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Category: Social Media Marketing

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A Designer’s Guide To Instagram Sizes 2022

Author: Neenu Sara Abraham

How to calculate Instagram post sizes?

According to CNBC, Instagram reportedly crossed over 2 billion active users by the the end of 2021, and it has indeed become an unavoidable part of your marketing mix in this pandemic era. But, do you find it hard to perfectly fit your photos or videos on Instagram and worry about unnecessary cropping? This is your one stop guide to sizes of all Instagram features. Watch out for some secret designer tips at the end of each section!

Sizes For Instagram Photos

How to calculate Instagram post sizes?

This is basic math but easy to confuse. An aspect ratio of the post is the width to height ratio of the post and the resolution is the pixels (pixels per inch or ppi) on that post within this ratio. The key is to first choose a standard width for any post and then adjust the heights according to your aspect ratio.

Instagram post sizes 2022

Tip:
A standard 1080 px post width with an image resolution of 300 ppi is preferred. That way your Instagram post will have good image quality even after compression and an ideal colour quality shall be maintained on different devices. You can always go above this, the output file size will change accordingly. Always remember, images for digital sharing should be in RGB format. Use sRGB colour profile if you are using professional graphic tools like Photoshop or Illustrator.

SIZES FOR INSTAGRAM PHOTOS

1:1 Square post
(1080X1080 px)

This is the easiest and the best size for photos and carousels and they don’t give way for unattractive cropping on profile grid.

Tip:
While designing any post, it is convenient to leave an imaginary border around the design so that icons such as tags and carousel number do not overlap the important areas of your design.

4:5 Portrait post or 5:4 Landscape post
(1080X1350 px or 1350X1080 px)


This is the maximum possible size for an image post and maximum visible area on feed for any vertical post (including reels and videos). Since this size utilizes more area on a device screen, it can grab the users’ attention more than that of the square size. You can leverage this to bring more attention to your content.

Tip:
Keep the text and important parts of the visuals within an imaginary square (1:1) in the centre to avoid cropping on profile grid.

Sizes For Instagram Post, Reels & Videos

SIZES FOR INSTAGRAM REELS & VIDEOS

By now, we know that Instagram has been pushing reels and videos a lot and has been on a mission to give more value to Creators, Instagram Business and Shopping as well as messaging. This calls for quality video sizes to amplify your content to reach more audience.
You can post Videos upto 10 minutes and Reels upto 60 seconds long. MP4 format is preferred.

9:16 Portrait or 16:9 Landscape
(1080X1920 px or 1920X1080 px)

It is possible to post videos in the above mentioned sizes like 1:1 and 4:5 but Reels are best viewed in 9:16 or full screen mode. But these are not the same. 9:16 video or photo size is a universally convenient size and the full screen size is different for different brands of phones. Instagram lets you resize your 9:16 reels to full screen mode before posting but this will cause cutting of edges.

Tip: Keep your text and important areas of graphic within central 1:2 as the top and bottom areas of video will be covered by account name, caption, etc.

Videos can be in landscape or portrait from 1:1 to 9:16. It’s worth noting that the reels and portrait videos will play on feed in a maximum size of 4:5.

Tip:
While making any vertical posts like Instagram Stories, Reels and Videos, it’s smart to leave extra boundaries of 50px around them and design within the 9:16 area. Now the design area becomes 1180X2020 px.

Sizes For Instagram Story & Reels

SIZE FOR INSTAGRAM STORIES
9:16 (1080X1920 px)

Though you can’t reach new people, stories are the best way to communicate directly with your followers through stickers and by posting short lived updates. Each story can be 15 seconds long and Instagram splits videos upto 60 seconds by default into four stories of 15 seconds each.

Tip:
Keep your stickers like Ask question, Quiz, Poll, Link etc above the bottom 1/5th area of the screen as these may not be touchable on all devices.

SIZES FOR INSTAGRAM COVERS

  • Reels Cover Size – 9:16 (1080X1920 px)
    Tip: Before posting, you can view how your cover would look on the feed. On the description entering screen, scroll down to ‘Crop profile image’ and adjust the cover photo – you can move it up and down or even zoom in.
  • Video Cover Size – 4:5 (1080X1350 px)

Tip: While 4:5 size is viewed on the feed while scrolling, only the central 1:1 is visible on profile grid and in the videos tab. Add text and important areas of graphic within 1:1.

  • Highlights Cover Size – 1:1 to 9:16, 1080px diameter
  • Instagram Guide Cover Size – 1:1.55 (420X654 px)

Tip: You cannot upload a cover for Guide. It can only be chosen from your own posts or saved posts from other profiles. It’s good to have a demo Instagram profile which you can use for trying out all your size experiments before officially posting. Post your desired Guide cover on this demo profile. Save this post on the main profile. Now you can use this image from your saved posts as Guide cover.

Sizes For Instagram Covers

That’s it, ya’ll. By now, you might have understood that it is best to stick to the standard 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16 sizes. Here is a roundup of common tips:

  • Make sure the important parts that need to be visible on the profile grid are within the central 1:1 for all posts types.
  • For vertical content (stories, reels and videos), the text and story stickers must be avoided in the lowest 1/5th area.
  • If you want to edit a landscape video into a portrait reel, use 1:2 ratio for the reel. This will leave minimal cropping on sides compared to 9:16 and is ideal for vertical view too.

Before concluding, did you wonder why we use 1080px as the common width for any social media aspect ratio? This is because the most widely used aspect ratios for photography and videography across all devices are 1:1, 3:4, 4:5 and 9:16. And 1080px is the width (numerator) that is divisible by all these integers (1,3,4,5,9 & 16) without leaving long decimals that are complicated for calculating the height (denominator). A 1080 px image can ensure a minimum quality without getting pixelated. Happy creating, Instagrammers!

If you’re looking for ways to grow your small business on social media, here are 25 ideas to revamp and jazz up your social media feed. 

How To Pin Comments On Your Instagram Post

Author: Rwithu Menon

First of all, why should you pin a comment on your Instagram post?

Pinning your favourite comments to the top of your post’s comments section helps to define the tone of the conversation. It’s a way of moderating the comments by highlighting valid and positive discussion points. It also discourages and pushes down any negative comments further down the thread. 

Start conversations

When you invite opinions from the audience through a post, you may find several responses interesting and noteworthy. We say, pin your favourite ones! The pinned comments here can pose as conversation starters. The first time a person goes over the post, they read the pinned comments at the top and would be better prepared to voice their opinion. 

Showcase testimonials

Another use case is to highlight positive customer testimonials that appear in comments. For instance, if your post advertises a product or a service, you may find actual customers leaving comments about their own experience. Go ahead and pin those lovely comments!

Answer queries

When you receive valid questions from the audience, answer them in the comments and pin them to the top of the thread! 

Now on to the best part.

How do you pin a comment?

  • Depending on the device that you are using, long press or swipe left on the comment you want to pin.
  • Press the push pin button.
  • If you are pinning for the first time, tap ‘Pin Comment’ on the dialog that shows up.

That’s it, your favourite comment is now pinned to the top of the thread! Pinning a comment will notify the person who wrote it. You can pin a total of 3 comments but you can’t pin your own comments. Be sure to choose those 3 comments wisely.

Try it out and let us know what you think! Stay tuned for more such tips on our Instagram account and on this site.

25 Post Ideas To Jazz Up Your Social Media Feed

Author: Rwithu Menon

Consistency is paramount when managing social media accounts. It’s essential to show up regularly, whether it is daily, twice or thrice a week or 5 days a week, and make your presence known. At some point, though, you can feel blocked and not know what to post anymore! That’s when this list will come handy.

Here are 25 useful post ideas that you can use to create content for social media and keep your handles active throughout the month.

1. Introduce yourself

If you haven’t done it already, right now is the best time! Talk about your brand—your vision, your goals, how the brand came about and how it is going. The more your audience knows about the brand, the more connected they feel with your content.

2. Provide tips and tricks

People will appreciate any useful information you provide. Give the audience tidbits, helpful tips or references to learn more about a specific topic. Additionally, encourage them to share your posts and even save these tips for later.

3. Share quotes or interesting statistics

Feel free to include a related story, thought, or advice in the caption.

4. Base posts on topical content 

Always keep an eye on what’s happening in your country or the world. Connect with your audience by providing content related to topics they care about.

5. Share news related to your industry 

Let others know about the latest developments in your field to help them stay informed. 

6. Make it interactive

You can boost audience participation by encouraging comments, sharing, or tagging friends. Bring in questions/puzzles/teasers to keep the audience’s interest. 

7. Conduct contests

Announce contests regularly, especially around festivals and holidays with gifts for the winner. This is a great way to promote your brand and give away your products.

8. Celebrate milestones by offering freebies/offers

Involve your audience in celebrating your hard-earned success.

9. Give away promo codes or special offers

Your dedicated social media community deserves special treatment! Consider making free consultations or product discounts available for a specific period of time to encourage timely action.

10. Talk about your achievements and goals

It’s a good idea to reflect on your journey so far and share it with others.

11. Take them behind the scenes

Introduce your teammates, have them see where you work, show them your work routine and more!

12. Showcase client testimonials

Build trust by sharing positive reviews of satisfied customers.

13. Show off your best works

Display your best works to the world and let them know what you are capable of!

14. Publish weekly video content

Share quick how-to’s, behind-the-scenes, etc. with short videos to let your audience follow along with you.

15. Go Live to meet your audience

Showing your face is one of the best ways to make a deeper connection and engage in real time with your audience.

16. Take action on trending memes

Share your personal take on the latest memes that the internet is raving about!

17. Take a trip down memory lane

Make use of Throwback Thursday or Flashback Friday to remember happy times!

18. Provide a sneak peek into future work or new products

Tell your audience a little about what you are working on, in order to get them excited about it.

19. Promote your other social media accounts

Let people know your other handles to stay well connected.

20. Repost customer content

Build credibility by showing real life examples of how customers use your products or services.

21. Start a theme with special hashtags

Try friday quizzes, monday motivation quotes, or other similar themes to build a routine every week.

22. Share a life routine

Make it personal by sharing tidbits about your daily life. Discuss what you have planned for the weekend, what goals you have set for the week or perhaps even a to-do list you plan to complete in the coming weeks.

23. Answer an FAQ

Every other week, choose one of the most commonly asked questions and answer it.

24. Promote your product/service

Use social media to promote your products or services regularly. Don’t be afraid to do it!

25. Ask for recommendations or advice

Keep it light by getting the audience’s help on something you’re struggling with, be it movie recommendations, places to visit or something more serious.

Keep track of the social media content for each month by creating a monthly spreadsheet. Are you ready to tackle your content calendar for next month with all these content ideas for social media? 

Visit www.owlspire.com to learn how we do content creation for social media, come up with social media strategies for businesses, manage social media handles on behalf of all of our clients and more. Give us a hoot for any enquiries!

Ultimate Guide to Social Media Image Sizes

Author: Rwithu Menon

In a world where the average human attention span is 8 seconds (less than that of a goldfish!), eye catching visual content has become a necessity and not just a nice-to-have. It grabs people’s attention and increases engagement and click-through-rates (CTR) on any social media channel. Your audience will also be more likely to retain more of what you convey through visuals than those with just text—almost 6x times more!

For nailing the perfect social media creative you also need to adhere to each platform’s recommended dimensions. The right sized image or video tends to generally perform better because 

  • It ensures the best quality on each of these platforms
  • Displays well without any details getting cropped off the visible screen
  • Running ads on these quality posts get better results

You should keep in mind that visual content here refers to all the creatives that you upload across any platform—profile photos, cover photos, timeline photos, videos or even the content you share as stories. 

Now let’s look at the recommended dimensions you need to know for most common social media platforms.

Facebook

With 2.6 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the biggest and one of the most prominent social networking platforms used by brands and customers alike. To bring your content to your audience’s attention while they relentlessly scroll through their feed, you need to first do your research on what content works best and deliver the best quality posts, adhering to the Facebook post guidelines. 

Did you know?
According to Facebook reports, it has reached an advertising audience of 2.14 billion through its ads.

You can reach an even larger audience by running ads on your posts. The results from these ads largely depend on the quality of the visual content used, thus bringing us back to the main point – stick to the recommended dimensions for best results!

Instagram

Did you know?
81% of people use Instagram to research products before buying.

This very popular platform is a great place for businesses to market themselves. They can even sell products directly through the app! 

From your profile picture and feed imagery to your IGTv and Reels video, you absolutely need to pay attention to the size guidelines to stand out in this photo-oriented platform.

Twitter

Twitter acts as a useful platform for posting your company’s updates, retweeting news related to your industry and responding to customer tweets. According to reports, 82% of B2B content marketers used the platform for organic content marketing in the past one year. So seize your chance with top notch posts on this platform in 2021!

LinkedIn

A social media platform that emphasizes career networking, LinkedIn is best for building awareness for your brand, to engage and establish credibility in industry related discussions, to connect with other business professionals, and to reach out to and form relationships with your potential customers.

Did you know?
Brands that post weekly on LinkedIn see a 2x higher engagement rate.

According to LinkedIn reports, users are also 20x more likely to re-share a video post. Start marketing your brand on this highly popular platform if you are not already doing it!

Pinterest

Though not as popular as the rest of the social media platforms, Pinterest remains an important platform for marketing. Because of the highly visual nature of its feed, Pinterest is also positioned for higher engagement levels from its users.

By sticking to recommended dimensions, you ensure best image quality and also allow your pins to occupy maximum space on your audience’s feed.

The bottomline here is that before posting, you should adapt all visual content according to the guidelines of each individual platform to get optimum results. It’s the small details that matter, which can set you apart from your competitors!

We at Owlspire love to create content that pops out among the sea of posts and brings best results for our clients. Contact us for expert assistance on your brand’s social media handles.

Getting Started With Pinterest For Business

Author: Rwithu Menon

Pinterest is a paradise for those looking for inspiration, tips and information on any topic under the sun and also a way to keep those ideas organised. Whether it is related to your hobbies, next travel destination, or the latest trends that you are interested in, Pinterest has it all.

With over 442 million monthly active users, it is time to embrace this visual social media platform if that’s where your brand’s target audience spends most of their time.

By providing relevant information on a single pin, you are effectively cutting down the time for conversions considerably compared to those from other social media handles. Owing to the highly visual nature of its feed, Pinterest is also positioned for higher engagement levels from its users.

Like any platform, it helps if you have a checklist to get you through the basic setup of your business account that is optimised for maximum results, be it to increase sales or traffic to your website. Let’s get started!

What Are Pins And Boards?

A Pin is any image content that is saved by you, as a bookmark. You are also saving a short description of what it is all about and additionally, a website link where you can find more information about the Pin content.

As a brand, the Pins you create must be designed with your clients’ needs in mind. What are the products that you sell? How can your services help your customers? Can you offer some information that your audience can save for later?

Pins can be grouped into various boards on your Pinterest profile, based on your intent. For instance, you can create a board named ‘Bedroom Goals’ to save decor inspirations for bedroom renovations. If you sell home decor products, this is a great place to give ideas to potential customers on how to use your products! 

Or if you are a travel agency, you may create a ‘Travel Bucket List’ to list all the holiday packages that you offer. 

Setting Up A Business Profile

The first step is to create a business profile for your brand by heading over to Pinterest for Business. If you already have a personal profile, you may upgrade the same instead. A business profile is essential for accessing all the analytics about the performance of your profile, your Pins and the traffic that you drive to your website.

Once that’s done, be sure to keep these useful points in mind throughout your brand’s pinning journey!

     1. Optimise profile descriptions

Make your brand’s profile easily recognizable through consistent descriptions and branding across all of your other social media handles. 

Be sure to include appropriate industry keywords wherever possible to come up in relevant search results. For example, if your brand sells unique, handmade, artisanal chocolates, the profile bio (160 characters) should reflect the same.

Include a clear call to action that leads pinners to your website, your shop or whichever destination is relevant to your marketing efforts. Do you wish them to download a free pdf on your website? Drop that link in your Pin descriptions or profile bio!

     2. Enable pinning from your website

People often save images or blog posts from external websites to their own Pinterest boards. Similarly, to enable your brand’s website visitors to save Pins, it’s important to add ‘Pin It’ buttons using widgets available for your platform. This lets the reader save any image from your page to their boards.

     3. Claiming websites and social media handles

While you are editing your profile, check out the claim feature that lets you claim your website, social media handles, shop etc. 

Doing so gives you access to analytics for the Pins created from your claimed pages. These Pins will also be automatically marked as belonging to your brand so that the pinner can identify where to get more such Pins!

     4. Create boards with purpose

Make an initial list of boards that you want to focus on. Suppose your brand produces wines. On your first board, you could add listings for your wines and all wine-related information that your audience would be interested in. On another board, you could save cheese pairings that go well with your wines!

For each board, add a clear description (500 characters) that explains what it is all about and what a pinner can expect by following it. Through clear CTAs, encourage them to save Pins to their personal boards or lead them to your website for more information.

Create multiple boards that cater to different segments of your customers because not all of them may be interested in every one of your products or services. For example, a vegan pinner might follow a food brand’s vegan recipes board but not the meat recipes board.

You can further organise Pins to different sections within a board if that’s your thing!

     5. Ensuring Pin-wins

Now that you have a few boards ready, it’s time to start pinning! 

An ideal Pin has a high-quality image/video with an aspect ratio of 1:1 or 2:3. A video Pin can also be in the aspect ratio 9:16. Unless you are pinning directly from an external website, it is recommended to use the 2:3 ratio (1000×1500 px) while creating your Pins to ensure maximum image quality. Not to mention, vertical Pins occupy more space on the feed.

It is highly recommended to include text on the image to explain what the Pin is about. This not only catches your audience’s eye, it pushes them to save the Pin too. You can also try creating Pins with different variations of the text.

Each Pin should have relevant, concise descriptions (500 characters) and clear CTAs. All the more effective if you can include your brand name in the first sentence!

     6. Increase organic reach through external Pins

While creating your own Pins is important, saving Pins from other creators adds to your growing collection and also increases traffic to your Pins organically. The 70/30 rule is a good place to start—Pin 70% of your content and 30% of others. 

Group boards, with multiple contributors, are also a great way to increase traffic to your profile. You can search for and join group boards that are relevant to your industry. By pinning to these boards regularly, you can reach out to the board’s followers through their feeds.

     7. Establish regular pinning schedules

It is advised to save multiple Pins, from 5 up to 30 (or more) Pins a day! Make sure that you do not Pin excessively because Pinterest may suspend your account.

You can also keep your old Pins active by re-pinning them to your other boards after a considerable gap (5 to 7 days) to ensure more traffic or saves. 

If you have variations of the same Pin, for example, multiple Pins leading to the same blog post, make sure you space it out so that Pinterest considers each Pin a fresh one and gives them enough importance.

Keep Calm and Pin On

Your brand’s ultimate goal should be to serve your audience’s needs by curating a board that has a wide variety of useful Pins, both yours as well as other creators’. Doing so helps you establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Pinners will then flock to your brand for credible information! Keep in mind that the other Pins compliment your brand and do not compete directly with what you do. 

That’s it! You are now ready to embark on your brand’s Pinterest journey. If you need any assistance on any aspect of your brand’s digital media marketing journey, Team Owlspire is just a hoot, skip and a jump away! Contact us at hoot@owlspire.com to activate your brand online.

6 Social Media Trends for 2021

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