Social media platforms definitely like to keep us all on our toes. The constant changing of image sizes and algorithms make it hard to keep up. So to make sure you stay on top of your social media game we have put together a handy Social Media Cheat Sheet (yours to download and keep — and don’t worry it’s printer friendly) that contains all the latest sizes, best times to post, and a little top tip thrown in there for good measure. In this blog post, we’re going to break down each platform and delve into each section of the cheat sheet to give you some extra information.
Twitter
Starting with Twitter, our most social of the platforms. Focussing on creating a community, engaging with your customer, and keeping the sales advertising to a minimum is the best way to approach this platform. Giving behind the scenes access or sharing information that is valuable to your customer are great ways to build a personality for your brand.
The best days to post on this platform are during the working week (Monday – Friday) with people being most active during their lunch hour through to the afternoon (12.00 – 15.00). Another great time to post is around 17.00 when people are likely to be commuting home from work looking for some post-work light relief.
When sharing images the best size is 1024 x 576px. While the desktop version can support square images, the mobile app chops your images into a rectangle shape so keeping to this aspect means that no important information will be lost when sharing on mobile.
Top Tip: Brand Recognition Through Hashtags
Creating a branded hashtag is a great way of tapping into user-generated content and engaging with customers easily. This means you won’t miss any tweets related to your brand if they only use the hashtag and not your company’s Twitter handle.
Example: Alzheimer’s Research UK uses the hashtag #sharetheorange to not only create awareness of their campaign but to collate user-generated content that they can retweet and share on their own social media channels.
Facebook
Next up it’s a social channel that most of us are very familiar with; Facebook. With so many people and businesses across the world using this platform, it really is a must have for any business.
The best days to post on this platform are during the working week (Monday – Friday) with people being most active between 09.00 – 15.00 (when most people should be working — but we will keep that between us). By posting between these times, it gives your content a good chance to be seen throughout the day and ready to hit that key sharing time (18.00).
So now that you know when to post, let’s talk about what to post. For Facebook, the best size to use for posts in 2000 x 2000px. This gives you more vertical real estate making your images a greater chance to be seen and clicked on when scrolling through the newsfeed.
Top Tip: Human Stories
People like people. So whether it’s a member of your team raising money for charity, somebody making a great contribution to the company, or even a birthday celebration — let your viewers get to know the people behind the brand for maximum engagement.
Example: Our ‘Meet The Team’ campaign last year featured each team member and a few of their favourite things. This allowed our followers to gain an insight into the people behind the designs. Using a short gif made the post visually interesting and helped keep viewers engaged for longer.
Instagram
Now for our most visual platform — Instagram — where your images really do the talking. Whether you are using photography, graphics, or video, this platform is a great place to promote your brand and it’s personality.
Engagement on Instagram is pretty constant throughout the week with Sunday being the only day that can see a slight dip. Again, commuting times (07.00 – 09.00 or 16.00 – 18.00) and lunch times (11.00 – 13.00) come out best for engagement so you want to have your post ready to hit these key times. With video engagement on the rise, the best time to post these is before 21.00.
Instagram has been pretty constant with its image sizes, with the standard size being 1080 x 1080px remaining unchanged since the platform launched. They now offer portrait and landscape alternatives, but square still remains the most popular.
Top Tip: Use Hashtags Quickly & Effectively
Keep a pre-organised list of hashtags that relate to your content in your emails or on your phone so they can quickly be copied and pasted into the comments section. You’re allowed a maximum of 30 hashtags per post.
Example: At the loft, we keep between 15 – 20 key hashtags saved in the notes section on our phones. This means when we post a new image, we can quickly copy and paste the relevant hashtags into the first comment of the post. Putting the hashtags into the comments section rather than including it in the caption ensures that the post doesn’t look messy.
LinkedIn
And last but certainly not least, the business heavyweight; LinkedIn. Professional and a great way to make some key B2B connections, LinkedIn is the perfect place to show off your expertise.
With work on the mind, the best days for engagement are between Tuesday and Thursday once again with commuting times (07.00 – 08.00 or 17.00 – 18.00) being the best time to post. Avoid between 22.00 – 06.00 when engagement will hit a lull.
Like Facebook, posting square images gives you more vertical real estate on the LinkedIn newsfeed and luckily using the same post size (2000 x 2000px) works perfectly. This will make your post stand out while the image quality remains high on both desktop and mobile.
Top Tip: Educate & Delight
Infographics are 300% more likely to get shared than any other content. Label each infographic with your LinkedIn page as the source so viewers can easily find your page.
Example: GE Renewable Energy used an infographic to explain the benefits of their product quickly and easily to their customers. Keeping it simple and highlighting key details makes the infographic effective and it definitely attracted attention with over 400 likes in just one day.
We hope this blog post has unravelled some of social medias greatest mysteries. Is your media in need of a refresh? Let’s get social, find us on all good social media platforms @tlcstudios.
Laura, Designer & Director of Noise
Miss Noisy! The team’s very own socialite and one who masters every situation she finds herself. Laura is the lady for every occasion. She has a formidable array of skills as a creative, diplomat, agony aunt, blogger, Tweeter, art-director, team player and our own favourite — noisemaker. A more perfect dinner companion, you will be hard-pressed to find.
Aug
Let’s Get Social
Posted by benbordone / News
Social media platforms definitely like to keep us all on our toes. The constant changing of image sizes and algorithms make it hard to keep up. So to make sure you stay on top of your social media game we have put together a handy Social Media Cheat Sheet (yours to download and keep — and don’t worry it’s printer friendly) that contains all the latest sizes, best times to post, and a little top tip thrown in there for good measure. In this blog post, we’re going to break down each platform and delve into each section of the cheat sheet to give you some extra information.
Twitter
Starting with Twitter, our most social of the platforms. Focussing on creating a community, engaging with your customer, and keeping the sales advertising to a minimum is the best way to approach this platform. Giving behind the scenes access or sharing information that is valuable to your customer are great ways to build a personality for your brand.
The best days to post on this platform are during the working week (Monday – Friday) with people being most active during their lunch hour through to the afternoon (12.00 – 15.00). Another great time to post is around 17.00 when people are likely to be commuting home from work looking for some post-work light relief.
When sharing images the best size is 1024 x 576px. While the desktop version can support square images, the mobile app chops your images into a rectangle shape so keeping to this aspect means that no important information will be lost when sharing on mobile.
Top Tip: Brand Recognition Through Hashtags
Creating a branded hashtag is a great way of tapping into user-generated content and engaging with customers easily. This means you won’t miss any tweets related to your brand if they only use the hashtag and not your company’s Twitter handle.
Example: Alzheimer’s Research UK uses the hashtag #sharetheorange to not only create awareness of their campaign but to collate user-generated content that they can retweet and share on their own social media channels.
Facebook
Next up it’s a social channel that most of us are very familiar with; Facebook. With so many people and businesses across the world using this platform, it really is a must have for any business.
The best days to post on this platform are during the working week (Monday – Friday) with people being most active between 09.00 – 15.00 (when most people should be working — but we will keep that between us). By posting between these times, it gives your content a good chance to be seen throughout the day and ready to hit that key sharing time (18.00).
So now that you know when to post, let’s talk about what to post. For Facebook, the best size to use for posts in 2000 x 2000px. This gives you more vertical real estate making your images a greater chance to be seen and clicked on when scrolling through the newsfeed.
Top Tip: Human Stories
People like people. So whether it’s a member of your team raising money for charity, somebody making a great contribution to the company, or even a birthday celebration — let your viewers get to know the people behind the brand for maximum engagement.
Example: Our ‘Meet The Team’ campaign last year featured each team member and a few of their favourite things. This allowed our followers to gain an insight into the people behind the designs. Using a short gif made the post visually interesting and helped keep viewers engaged for longer.
Instagram
Now for our most visual platform — Instagram — where your images really do the talking. Whether you are using photography, graphics, or video, this platform is a great place to promote your brand and it’s personality.
Engagement on Instagram is pretty constant throughout the week with Sunday being the only day that can see a slight dip. Again, commuting times (07.00 – 09.00 or 16.00 – 18.00) and lunch times (11.00 – 13.00) come out best for engagement so you want to have your post ready to hit these key times. With video engagement on the rise, the best time to post these is before 21.00.
Instagram has been pretty constant with its image sizes, with the standard size being 1080 x 1080px remaining unchanged since the platform launched. They now offer portrait and landscape alternatives, but square still remains the most popular.
Top Tip: Use Hashtags Quickly & Effectively
Keep a pre-organised list of hashtags that relate to your content in your emails or on your phone so they can quickly be copied and pasted into the comments section. You’re allowed a maximum of 30 hashtags per post.
Example: At the loft, we keep between 15 – 20 key hashtags saved in the notes section on our phones. This means when we post a new image, we can quickly copy and paste the relevant hashtags into the first comment of the post. Putting the hashtags into the comments section rather than including it in the caption ensures that the post doesn’t look messy.
LinkedIn
And last but certainly not least, the business heavyweight; LinkedIn. Professional and a great way to make some key B2B connections, LinkedIn is the perfect place to show off your expertise.
With work on the mind, the best days for engagement are between Tuesday and Thursday once again with commuting times (07.00 – 08.00 or 17.00 – 18.00) being the best time to post. Avoid between 22.00 – 06.00 when engagement will hit a lull.
Like Facebook, posting square images gives you more vertical real estate on the LinkedIn newsfeed and luckily using the same post size (2000 x 2000px) works perfectly. This will make your post stand out while the image quality remains high on both desktop and mobile.
Top Tip: Educate & Delight
Infographics are 300% more likely to get shared than any other content. Label each infographic with your LinkedIn page as the source so viewers can easily find your page.
Example: GE Renewable Energy used an infographic to explain the benefits of their product quickly and easily to their customers. Keeping it simple and highlighting key details makes the infographic effective and it definitely attracted attention with over 400 likes in just one day.
We hope this blog post has unravelled some of social medias greatest mysteries. Is your media in need of a refresh? Let’s get social, find us on all good social media platforms @tlcstudios.
Laura, Designer & Director of Noise
Miss Noisy! The team’s very own socialite and one who masters every situation she finds herself. Laura is the lady for every occasion. She has a formidable array of skills as a creative, diplomat, agony aunt, blogger, Tweeter, art-director, team player and our own favourite — noisemaker. A more perfect dinner companion, you will be hard-pressed to find.
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