Maximize Your Image Reach on Facebook // Social Media

I wrote in one of my first social media blogs about how you can increase your Facebook reach by sharing a link instead of an image. Sometimes, though, we don't have the option to share a link. And we can always gain an advantage by tagging anyone who appears in our images (especially as wedding vendors!). So how can you make the most of the images that you post?

Most business owners know that an image cannot be used in advertising if it is covered with more than 20% text. There is actually a helpful tool Facebook provides that will show you instantly whether or not your image will be approved for promotion. Since their definition of what that looks like may be different than yours or mine (it's based on how many blocks the text appears on in the image), it's always a good idea to check any images with text overlays ahead of time.

However, a somewhat recent change with Facebook ensures that no image with a large amount of text - whether it's promoted or not - will be successful. The problem Facebook was running into is the presence of what they define as 'low quality' content. This includes content called click bait (eg. an article that says "You won't BELIEVE what Jennifer Lopez does with her children!") and memes.

Yes, memes. Everyone loves a good meme - they're relatable, ridiculous, and help break up the news feed with something fun. However, Facebook has decided through their own terms that memes are not high quality content, and people don't enjoy them as much as they think they do. For that reason, ANY images with a lot of text on them will be classified as a meme.  Though they don't technically violate any terms, their reach will plummet. You can read a helpful article about it here.

The takeaway from this blog is to keep large text OFF your images! Use the Facebook grid tool even when you aren't promoting a post to ensure it's not covered in too much text and your reach will grow noticeably.

Let me know what's worked for you and what hasn't! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask :)

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Squaready for Instagram // Social Media Tips

Today’s blog post is a quick one, but definitely helpful for anyone – even if you’re not a business owner! I remember when I first entered the wide world of Instagram, thinking it was just a cool photo filtering app. I had no idea it was a social network! Times have changed since then :)

I used to see people post non-square pictures all the time and think, “How in the world?!” I love the idea of a whole lot of neat little squares, but sometimes square cropping cuts off faces or even just a part of your picture that you didn’t want to leave out!

Solution? Squaready for Instagram! (A similar app for Android is SquareIt) Squaready allows you to take any picture of any size and make it fit into a square. Just click on the top left icon, add your picture, and use the buttons on the bottom to fit the whole picture into a square without cropping. You can use your fingers to zoom in or out, depending on how much of the picture you want.

Then just tap the top right icon and save it to your album, or upload it straight to Instagram. There’s your beautiful picture, cropped exactly how you want it, with no faces or body parts missing. Beautiful, right? :)

I hope this quick tip was helpful for you, no matter who you are!

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Writing Compelling Captions // Social Media

So you wrote a blog, and you post it to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, waiting for people to read it. You've already taken the steps to create a linkshare and make it as interesting as possible...and yet, you know there's something more you still could be doing.

In the crazy world of social media, it always seems like a gamble to put your work out there. And in some ways, it is! Some days I feel like my posts will reach nobody, and my viewership is especially high. Other days, I'm sure my blog will be ready by EVERYONE, and a lot fewer people click than I expect. It's frustrating, to say the least, but there IS something you can do about it.

One of the most important aspects of writing a blog is the actual content. I know, that's a given. On the flipside, though, one of the most important aspects of posting your blog to social media channels is also the content - both what's in the blog and what you write about the blog to get people to click on it. Your captions can either make or break your post, and having a compelling caption could be what you need to bring your social media - and your website/blogging - to the next level.

Writing something like, "I'm so excited to share ___________!" is great, but could be better. Instead, try writing a caption that leaves your 'viewers' hanging. Give a tease of what's to come, but don't give it away yet. Think of all the articles you click on a daily basis. A lot of the time, the caption says something like "You won't believe what __________ did!" or "At first it looked hopeless, but then THIS happened."

Again, it's common sense once you think about it. The first caption will be clicked on by friends, family, and faithful followers. The second and third captions invite new viewers in, who just HAVE to know the end result. I'm not suggesting anyone writes cheesy captions, or baits people into clicking without delivering content. Use the content you have to inspire a great caption.

Here's a real example, from this post, and two example of captions I could write:
1) I love sharing social media tips. Check out one that will help you on the blog today!
2) Do you ever put your heart and soul into a blog post, only to have NOBODY click on it?  Here's how you can change that in one simple step!

The first caption isn't bad, but it's all about ME. The second caption is all about YOU, the reader, the one who I want so badly to click on my post. It took me about 5 minutes to write both of those, so this doesn't have to be time consuming. But just that one simple change will help you write better, share more, and have a higher viewership on your blog!

What social media questions do you have? What works for you - and what has NOT worked at all? I'd love to hear!

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