Social media is rapidly changing. Twitter is losing users, Instagram is trying out longer-form video content, and changes to the Facebook newsfeed have made it more difficult for brands to reach their audience organically on the platform.
These changes inevitably mean frequent switch ups in social tactics for marketers. But there is one thing that isn’t set to change anytime soon – and that’s the importance of making use of high quality visual content to grab your audience’s attention and pull them in. Whatever the platform, audiences crave compelling, eye-catching images and video over plain, text based content. And if you want to maximise the power of visuals, you need to ensure you’re selecting and optimising the right images and videos for the right platform. In today’s blog, we’ll look at some of the current best practices for sharing images on Facebook and Instagram.
Short Videos With Captions
Facebook users have a big appetite for video content, consuming more than 100 million hours of it on the social network each and everyday.
That doesn’t mean your audience wants to spend prolonged periods pouring over your videos though. Like elsewhere on the internet, attention spans are low, with studies revealing that videos which last no longer than 90 seconds tend to generate the most engagement among Facebook audiences.
Another important consideration is that the majority of your Facebook audience are watching video content without sound, so if your videos rely heavily on narration or audio, your message may get lost without captions.
Include Multiple CTAs With Carousel Posts
Facebook’s new carousel page posts allow businesses and brands to showcase multiple images, links, and headlines, and most excitingly include multiple CTAs to drive different traffic objectives. For this reason, carousel posts are a great tool if your hotel is running a promotional campaign with multiple landing pages.
Think Outside The Square
While it was once only possible to publish square photos with an aspect ratio of 1:1 to the platform, Instagram has switched things up by introducing both horizontal and vertical image content. The update impacts both regular photo uploads and Instagram Stories, so let your creativity flow with whatever orientation and ratio works best.
Drive Traffic and Bookings With Stories
Since links don’t work in regular image posts, Instagram hasn’t always been the best platform for driving traffic back to your website.
This has changed, however, with the introduction of Instagram Stories. The new feature allows content creators to attach a link to their posts which users can visit simply by swiping up – opening up valuable opportunities to drive traffic and bookings. The feature is available to all users with 10,000 followers or a verified Instagram account.
How does your hotel use visual content to engage your audience on social media? Let us know in the comments below!
PAGES AND BLOG POSTS:
- The 5 Social Media Trends Ruling 2018
- Your 5 Social Media Priorities For 2018
- 3 Tips For Better Video Marketing on Social Media
