Social media is an easy, powerful tool to get global audiences to look at your work. Here’s a quick guide to the major social media networks.
Choose the right platform
Each has its unique features, requirements and audience demographics, but what do they have in common? Regular posting. Rather be consistent on one or two platforms instead of scattering posts across them all.
Which Networker Are You?
For the Enthusiast – Youtube
Do you get excited talking about what you love? Here’s one word for you (maybe two): YouTube. Search engines and algorithms on this platform favour longer videos, mostly between 10-30 min.
YouTube at glance:
+ Content can be monetized
+ Live Stream function is beginner friendly as you don‘t need any broadcast software.
+ Ideal for storytellers
- Not suitable for short videos. The longer your viewing durations, the better your channel ranks.
- Channels are comparatively high-maintenance
- Requires some charisma, and basic knowledge of digital graphics, SEO, video editing
For the Artist – Instagram
Instagram is the top choice for those who want to post visual media. The highest-performing format is short-format video, so think about how you can create videos out of your illustrations and stills.
- Profile feed posts have a 60-second time limit, so you have one minute to hook your viewers with the most important info.
- IG TV videos must be at least one minute long. The maximum length is 15 minutes when uploading from a mobile device and 60 minutes when using a desktop.
- Instagram stories have a 15-second cut-off.
Instagram at glance:
+ As a mobile-first platform, users can post from anywhere
+ Offers different ways to plan your content (IG TV, IG Stories, Instagram Reels, photo posts and videos on your profile feed, etc.)
+ Different visual formats available (IG TV, IG Stories, Instagram Reels, image posts and videos etc.)
- Mobile apps for content editing are available.
- Instagram focuses on self-expression. Portraits and lifestyle shots work better than photos of gear.
- Dimension requirements for different media formats and auto-cropping features might drive you nuts.
For the Expert – Facebook
If you have enough money and time to drive your marketing, Facebook for business can give you the control and expertise you want. A variety of post formats encourage engagement, such as stories, polls, text posts, photos, videos, links, live videos, instant articles, 360 Video, etc, and analytics tools to help measure the campaign performance.
Facebook at glance:
+ Varying post types.
+ With appropriate knowledge of targeting, content creation and ad scheduling, you can grow easily.
+ Different FB sections, such as your FB page and FB group, can be connected to build a supportive community.
- You should post at least once daily.
- Mainly a paid medium with artificially limited reach
- Suitable for those familiar with marketing analytics.
For the 5- Minute Guy – Twitter
Twitter keeps messages short with a clear call to action. With a limit of 280 characters, trending and appropriate hashtags help get your tweets seen by the right people and can create engagement with conversational threads. Tweet frequently, and add a bit of your personality to your content – you can enrich tweets with visual media such as GIFs, photos and videos.
Twitter at glance:
+ This social network is suitable for beginners
+ Doesn’t require hours of content creation
+ Twitter has the most advanced hashtag functionality
- Twitter is not suitable for long text. If you want to share a long message, you need to continue the post in the comment section.
- Videos are limited to file size (512 MB) and length (2:20min)
- his is a conversation-starting platform, with sales rarely occurring directly from tweets
Wrapping Up
Whichever platform you choose, keep it consistent with other sites making up your online presence. Create a strong brand identity by using the same profile image everywhere and syncing About sections/bios (remember to post your Referral links there!) There is no better way to engage your audience than by giving them 20% off on Pond5.