly to your profile page by selecting your profile icon.
3. Click on Edit Profile.
4. You should see the option to add a Website. Add either your homepage, campaign landing page or third-party linking app here.

At this moment, links can only be added to your TikTok bio via mobile app and not on desktop.

Best practices for TikTok bios

Crafting the perfect TikTok bio can be tricky, and there are a few things you should keep in mind to make sure yours is creative and unique.

Here are some tips for crafting good bios for TikTok.

Be brief

When writing bios for TikTok, you need to be brief and to the point. TikTok users are scrolling through hundreds of profiles, so you want yours to be easy to read and digest.

Be descriptive

Use your TikTok bio to describe who you are and what you do. This is your chance to tell your followers a little bit about your brand and what they can expect from your profile.

Show off your personality

When TikTok users come to your profile, you want them to know what makes you special. Are you funny? Creative? A great dancer? Think about what sets you apart from other TikTok users and make that a part of your bio.

Link to your other social platforms

If you have more than 1,000 followers, TikTok allows you to add a link to your bio. You can link to your website, YouTube channel or other social media platforms. This helps drive traffic to your other channels and grow your following across the web.

Include a call-to-action

While your TikTok bio should be brief, you can use it to encourage visitors to take action. For example, if you’re promoting a product or service, include a link to your online store. Or, use your TikTok bio as a way to encourage people to sign up for your email list.

Add emojis

Adding emojis to your TikTok bio adds personality and flair. But remember that each emoji counts as two characters. Keep in mind, using emojis can make your bio harder to read for screen readers, so use them in moderation for increased accessibility.

Stay on-brand

Remember, your TikTok bio and profile photo are the first thing TikTok users will see when they come across your account. Make sure both are on-brand and give TikTok users a good idea of what they can expect from your content.

TikTok bio ideas to inspire you

TikTok is all about creativity, so don’t be afraid to experiment with your bio. Here are a few TikTok bio ideas to get you started:

Use memorable phrases like this:

• Stressed, blessed and always well dressed
• Do it with passion or don’t do it at all

Be funny or witty:

• I like big … choreographed dance numbers and I cannot lie 💃🍑🎵
• Show more…

Use pop culture references:

• ☁️It’s just a sweet, sweet fantasy, baby…
• Who run the world?
• “There is no substitute for hard work. Always be humble and hungry.” Dwayne Johnson
• Stay classy, San Francisco [or your city]

Be relatable:

• Is this thing on?
• I don’t play games, I win them

Be yourself:

• I 💙 travel, food + culture
  Follow me around the world
  ✈️

TikTok bio examples from brands

Check out these TikTok bios from some of our favorite TikTok accounts.

1. Use humor like Vessi

@vessi is a Canadian footwear brand that specializes in making waterproof sneakers. This specialization is clear when you read their TikTok bio, which uses raindrop emojis to emphasize their waterproofing technology. “CEO of Dry Socks” also emphasizes their waterproof specialization.

This TikTok bio idea for business is short, sweet and to the point. It tells TikTok users exactly what they can expect from the Vessi account: waterproof sneakers. And, it does so in a way that is creative, unique and humorous.

2. Showcase your values like Anián

@anianmfg is a circular fashion company that creates clothing from recycled natural fibers. Anián’s TikTok bio is short, but it packs a punch. In just a few words, they communicate their brand values of environmentalism and sustainability: “Waste isn’t waste until we waste it.”

This is a great example of how you can use your TikTok business bio to communicate your brand values. By including information about their recycled materials and commitment to environmentalism, Anián is able to show users who they are and what they stand for.

3. Promote yourself like Addison

@addisonre is a TikTok influencer, TV personality, beauty guru and actress. Addison’s TikTok bio is all about promoting her content, whether that be her music, makeup line or upcoming performances.

This TikTok bio example shows how to promote yourself if you’re an influencer with multiple platforms or projects: her bio promotes her music and the link in her TikTok bio promotes her beauty line. By including links to her various endeavors, Addison is able to show users all the different content she creates.

4. Be clear and concise like Kristina Cors

@kristinacors is a digital nomad who creates TikTok videos about her travels, work and life as a “solopreneur.” Her TikTok bio is the perfect example of how to be clear and concise.

With just a few words, Cors tells users exactly who she is and what she does: “Digital nomad w/remote work tips. Travel hacks and bucketlist experiences. Latina.” This is important for TikTokers who want to build a following around a specific niche or topic.

5. Plug your events like the NBA

If your brand has regular events, TikTok is a great way to promote them. For example, @nba uses its TikTok bio to promote its live games and events: “#KiaTipOff22 begins October 18th on TNT.”

This helps get people excited about upcoming events and encourages them to buy tickets or tune in. The NBA also includes a bio link in its TikTok bio, which takes users to a landing page where they can download the NBA app, preview rookies and check the upcoming season schedule. Talk about a one-stop shop!

Creating the best TikTok bio for your brand

Your TikTok bio is an opportunity to show off your brand’s personality and give users a taste of what they can expect from your account. It’s also an easy way to promote your products, events, website and apps.

Whether you’re into funny TikTok bios, serious TikTok bios or TikTok bios that are more on the creative side, we hope this guide has given you some inspiration.

If you’re just starting with TikTok, use our complete guide to TikTok marketing to guide your strategy.

The post Craft creative and unique TikTok bios with these 7 tips appeared first on Sprout Social.

The rap artist from Houston recently launched Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too, a mental health resource hub. At first glance, this campaign doesn’t seem relevant to brand marketers–unless they’re a social media manager having a particularly bad day. Megan Thee Stallion is a musician, not a brand. In a post-CD world, her main goal isn’t to sell a product or service. It doesn’t feel directly applicable to most marketing teams.

Despite the obvious differences in business models, Megan Thee Stallion’s mental health resource hub is a masterclass in brand building. Most (71%) consumers think it’s important for brands to speak out on sensitive topics. Even more (88%) consumers say authenticity is important when they’re deciding what brands to support. And over half (56%) of consumers want to know the backstory and the “why” behind a brand. Megan Thee Stallion hit all three of these consumer sweet spots with her mental health resource hub.

In a single web page, Megan Thee Stallion proved that she understands her audience, wants to speak out on the issues that matter to them and has a personal connection to the topic.

Who is Megan Thee Stallion, anyway?

Megan Thee Stallion–also known as the HTown Hottie or Tina Snow–got her start on social media. She gained an audience with her Instagram freestyle videos and released her first single online in 2016. Since then, she hasn’t missed. All six of her albums have made it onto the Billboard 200. “Savage”, a single from her debut album “Good News” inspired a viral dance trend with over 15 million videos using the sound. She nabbed the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2021. Even if you’re not familiar with her music, you’re definitely familiar with her influence. She’s the one who created the phrase “hot girl summer”.

Her primary career might be music, but she hasn’t stopped there. She’s constantly using her platform as a catalyst for change. In 2020, she performed on SNL for the first time and interrupted her own song with a protest about the handling of Breonna Taylor’s case. She followed that up with a New York Times op-ed about the importance of protecting black women.

She demonstrates her brand value of speaking out about issues that affect her and her audience of primarily black women clearly and frequently. Her consistency and vulnerability set her up as the perfect representative for her newest campaign, the mental health resource hub.

So you had a bad day

Megan Thee Stallion’s mental health resource hub is a deceptively simple site. The single page opens with directions to scroll and a photo of the album cover for “Traumazine”. She has links to her streaming platform profiles and an embed of the video for the most relevant song, “Anxiety”. She follows up with links to mental health platforms and crisis lines. The page ends with two CTAs–one to find a therapist and another to sign up for text updates.

Outside of the primary goal of connecting her audience with mental health resources, the site also does an excellent job communicating that this isn’t a one-and-done effort. It associates this campaign with her overarching brand.

Continuous support

The final CTA to get SMS updates about the initiative is a standard approach. But the enrollment message is where the strategy really shines. Instead of coming from a standard five digit marketing number, the text comes from Megan Thee Stallion herself, complete with a contact card and photo. The messages aren’t personalized to the user, but it feels personal. The message itself informs the user they’ll get updates in the future–and more importantly, feels like she’s there to support you on an individual level.

Bringing it into the brand

Megan Thee Stallion’s existing brand is already based on standing up for her audience. This campaign is simply an extension of that value. But she brings in constant reminders throughout the page that this is her effort and it’s something she’s passionate about. She embeds a video to a relevant song, intersperses the site with lyrics from that song and links her streaming platform profiles.

This could easily feel like a marketing play–and it definitely is–but because of the rapport she’s built with her fans and her history of advocacy, these feel like natural additions and value-adds to the site.

A bad day can turn into good marketing

The reception for this initiative has been overwhelmingly positive. We dove into Sprout’s Social Listening tool to see what audiences were saying about the hub. As of October 11, 2022–less than two weeks after the launch–there were 139,600 Tweets about Megan Thee Stallion and mental health plus over 583,000 engagements with those Tweets. Those Tweets came from over 97,000 unique authors, so a lot of people are talking about it. What’s most astonishing is a 96% positive sentiment around the topic.

What does this brand activism example mean for marketers?

As we’ve said before, Megan Thee Stallion isn’t a brand in the typical sense. But any brand can learn from the strong brand activism examples she showcases with her strategy.

Make it make sense

This campaign was successful because of Megan Thee Stallion’s history of activism and her direct action. By pairing her song “Anxiety” with actionable resources to alleviate anxiety, she proved that she’s not just going to talk about it. She’s going to help fix it.

If your brand is implementing activism, it has to be holistic. The issue you’re addressing should tie back to your brand story and values in a tangible and recognizable way. It’s not enough to post a few times. Your activism should be core to who you are as a brand and you have to be ready to take action.

Address community concerns

Megan Thee Stallion’s primary audience is black women. Access to mental health and the stigma around asking for help are serious barriers for that community. By admitting to her own issues and providing information on how to address them, she proved that she knows and cares about her audience’s needs.

As a brand, you probably have buyer personas. But do those personas also encompass your ideal buyer’s anxieties and concerns outside of your product? If your brand sells camping gear, your audience might be concerned about climate change. If your product line is made with responsibly sourced components, your audience is probably worried about sustainability or labor rights. The cause you take up shouldn’t just relate to your brand, it should also relate to your audience’s needs.

Put a spotlight on the experts

When Megan Thee Stallion set out to address mental health gaps, she could have created her own foundation. She has the audience, platform and resources to make it happen. But she didn’t. She recognized that there were people and organizations that have been doing this work for years and have a better grasp on the issues than she does, and she shined a spotlight on them. Even in her launch, she retweeted Therapy for Black Girls’s initial post to drive her followers to them.

There’s a time to put your brand first and there’s a time to rely on the experts. Recognizing that difference can make a big impact on the efficacy of your campaigns. Whether that means partnering with a nonprofit on a social issue or working with a creator that intimately understands their audience, deferring to the experts can promote authenticity and give a sense of self-awareness.

Campaigns that connect

Megan Thee Stallion has proved that authenticity, vulnerability and a complete brand story can supercharge your campaign. When you add in help from the experts, you’ll be unstoppable.

Want to try it out? Learn more about how partnering with niche creators can help you tap into new audiences with unprecedented relatability.

The post Megan Thee Marketer: Lessons from the HTown Hottie appeared first on Sprout Social.

An Instagram template is a reusable graphic or video template that social media managers can customize again and again to easily share Instagram content. These can be used for posts, Reels, Stories and more.

A social media manager’s job consists of so many moving parts:

• Content creation
• Content scheduling/publishing
• Caption writing
• Online engagement
• Community building
• Analysis and reporting
• And more

Why burden yourself with even more work by requiring yourself to create Instagram content from scratch every single time? Especially because many marketers are managing multiple social media accounts at a time.

So let’s talk more about Instagram templates—why you’d want to use them, what they might look like, successful brands who are already making the most of their own templates and free downloadable templates you can use.

Why use Instagram templates?

Instagram templates make content creation quicker and easier. Which can be necessary because content creation can be a time consuming process.

Some influencers say that creating one single Instagram post can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few months, depending on everything involved in the process (i.e., brand partnerships, photo opps). And the same can go for brands.

Chelse Hensley, social media strategist at Visme, says, “A piece of content created for Instagram can take anywhere from 5 seconds to 3 hours. You can engage your audience in a split-second using features such as Instagram Stories, polls, Q+A’s, or you can build more complex pieces of sticky content like Reels which require a longer time requirement from idea to editing to execution.”

But utilizing a template is a great way to cut down some of the time on that creation process, and there are several benefits to doing so that aren’t all about the time savings.

Create a visual content strategy and brand aesthetic

Using Instagram templates isn’t all about laziness—far from it, actually. Having a set of templates helps to give your feed a more cohesive feel that matches your branding and the types of graphics or patterns you use in your brand visuals.

Take a look at this grid from Instagram planner tool Planoly:

Their Reels covers use the same style to share the reel topic/title. They utilize similar fonts throughout as well. And we’re able to easily recognize a post from this brand if it were to appear in our feed, because they have a very specific aesthetic all of their templates fall under.

Plug-and-play Instagram templates save time

Creating templates that match your branding might take a bit of setup time—unless you utilize a design tool like Canva or Visme that has thousands of pre-made options—however, once you have a solid set of templates, you don’t have much additional work to do.

This is what we mean by “plug-and-play.” Once you have your core design, each time you need to go in and create new Instagram content, you can replace the old content, adjust some of the colors to give the template a different look and feel, download and share. Easy peasy.

Highlight text-based posts

Information-based or B2B brands often have a difficult time with Instagram marketing because they don’t have a visual product. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t still hop on the bandwagon. By utilizing templates, brands can put educational information or text into a visual format, reaching and engaging an audience all over Instagram.

8 Instagram template examples from brands

You can create recyclable Instagram templates for both your Instagram posts and your stories. To see what types of content you might want to use a template for, take a look at these eight successful brands and their template usage.

Instagram post templates

There are many reasons to use a template for your Instagram posts: sharing a testimonial, inputting educational information and more. Let’s take a look into some real-life examples of Instagram post templates.

Ritual

One common Instagram trend lately has been taking a Tweet and placing it onto a template to share on your Instagram feed. Ritual does just that with some of their own Tweets as well as some of their mentions.

This is a great way to promote cross-platform content, especially when you have a fun voice on Twitter and want to share it with your Instagram followers as well.

Perelel Health

Sharing educational tips is also a great time to use a template. This example from Perelel Health utilizes a similar look for each of their main graphics before diving into a carousel with even more facts for their audience to read and learn from. Some of the templates have a photo in the background, some are a gradient and others are a solid color.

Keeping a aesthetic vibe while still making sure each template is different is a great way to keep your feed cohesive yet unique. The last thing you want is for every single one of your graphics to look exactly the same. Your audience will get bored very quickly.

Vegamour

Vegamour is also queen of educational carousels. Their feature photos showcase a closeup of someone’s hair with the name of the topic they’re discussing before moving onto similarly designed text graphics. It’s smart to use a carousel for something like this with an actual image as the cover photo so it blends seamlessly into your feed.

Classy Career Girl

Who doesn’t love a motivational quote? Classy Career Girl uses a simple template for their quote graphics, sharing a classic #QuoteOfTheDay every so often to break up some of their other Instagram content. You can do the same thing for sharing testimonials, case studies, etc.

Instagram Story templates

While your Instagram Stories give you more freedom for sharing unstyled, behind-the-scenes content, you can also choose to create graphics or templates for sharing things like recent blog posts, educational tips and more.

Hungry Root

Hungry Root created a template for sharing graphics based on their partnership with wine company Winc. They created a single template to update with different meals and wine pairings, utilizing the same fonts and logo placement throughout. This template is stunning, simple and eye-catching, making it extremely effective.

Flodesk

Email marketing software Flodesk often has Instagram takeovers on their profile and they save them to a new Story highlight each time. Each one utilizes the same template as the first image in the highlight to keep each takeover cohesive. Hosting takeovers is a fun way to engage your audience as well as create mutually beneficial partnerships so both you and the person taking over can reach new audiences.

Career Contessa

Career Contessa has a number of story highlights, several of which utilize templates to create similar looks. If you’re sharing similar information across several stories, using the same template for all of the stories is a good idea to make sure your audience knows they’re related. You can then change up the colors or other elements when you move onto a different story, topic or series to let your audience know you’ve switched gears.

The Everymom

The Everymom took advantage of some of Instagram’s story features by leaving a space for the link stickers right inside of the template above. Stories offer a number of stickers, like questions, polls, links, quizzes and more, so you might consider creating a template that you can utilize to add creative backgrounds behind these stickers.

A/B test the performance of Instagram template posts

Just because you’ve created a set of templates doesn’t mean they’re a winner. Make sure to A/B test your new templates and consider creating a few different varieties to see which set performs best. Also pay attention to which color schemes do well—some colors from your branding may work better as dominant colors than others.

You can take advantage of analytics tools like Sprout Social to monitor growth in followers, as well as track the number of impressions and engagements that each of your Instagram posts received.

Testing on social media is key to making sure you’re sharing the most popular content you can. What really grabs your audience’s attention? By A/B testing your Instagram templates, you can land on the best options for your feed.

Free Instagram templates to use in your strategy

Make managing your Instagram much easier by starting with a template. Using templates both for your Instagram posts and Instagram stories can exponentially cut down on your design time, while simultaneously improving your brand strength. Download our free customizable Instagram templates, with both 1:1 and 9:16 formats, to start creating your own stunning Instagram content. You can also resize images for Instagram using our free social media image resizer tool.

The post The complete guide to Instagram templates [+ free downloads] appeared first on Sprout Social.

When users scroll through TikTok, the brands that are truly “killing it” are creating content that’s as entertaining as it is authentic–making the audience feel closer to the brand. This trends away from the often polished and perfect posts we’re used to seeing from businesses on other social media platforms.

Join Sprout Social’s Jonathan Zuluaga and Sarah Corley as they discuss: 

• How valuable TikTok can be for your business 
• The TikTok audience
• Top TikTok marketing tips for brands

The post How to Explain the Business Value of TikTok to Your Boss [Webinar] appeared first on Sprout Social.