In the fast-paced world of Social Media, it can difficult to determine what strategy you should be using to share about your business. Video is great but now there are several ways to post video like Reels, vertical video posts, breaking videos up into small bites in stories, etc.
We’re breaking this down for you so you can determine the direction you want to go with your social marketing strategy.
Stories
Stories are available through both Instagram and Facebook. It is, simply put, a quick access newsfeed. The key point to remember with Stories is that they are only seen by people who are ALREADY following you! This is not a great way to find new followers; although it is an excellent way to keep your loyal audience engaged, informed and even rewarded. You can dig deep and really connect with your community through this format.
Stats About Stories:
- Photos will show for 5 seconds on Facebook and 7 seconds on Instagram before it moves to the next story.
- Videos can show for 60 seconds on Instagram stories and 2 minutes on Facebook. Some tricks are necessary to make this happen.
- Each photo or video will be available for 24 hours from time of posting, after that you can archive them.
- When you go Live, the video will be available for as long as you’re live.
- Stories are accessed by your followers from the top of your newsfeed on both Facebook and Instagram.
Reels
Reels are available through both Instagram and Facebook and are currently the top way to reach your audience (both followers and non-followers) and increase your engagement. It’s short form video that allow you to add music, stickers, special effects, etc and allows even amateurs to share creative content with their audiences.
Stats about Reels:
- In general Reels can be up to 90 seconds. There are tricks to do longer ones, though.
- Reels can be posted to your feed as well as show in your Reels section.
- Reels stay on your feed and in your Reels section forever unless you delete them.
- Sounds and music vary based on whether you’re using a business or personal account.
- Your caption can be up to 2200 characters and 30 hashtags on Instagram and is a good rule to follow for Facebook, too.
- Your caption is a great place to fill up with keywords about your Reel, as new followers can find you this way.
Posts
Posts on Facebook and Instagram are a great way to communicate with your audience. The posts, that show up on your wall, can be images, just text, videos, etc. Facebook business pages are automatically public, meaning everyone can see them. The same applies to Instagram if your page is set to public.
Stats about Posts:
- When you create a post, it will potentially show up in the newsfeed of those who are following you. It is not guaranteed to show up in their feed, though, so keep those posts interesting.
- The more engagement a post gets will raise the possibility that those who follow you will see that post.
- Your caption can be up to 2200 characters and 30 hashtags on Instagram.
- Facebook posts can have 63,206 characters and it is best practice to limit hashtags to 1 or 2 per post.
Hopefully this helps you strategize your social media marketing. One type of content is not necessarily better than the other, as Reels, Stories and Posts all have their place. A great tip is to try them all and see what is working for your page specifically. Always test and analyze and put more emphasis on what is work.
The nature of social media is that it is always changing. Keep this in mind while follow these guidelines and be ready to pivot your strategy if the need arises.
