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Kerala home baker Mangala Unnikrishnan is proving age is just a number! CakePopShop Kochi offers fresh cream cakes, seasonal fruit cakes, tea cakes, eggless desserts, brownies, cookies & more. #mompreneur #Keralafood #supportlocal
Author: Neenu Sara Abraham
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!
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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.
Author: Tejashree Bhat
Influencer Marketing on Instagram has been in buzz for a while now. It takes the idea of celebrity endorsement but doesn’t actually involve celebrities. Instead, it revolves around “influencers”, many of whom would never consider themselves famous in an offline setting.
An influencer is someone who has power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position or relationship with their audience. They have a following in a distinct niche, with whom they actively engage. It is also important to realise that most influencers have systematically built a keen and enthusiastic audience. Their audience do not care much about the brand but care about the opinions of the influencer.
It is very important how you consider your approach to Influencer Marketing. Be organised, put together a strategy, plan, and budget, spend time on research. Decide on your approach to finding influencers. Be patient and be human while interacting with the influencer. Interact like people talking to people, not company talking to company.
The first step of any influencer program is to define your goals. Understand why you are carrying out an Influencer Campaign. Then define the target audience for your campaign. For Influencer Marketing to be successful, you need to work with influencers who influence your target audience. From that, define the best type of influencer for your brand. Search for these influencers, either manually or with a platform. Make contact with these influencers and then contract them.
As a brand you also need to do some groundwork. Firstly, interact in positive and constructive ways on influencers’ social pages. This way you gain early access to their followers. You’re showing your face as a member of their community without promoting anything to them and adding your credibility down the line. Eventually, when you do propose Influencer Marketing collaboration, the influencer will already know you, what you’re about, and whether you’re a good fit for their audience.
Post marketing you can measure the results with increase in:
1. Audience Reach
2. Impressions
3. Engagement (Comments, Likes, Shares)
4. Sentiment
6. Conversions
Lastly remember Influencer Marketing isn’t just about finding someone with an audience and offering them money or exposure so they can say good things about you. Influencer Marketing is also not about quick results. It’s the slow-and-steady approach just like Social Media and Content Marketing.
Author: Kishor Venkatesh Rajeeva
Every social media post you write reflects your brand. Sloppy content will make your brand look sloppy. That’s why you need to write thoughtfully, be concise and engaging at the same time. There is a fine line between being sloppy and being meticulous. Here are seven tips for writing effective social media content.
You must talk to them on social media like you are talking to a friend. How? Say ‘you’ more and write stories by placing the audience at the center of your story.
People skim on social media. So, try limiting your writing to just one or two sentences if possible because short sentences work best.
Instead of saying, “Here is our latest blog about a very awesome topic you’ll enjoy,” you can say, “Here’s our latest blog post post about .”
Did you see that? The second sentence says the same thing more specifically with fewer words. It also sounds better as a result.
The active voice talks about an action you are taking, and it produces an engaging copy. We must try to use active voice in most of our business writing for effective communication. It sounds conversational because readers are more familiar with active than passive.
Instead of saying, “An engaging copy will be written by me,” which is written in a passive voice, say, “I will write an engaging copy,” which is written in an active voice and sounds better. The passive voice sentence lacks action and sounds factual, while the active voice is action-driven.
Homework for you – Write five sentences in the active voice and post them in the comments.
Here are the reasons people share content
Write in such a way that makes people feel they want to know more. When writing the description to a link that you are sharing, try not to give the complete information. You can leave some details unanswered and imply that your article will have further details.
“Move Over, Great Emu War: Hummingbirds Single Winged-ly Halt Controversial Construction Project” doesn’t give the complete information. What is the ‘Great Emu War?’ What is the controversial construction project?
Your copy and image content must together tell the same story. Even if you cannot match them, you must creatively connect the two..
What happens when you reach a wrong destination after clicking on a link? You feel like throwing the piece of the tiramisu in your hand at the ceiling. We can use clickbaits effectively to arouse intrigue and without being spammy as long as the destination page matches the description’s intent.
Few content sharing tips we want to give you are:
So there it is! The tips for writing effective social media content. We must bring to your attention that 2021 is filled with brands and professionals competing on social media clamouring for attention. Those who write compelling content have the edge.
We can help you in creating compelling and effective content for your brand. Owlspire provides content marketing services tailored to your marketing needs. Get in touch with us.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Feel free to include a related story, thought, or advice in the caption.
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.
Let others know about the latest developments in your field to help them stay informed.
You can boost audience participation by encouraging comments, sharing, or tagging friends. Bring in questions/puzzles/teasers to keep the audience’s interest.
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.
Involve your audience in celebrating your hard-earned success.
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.
It’s a good idea to reflect on your journey so far and share it with others.
Introduce your teammates, have them see where you work, show them your work routine and more!
Build trust by sharing positive reviews of satisfied customers.
Display your best works to the world and let them know what you are capable of!
Share quick how-to’s, behind-the-scenes, etc. with short videos to let your audience follow along with you.
Showing your face is one of the best ways to make a deeper connection and engage in real time with your audience.
Share your personal take on the latest memes that the internet is raving about!
Make use of Throwback Thursday or Flashback Friday to remember happy times!
Tell your audience a little about what you are working on, in order to get them excited about it.
Let people know your other handles to stay well connected.
Build credibility by showing real life examples of how customers use your products or services.
Try friday quizzes, monday motivation quotes, or other similar themes to build a routine every week.
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.
Every other week, choose one of the most commonly asked questions and answer it.
Use social media to promote your products or services regularly. Don’t be afraid to do it!
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!
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