Your profile picture is your primary identity, along with your username. Make sure it’s what you intend users to see. It should also look good and be consistent.

The first step is to make sure you have the right Instagram profile picture size. You can then adjust or design your profile picture accordingly.

In this article, we’ll go over the recommended Instagram profile picture size, along with how you can upload and design it.

Let’s dive right in.

What’s the Recommended Instagram Profile Picture Size?

The recommended Instagram profile picture size is 110 x 110 pixels, and the aspect ratio is 1:1 to make it a perfect square.

Furthermore, you should only use JPG and PNG file formats for your pictures.

Additionally, when you check the profile picture on the desktop, the dimensions should be 180 x 180 pixels. However, keep in mind that these are the minimum recommended dimensions for the profile picture.

You can have higher resolution pictures, but they need to have a 1:1 aspect ratio to ensure it’s a perfect square. Consequently, when your profile picture shows up in a circle, it encompasses all the primary elements of your profile picture.

You can also upload a file that’s 1000 x 1000 pixels. However, Instagram stores all images in 320 x 320-pixel size. That means your high-quality picture will maintain its high-definition look without causing wearing and tearing.

In any case, you should make sure that you maintain the aspect ratio, along with the file size. Your profile picture size shouldn’t exceed 2MB. However, if your picture is above 2MB, you can either crop it to reduce the size or use an online tool like this to do it for you.

Furthermore, if your picture has another file type, you can use this online tool to convert it into a JPG.

Try to keep Instagram’s community guidelines in mind when uploading your profile pictures.

Additional Instagram Dimensions You Should Know About

If you’ve only just started using Instagram, you need to know about some additional Instagram dimensions to make sure you get it right.

After you’re done creating your Instagram profile and have gone through the verifications, you can start customizing your account. You should start by choosing a good username, a relevant profile picture, and a bio, along with some other things like a website.

If you’re confused about setting up a username, you can always use an Instagram name generator. However, keep in mind that there’s a 30-character limit for the username.

Similarly, there’s a 150-character limit for the bio as well.

The following are some of the Instagram dimensions you’ll need to know from here on out:

• Recommended Instagram Post Size – The recommended Instagram post size is 1080 x 1080 pixels. It has to be a JPG or PNG, with a 1:1 aspect ratio. If the size or aspect ratio varies, Instagram will automatically crop your post (you’ll get the option to choose what part stays in the picture).
• Instagram Video Size – The ideal Instagram video size is 1080 x 1080 pixels with a 1:1 aspect ratio. However, it can be as low as 600 x 600 pixels.
• Ideal Instagram Story Dimensions – The recommended Instagram story dimensions are 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. Furthermore, it has to be a JPG or PNG and cannot exceed 30MB in size. For videos, it should be MP4 or MOV. The size and duration shouldn’t exceed 4 GB and 15 seconds, respectively.
• Recommended Instagram Ad Size – The ideal Instagram ad size is 1080 x 1080 pixels with a 1:1 aspect ratio.
• Instagram IGTV Dimensions – The recommended IGTV dimensions are 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. It works for Instagram Live videos too.

You can use these for a better Instagram experience.

How Do I Change My Instagram Profile Picture?

Once you have a proper understanding of the Instagram profile picture size, you can move on to how you can change your profile picture.

There are no restrictions on when or how many times you can change your profile picture.

Since Instagram is a mobile-first platform, you have to do it on mobile. There are two ways to change your profile picture — through the app or on the browser. However, it’s best to use the app.

The following sections explain the step-by-step process for changing your Instagram profile picture on the app and browser.

Changing your Instagram Profile Picture on the Instagram App

Follow these steps to change your Instagram profile picture on the app:

1. Open the Instagram app on your mobile phone (log in if you haven’t done so already).
2. Depending on whether you’re on Android on iOS, go to your Instagram profile.
3. Once there, there are two ways to move forward. (First way) If you tap your current profile picture, the app will prompt you to take a picture with your camera. That way, you can immediately take a picture and set it as your profile picture. (Second way) If you want to choose a picture from your phone’s gallery, tap the Edit Profile button below the bio section.
4. On the top, you’ll see the circle that displays your profile picture. Below that, tap the Change Profile Photo button to open this prompt.
5. Here you can choose whether you want to set a new profile photo, import one from Facebook, or remove your current profile photo. If you tap New Profile Photo, you can choose a photo from your gallery.
6. Once you’ve chosen your picture, tap the arrow in the top right corner.
7. Here, you can choose some of the best Instagram filters to apply to your picture. You can also edit your image using various options.
8. Simply tap the arrow in the top right corner, and your new Instagram profile picture will get uploaded.

You can repeat this process as many times as you want.

Changing Your Instagram Profile Picture on a Browser

To change your Instagram profile picture on a browser, you have to follow the same steps above.

Just open Instagram on your browser and login if you haven’t done so already. Follow the steps listed above, choose a picture from the file browser, and save it.

It is, however, recommended that you use the app to do so.

Why Using the Right Instagram Profile Picture Size is Important

Your Instagram profile, personal or business, is a visual portfolio of who you are. Everything from the profile picture to your posts defines you and your brand.

Therefore, it’s important to stay consistent and make sure that your posts and pictures are clearly visible. If you want to have a good following, then branding is crucial. Part of the branding process includes understanding and using the right sizes and dimensions.

If you’re setting up your profile, one of the first things you’ll have to do is upload a profile picture. You’ll have to crop it according to Instagram dimension requirements if the size isn’t correct.

Keep in mind that the actual profile picture shows up as a circle. Therefore, even if you follow the right Instagram profile picture size, your picture still might not show up as you want.

That’s why it’s crucial to understand the size and requirements beforehand. That way, you can set your picture’s size accordingly and then adjust your image for the circle crop.

It’s best to design your picture keeping the circle crop in mind. After that, you can set it according to the recommended Instagram profile picture size.

How Can I Design a Great Instagram Profile Picture?

Now that you have a good idea about the right Instagram profile picture size, its importance, and how you can change it, you can move on to designing it. You can edit your profile picture online using Pixelied’s editor.

It’s pretty easy because you can set your dimensions accordingly.

Here’s how you can design your new Instagram profile picture using Pixelied:

Step One – Open Pixelied and Create a Design

Open up Pixelied’s easy-to-use editor on the Pixelied website.

This will take you to the editor with the recommended Instagram profile picture size.

Step Two – Add Relevant Design Elements

After your canvas is open, you can start designing your profile picture. You’ll see a lot of options on the left side. These let you edit, add elements, and do more.

Here’s a complete list of options you have:

• Images – This lets you add stock photos or upload your own.
• Text – You can also add custom text boxes.
• Illustrations – If you have any custom vectors or illustrated characters, you can add them using this option.
• Mockups – This option lets you see how your image would look on different screens and devices.
• Brandify – If you’ve uploaded personal brand assets, you can access them here.
• Elements – This options lets you add various shapes.
• Icons – If you want to add logos and social media icons, you can do so using this option.
• Blend – This option allows you to experiment with color palettes.

You can customize your profile picture however you want, and you can experiment with its opacity, shadows, and other options.

Step Three – Download Your New Instagram Profile Picture

Once you’re done designing your picture, click on the Download button in the top-right corner. You’ll see this window pop up:

Here, you can choose from different file formats. However, it’s best to choose JPG or PNG for Instagram. Furthermore, you can also adjust the quality of the image.

Though, it’s best to keep it at 100. You don’t really have to mess around with the size option for Instagram.

Once done, simply click the Download button and you’ll have your new Instagram profile picture.

In Conclusion

Creating an engaging Instagram profile isn’t hard if you’re consistent and original with your content. But, if you want people to remember you, you need to build your brand correctly. It starts with customizing your profile the right way. These profile picture ideas can help you create an eye-catching and creative display picture for Instagram.

You also have to take care of written content, hashtags, and links in Instagram, among other things.

Lastly, keep the Instagram profile picture size in mind, and then move on from there.

The post What is the Ideal Instagram Profile Picture Size? [+Upload] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

With the platform choked with ideas, it can be hard to come up with something completely new. However, that doesn’t have to be the case!

You can take bits of inspiration from already interesting profiles and create your own.

To help you out, in this article, we’ll take a look at 12 creative Instagram story ideas for inspiration, as well as some tips on which elements to adopt from each.

Let’s jump right in.

Top 12 Creative Instagram Story Ideas in 2021

It can be confusing figuring out exactly what you should put on your Instagram story. Luckily, you have this article to improve your Instagram marketing strategy. Before you start developing creative Instagram story ideas, your followers should get to know more about you.

To figure out your target audience, you need to ask yourself a few questions like:

• What product/service do you offer?
• Why and what problems can you solve for your audience?
• What type of content will they like?

You should always strive to bring new ideas to the table. To give you an example, we’re going to talk about some different types of content ideas you can use for an Instagram story to keep your audience engaged.

You should also keep the Instagram algorithm in mind when making your IG Stories. The algorithm itself relies on user preferences, stories that people react to, and where they spend most of their time.

All of the methods below work for any type of account. It could be a small business account or a personal blog.

1.    Poll Stickers

Poll stickers are a great way to get feedback on almost anything. It doesn’t just have to be limited to your brand. You can talk about a variety of stuff. For instance, you could start a poll about the simplest of things like your favorite food, car or, vacation destination.

Poll stickers are the best way to ask people about the type of content they’d like to see.

The response to surveys can help you in creating more relevant content based on your customer interests.

It can be easy for your followers to drift away. But surveys have always been a fun way to keep your followers engaged.

2.    Before and After Edits

Reveals are another way to keep customers hooked. They can be about anything and can help businesses a lot.

Reveals can show anything before a change and what it would look like afterward. Be it your product packaging or just your bedroom transformation.

If you have a product or service, you can showcase the results of your client’s feedback.

There are Instagram accounts that have a wide range of before and after images. By showing the before and after edits, they show their followers how they did it.

Ah, the satisfying transformations.

3.    Q&A Videos/Question Sticker

It can be hard to figure out what you want to talk about in your video/IGTV. However, there’s an easy way out. You can collect questions that your followers have asked on the “question sticker” and answer them.

This gives your audience a better chance to get to know you better.

4.    Go Live

Going live is a new feature that people are starting to use. When you go live, you can respond to the comments as well. However, it takes time to reply to every individual DM.

That said, it really helps boost engagement on social media.

A really cool feature on IG is that your live video is up on your story for 24 hours, in case if anyone misses it.

Also, your followers also get notified every time you go live, so they can start viewing.

A live video can be about anything. You can talk about a specific topic or a live seminar update.

5.    Post Memes

Meme pictures are a new way to relate to each other, plus they have value for captions. The meme aesthetic is recognizable: usually goofy photos with text overlaid above the image or gifs.

You can spot one immediately.

Memes have a very particular audience that spends the most time online and has sarcastic humor. It’s mostly Millennials and Gen Z.

You can make memes that would fit your account, and your followers will probably relate to them. Meme posting helps in grabbing attention, and it’s safe to say that memes are always shareable.

6.    Show Your Team/Workplace

If you have a staff, you should introduce them to your followers. It helps everyone connect. Also, your brand gets recognized by more people that way.

It also shows how much you care about your employees. Your staff will also have more pride in their work if they’re recognized.

Showcasing your team shows how you’re around in your workplace and what goes on behind the scene. It also helps improves credibility, as you seem confident and transparent.

7.    Tutorial

You can post quick tutorials, or challenges, showing what you do best and how you do it. Be it from small cooking/baking tutorials or for your professional or personal account.

You could create a short video focusing on anything you like. It could show you in action while you’re working. It also helps you build user-generated content.

Most influencers and bloggers do product reviews and small tutorials to show how to use certain products and what the results would be.

If you’re focusing on makeup, tutorials are your best friend.

8.    New Post

If you post anything new or have an old Instagram post that you want more people to engage on, repost it on your story feed. It will help you reach a wider audience. Not all your posts show up on everyone’s feed, but reposting your story will help keep it in front of their eyes.

You’ll be able to connect with your audience if you talk about a specific topic in your stories or post on a relevant topic.

9.     Repost

If you’re looking for more engagement, reposting can serve as a refresher. Reposting doesn’t have to be limited to your posts. It could be anyone’s post.

It can be anything nice you read and would want to share with your Instagram followers. This way, you also have more content to share, and others get exposure.

Reposting anything with a trending hashtag can increase views as it gets shown to a larger audience.

10.     New Product/Product Launch

It’s great to build up the anticipation of a new product that you plan on releasing so your audience is ready for what’s to come. It’s fun to throw in some sneak peeks here and there to keep your audience excited.

It also makes your Instagram followers feel like they’re part of the process and excited for something new. You can create a sense of mystery for them, so when you launch your product for the first time, your audience rushes to see what it is.

Once you launch your product, you can add it to your story with the swipe-up feature. It will take the user directly to the product page.

Additionally, you can partner up with influencers and bloggers to market a new product. You can also give them a personal discount code that they can share with the engaging audience.

11.     Testimonials

Happy clients are your most powerful assets. It’s hard to build trust nowadays if you have an online business, but customer testimonials help save the day. You don’t want to fill your main feed with testimonies.

Stories are a great way to keep testimonials in front of your followers. You can even add them to your highlights, so they always stay on your account. Any new user can come and check it out. It helps build credibility.

You can also ask your customers to use the product and tag your account for a chance to get featured.

12.     Giveaways

Giveaways are the most trending way to get the maximum social sharing for any specific post and grow your community on Instagram. “You’ve got to spend money to make money.”

In any giveaway, users who share posts get a chance to enter a prize contest; after completing some required steps. It promotes or gives your account a shoutout.

Giveaways aren’t that complicated. All you need to do is:

1. Choose a prize for the giveaway
2. Decide criteria (follow or share a post)
3. Decide a duration
4. Create an attractive post for the giveaway with a reminder countdown
5. Select a winner

The more giveaways you host, the more people will engage. I mean, who doesn’t like free stuff?

What is the Ideal Instagram Story Size?

The recommended Instagram Story dimensions ideally have an aspect ratio of 9:16, where the size is 1080 x 1920 pixels. It’s always best to keep 250 pixels from the top and bottom as a safe area since it’s usually covered.

This size goes for both images and videos. If it doesn’t fit, the visual will be cropped or zoomed in to fit the screen.

How to Use Pixelied to Bring Your Instagram Story Ideas to Life

Pixeled can help you create detailed and creative stories for Instagram, ads, or catchy profile pictures with the recommended dimensions so that the display picture isn’t cropped or blurry.

It could be a poster or a flyer, product launch, or any of the above. You’re more likely to find relevant templates on Pixelied to get started.

Pixelied offers a bunch of templates. Or, you can choose to start with a blank canvas. You can add text in the heading, sub-headings, or body text.

Step One – Open Pixelied’s Editor

To get started, simply go to our free Pixelied editor.

Step Two – Choose Instagram Story Template

In the left panel, you can go through a bunch of Insta story templates that are ready to use.

All the customizable templates are already set to recommended dimensions (1080 x 1920) by default.

Step Three – Add Various Design Elements to Your Story Art

Further down, on the left panel, you’ll have multiple options to edit your template. You can edit your story art by adding images, text, illustrations. Furthermore, you also have the option of adding elements like emojis or Icons.

You can also find control options for size, shadows, or opacity, along with blending colors to make your palette with custom gradients.

Step Four – Download Your New Instagram Story Art

Once you’re satisfied with your Instagram story, you can go ahead and click the Download button on the corner right of the workspace.

Choose the file type, quality, and size, and download your art.

Bottom Line

Instagram is all about visuals. And with the help of Pixelied, you can create fun and engaging content.

See, how you use an Insta story is crucial to your success.

Creating content can be a full-time job if you want to keep your followers interested. With the help of this article, you now have some Instagram tips that can help you to create content, increase engagement and followers.

The post 12 Creative Instagram Story Ideas for Inspiration [+Tips] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Now, we know it looks tough for a beginner since there are already so many established creators.

But, what if we told you that you can totally be one of those big influencers with the right content ideas.

To help you out, in this article, we’ll go over some creative TikTok video ideas that are almost guaranteed to take your content (and you as an influencer) to another level. We’ll also share some useful TikTok tips to help you create viral videos!

Let’s get started.

Top 10 TikTok Ideas for Viral Content in 2021

It’s safe to assume that most TikTok trends can change very quickly. Each time you refresh your feed, like on other social networks such as Snapchat, thousands of new videos appear with new content, challenges, and hashtags.

Social media videos are the most engaging form of content, and that’s why YouTube has managed to grow to what it is today. That is why companies like Vimeo and Vine became popular. However, they were lacking some key elements that TikTok managed to capitalize on. That’s why TikTok is used and followed by over 1 billion people worldwide.

In any case, the key to creating a viral TikTok is that your video needs to keep the viewers captivated. The more time people spend on the video, the more it will help the algorithm display similar content to other users.

We know that starting from scratch and coming up with new ideas can be pretty exhausting. To help you out, we’re going to discuss the top ideas that have been trending on TikTok for some time now. All you need to do is add your creativity to these TikTok ideas, and you’re good to go.

1) Interpretive Dance Videos

With the increasing influence of today’s pop culture, dance videos have started to go viral, along with duet videos.

Dance video trends can be an easy jump to help you land on the ForYouPage (FYP).

Most of these TikTok challenges start with popular songs, with their own twist. Having your own unique way to complete a challenge will help you stand out among other TikTok users.

This video is a 15-second dance performance on the trending song Renegade. Many people have created their own version of this TikTok as well. With over 29 million videos, Renegade has been the most popular dance video on TikTok so far.

“Flip the switch” is another example of a trending video challenge. Here’s US Senator Elizabeth Warren doing the challenge.

@nbcsnl𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵.♬ Nonstop – Drake

These dance music videos have their own trending hashtags, which help you get more views and scale-up.

A lot of people have also built their music playlists using these dance video songs.

2) Narrating Animal Video Clips

Making videos about frogs or cats might not be your thing, but they can be hilarious. These animal dubbed videos have trending hashtags, which aren’t even region-specific. Think of it like the days of Annoying Orange from YouTube, except with animals and pets.

People all around the world love animals. Any trending sound related to your niche could help you bring relevance to your audience in a trending way.

These days, most animals have their own accounts on these social media platforms.

One such example is “Ultimate Dog Tease,” a TikTok made by Andrew Grantham (Canadian entertainer) that’s garnered over 60 million views.

You can easily do something like this if you have a pet at home.

3) Life Hacks

TikTok can be a time-consuming black hole, but it can teach you a bunch of useful things too. Over the years, TikTok has been a huge resource for useful life-hacks and DIY money-saving projects.

Surprisingly — you can learn a lot on this app — where everyone shares their secret hacks or their own special way of doing things in the form of a short video.

This gives people who are less aware a chance to get more insights into different ways people live their lives. With so many living issues and complications, you can showcase your routine and how you manage your day.

From small things like learning a new way to fold laundry to saving money on your skincare routines, you’ll find it all on TikTok. You probably have this guy in mind.

Also, most DIY projects are a healthy way to escape your daily stressful routine.

4) Book Reviews

People who love books or literature have a safe space on TikTok too.

There’s a hashtag #BookTok, that’s going around; it has over 4 million views. This is where content creators discuss amazing finds and leave reviews. They also share recommendations for different genres, making it easier for you to choose your next read.

These hashtags help the algorithm in reaching the audience more related to video content.

5) Product Reviews

People love funny and genuine product reviews. And with a vast number of online stores available now, you can never physically judge a product anymore.

The benefit of PR packages and product reviews is the trust built between the brand and audience, while also creating product awareness.

It’s a risk for business owners to spend so much money and not have it turn out how it’s supposed to, especially for small businesses. Since not everyone has the money to buy each product, they rely on product reviews to get the information they need.

A lot of businesses also reach out to influencers to do product reviews. This helps them boost their product reach.

#ProductReview has over 403 million hashtags used in videos. It can be easy to find creative ways to review a product. One of the ways you can do this is by testing it out.

Make it a quirky, authentic product review, add in some jokes, and you’re good to go.

6) Tell Stories

Storytelling on TikTok is extremely effective. The app itself encourages engagement with other users.

You can use short and fun stories that would amuse your audience. Additionally, if you’re a marketer, try to create stories that would help you connect with customers.

You can create a hashtag challenge with your stories and increase awareness using the TikTok hashtags. For example, Elf Cosmetics’s challenge #eyesfacelips helped create brand awareness, and bring in 3 million views worldwide, along with user-generated videos.

This has vast potential to drive business growth.

7) Vlogging

Vlogging has become a very sought-after profession nowadays. According to a survey, 75% of teens who use TikTok said they would consider Vlogging as a profession.

It offers many opportunities to promote yourself and increase views to a larger audience. It also gives you a chance to showcase your creativity and step out of the box.

Also, it’s super cheap!

Nowadays you don’t have to invest in all sorts of technical equipment. The quality of cameras on smartphones is good enough to get you started.

TikTok is also the best place to post your vlog teasers. It should be good enough to get viewers hooked and visit your channel.

However, the app is filled with content creators, so you only have a minute to showcase your content and grab people’s attention.

8) Recreate Ads

We all have some ads stuck in the back of our heads because they were either catchy, funny, or memorable. Why not recreate it?

Humor can hit hard, and a funny ad can help catch attention pretty quickly. TikTok is the perfect platform for users to actively create new content every day, rather than only consume it.

The more followers you have, the more brands approach you for a paid partnership to post their ads with you.

For example, the TopCommericals channel posts videos of ads in hilarious edits. That has helped them garner over 16 thousand followers.

9) Random Voiceovers

An extremely popular channel #voiceover has over 12 billion views overall.

If you have a video where you want to add a funny voice to explain what is happening, TikTok is the perfect place to do that. TikTok has so many short bits of audio for you to play around with. However, you can also use original sounds as well.

People leave all sorts of sounds on TikTok, including funny voicemails to recreate videos on. Making completely random voiceovers on your videos of your pets or toys can go viral too.

Anything creative you can make is always appreciated on TikTok.

Like this video by Zane, on a random voicemail with over 4 million likes. Or this lion voiceover.

@memeelordSmooth moves ##fyp ##foryoupage ##comedy ##funny ##meme ##hilarious ##voiceover ##laugh ##jokes ##dontletthisflop ##axefingersdown ##lion ##smooth ##4u ##4up♬ LION VOICEOVER – MemeLord

10) Alternative Makeup Challenges

We all know about Makeup Brands that are killing it on TikTok. With the new makeup challenges coming in, everyone’s inner makeup artist is coming out.

This is something that most people do every day, but on TikTok, it’s a challenge completed. Videos are getting billions of views, and most people have started their own makeup channel.

A lot of people have learned from these TikToks on how to do professional makeup at home, economically. Not everyone can afford expensive makeup. But influencers have come out with affordable drugstore products that are available for everyone.

NYX Professional Makeup had around 30 thousand followers. But their viral hashtag #ButterGlossPop brought 11 billion views, increasing their following to a total of 200 thousand followers.

Ending Note

If you are considering making TikTok videos, you now have all the best TikTok ideas to get you started.

Many people have become professional influencers using these ideas. Most people have even made these videos their careers. This platform is for everyone, without any judgments, even if you’re a beginner.

Most of these things happen in your daily life and don’t require you to go the extra mile. It’s just everyday stuff presented creatively. TikTok allows you to showcase your talent, regardless of what that talent is. Furthermore, you don’t even need to have a lot of followers. TikTok helps your video reach viewers organically, especially if it’s well-received; that’s why it’s much easier to go viral on the platform.

If you think you have something cool and exciting to show to the world with the TikTok ideas above, create your channel today! However, always keep the best time to post on TikTok in mind to maximize your views and engagement.

The post 10 Best TikTok Ideas to Create Viral Content in 2021 appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Instagram is one of the hottest new marketing tools for business and social engagement. But do you know the best way to get the absolute most out of it? Once you understand the basics of how it works, Instagram can be just the thing to get your all-important message to the masses. 

Your goal with any social engagement is to drive traffic to your business website, blog, or online store. The most beneficial way to do this is by using links. 

But there’s just one minor issue with this. The way Instagram makes the bulk of its money is by showing its frequent scrollers ads. If people click on outbound links and leave Instagram, there’s no one to view its ads. To supplement this, Instagram doesn’t allow you to use links to other websites freely.

So how do you get your followers to visit your website?

Best Tips And Tricks To Increase Traffic

Use Links in Your Bio

The first place new followers look when they visit your profile is your bio. So your bio is prime real estate for an outbound link to your business or online store. You can only use a single link in your bio due to Instagram’s one link rule; optimizing your one link opportunity is integral. 

When linking to your website, the best practice is to link to your home page, not your landing page. Your home page is where new followers can get the most comprehensive picture of who you are and what you do. All that a landing page does is entice visitors to check out your home page.

In the case of Instagram, your profile should be considered your landing page and be all the enticement a potential client needs to visit your website’s home page. 

If you’re linking to your online store, it might be wise to link your bio to your latest offerings or most popular content. Chances are, any new followers clicking on a link in your bio will already be primed to explore your product directly and maybe even make a purchase. 

Get Creative. Add Links to Your Posts

Would you be surprised to learn that you can’t use links in your post descriptions? There’s a simple workaround, though, a Call-To-Action. A CTA at the end of your post coupled with a naked URL is a great way to make your Instagram posts work for you.

The most popular CTA in use for business posts is “Click the link.” CTAs add extra encouragement by telling people what to do next, as sometimes people need a little push.

Your posts should be striking and bold and fit with your branding so that followers recognize your posts in their feed immediately. You should be straightforward and concise in your description so that potential visitors know exactly what you are offering.

Tailor your offers to the people most inclined to support you, determine who your key demographic is and what kind of marketing strategies they respond to with the most enthusiasm. As your following grows, you’ll be able to tell what CTAs, descriptions, and posts work best with your core demographic.

Tips and Tricks to Hack Instagram like a Boss

It’s a Balancing Act

It would be best if you tried to strike a balance between content that is inspirational and promotional. If all you do is try to push your business with the same hard-sell tactics and CTAs, followers may get bored and click the dreaded unfollow button.

Try to include human interest pieces about your business or products and how they help others, not just you. This is a brilliant place to feature things like charities you support, social causes you feel strongly about that align with your business or product, and feel-good posts to provide relief from the business side of things.

You should also focus on your profile picture since that is the first thing someone sees when they come across your profile. It should be interesting, eye-catching and should intrigue the interest of a user. But it is important to know the guidelines such as the recommended Insta profile picture size when it comes to creating a profile picture. You don’t have to worry about all these requirements with Pixelied as it takes care of all such prerequisites.

Get Social

Whether you’re marketing your business or highlighting your latest products, it’s important to remember that Instagram is a social network at its core. Manage the comments under your posts, take to heart what your followers say about your content.

Take to Direct Messaging to communicate more personally with your clients, learn more about what they want to see, and maybe work in a few special limited-time offers to entice people to keep coming back to your website. 

If clients ask, DMs are the perfect place to get a little more generous with links. Link your clientele up with products that will interest them and drive more traffic to your business. 

New followers would also benefit from an introduction message straight to their DMs with links to your top content.

Use Stimulating High-Quality Visuals

No one follows an Instagram account because it’s bland, boring, and basic. Ensure that your posts are eye-catching enough to hold users’ attention, make a statement, and set your content apart. 

For photographs of people and places, do a double-check:

• Get the sharpest light on the side of the subject.
• No random shadows or obstructions in front of the subject.
• Don’t get carried away with sunray filters that obscure your subject.

For more filter hacks, try the Filtertune app and filter like an influencer.

Unless it’s on-brand, don’t make your background too busy. Let your product or your subject be the focus of your viewer’s attention. 

One of the best things for selfies and team photos is checking out how to fix red eye on Instagram with Facetune’s Instagram editor app. 

#UseHashtags 

The most efficient way to describe hashtags is that they function as a filing system for social media content.

Essential guide to using hashtags:

• Always start with a #
• Don’t use spaces, symbols, or punctuation. Your hashtag won’t work
• Keep it simple. Don’t make a long string of words and call it a hashtag 

#Short #Sweet #Simple 

• Don’t use too many, as Instagram has a limit of 30 hashtags per caption

Learn more about the history and usage of the mighty hashtag here.

Be Consistent

Because of Instagram’s new algorithm, which we’ll explore below, knowing when to post and doing so consistently is the latest secret weapon in Instagram usage. Figure out which part of the world the bulk of your most loyal followers are from and post consistently when they are online and actively scrolling.

Now it’s a fact that not everyone has the kind of schedule that allows for consistent manual posting. Luckily it’s 2021, and according to a Sked Social blog, there are seven ways to put an automatic scheduling twist on your Instagram posts. Gone are the days of planning your day around when your most active followers are scrolling. 

Understanding the New Instagram Algorithm

Instagram used to work on a purely chronological algorithm. This means that the only factor that mattered was when you posted. You saw the most recently published content first, and that was that. 

This is no longer the case.

The Algorithm and Feed Posts

Six key factors now influence how the algorithm decides what you see in your feed.

• Interest. Instagram now bases how your feed appears on who you follow as well as posts, hashtags, and accounts you’ve interacted with before. If the algorithm thinks you’re more likely to react to a specific post, it’ll make sure it shows up in your feed.
  Instagram also cares about the people you tag in your posts; their posts will show up as priority accounts. Comments, likes, and shares are the most critical engagements, and the way you use them matters to the algorithm.

• Relationship. The algorithm prioritizes content from family and friends. The same will be done for accounts Instagram thinks you have a relationship with. These will be accounts that you send Direct Messages to like, share, and comment on often. The algorithm can theoretically calculate which accounts you care about the most.

• Timeliness. The algorithm also tracks when your content is posted. Instagram always wants to show the most relevant and recent content, so it’s good to find out when your best time to post is. The optimal time to post in general is between 9 am, and 11 am EST. It’s important to remember that every account has its unique following. 

What this means is if you’re big in Japan, find out when Japan is generally most active on Instagram and let that be your perfect posting time. Try to keep your most important posts for the weekdays, but don’t post during heavy work hours. Instead, schedule your posts for after work hours. 

• Frequency. One way to ensure your feed is more chronological is to be active on Instagram more frequently. If you only open Instagram once a week, your feed will be prioritized by relevance rather than time
• Following. The more accounts you follow, the more Instagram can choose from when deciding what content to show you first. It’s safe to say you won’t necessarily see all the posts from all the accounts you follow unless you are super involved and near-permanently scrolling down your feed. One way to help Instagram along a little is by unfollowing primarily inactive and “ghost” accounts.
• Usage. Theoretically, if you spend enough time on Instagram, you could potentially run out of new content to see. The algorithm will then need to show you suggested content based on your previous interactions.
  This also means that if you spend more time scrolling, you’ll see more content because Instagram will have to dig deeper to find relevant content for you to interact with. On the flip side, if you spend only a few minutes scrolling, you’ll likely only see the day’s highlights of what Instagram deems relevant. 

The Algorithm and Stories

According to the algorithm, the stories from accounts that you interact with the most, be it by commenting, Direct Messaging, liking,  or sharing, will show up first. This means stories from family and friends will be prioritized too.

Paying attention to everything covered so far is a sure-fire way to increase your following and drive more traffic to where you do the bulk of your business.

In Conclusion

The biggest takeaway from all this is that if you want your content to be prioritized on people’s feeds, they need to interact with your posts. To get people to interact with your posts, you need to entice them to do so by making sure your posts grab their attention, and your cleverly placed links do their job of directing traffic to your home page.

Interact with your key demographic, and they might feel more inclined to support you. Provide incentives, and your key demographic will be even more predisposed to favor your content. The more you interact with your followers and the more motivation they have to interact with you, the higher your rank will be. 

Above all, be good to the Instagram algorithm, and the algorithm will, in turn, be good to you.

The post The Importance of Links in Instagram – Best Hacks for Your Profile appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

While you can start tweeting as soon as you’ve created an account, it’s better to set up your profile properly first. After all, if you want someone to follow you, you need to convince them that your content is good and your profile means business.

Depending on what kind of persona you have on Twitter and what you’re using it for, you have to choose your profile picture, banner, and bio accordingly.

In this article, we’ll go over the recommended Twitter banner size, along with some tips on designing one for your Twitter profile.

Let’s dive right in.

What’s the Recommended Twitter Banner Size?

The recommended Twitter banner size is 1500 x 500 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 3:1. Furthermore, the file formats that are accepted include JPG, GIF, or PNG.

However, make sure that if you use GIFs, they’re not animated GIFs.

Additionally, the recommended file size for the banner image is under 2MB.

If your header photo is over the Twitter header size requirements, it will automatically be adjusted and resized when uploaded. However, if the image size is above the maximum file size limit of 2MB, you won’t be able to upload it.

Automatic resizing often leads to bad cropping, rough image edges, and other issues. If your image is more than the 1500x or 500x limit, Twitter will crop your original photo, especially if it doesn’t follow the 3:1 aspect ratio.

Furthermore, there’s another thing you need to keep in mind – since your Twitter profile photo shows up in front of your cover photo, that can obscure and block whatever’s on the header photo.

That’s why there’s a safe zone right in the middle of the header (1500 x 360 pixels). That’s the part that isn’t obscured by anything, so you can focus your design elements in that particular safe area.

When it comes to your Twitter header image design, the following points should be taken into account:

• The recommended Twitter banner size of 500 x 1500 pixels.
• Utilize only the safe zone for design elements.
• Keep the Twitter profile image area clear of any designs.

While keeping these points in mind, you can get a more accurate idea of the Twitter banner size and best practices.

Additional Twitter Dimensions You Need to Know

To completely set up your Twitter profile, you also need to know about some additional Twitter photo sizes and dimensions.

Once your Twitter account is set up, start personalizing your profile. You can start by adding your bio, basic information, and more. However, what’s more important is your banner image and profile photo.

Other than that, once you’ve been on Twitter long enough, you’ll also need to know about things like the ideal Twitter post size, ad size, and more.

The following are all the Twitter dimensions and sizes you need to know about other than the Twitter banner size:

• Twitter Profile Picture Size – The ideal Twitter profile picture size is 400 x 400 pixels. It needs to have an aspect ratio of 1:1 and the supported file types include JPG, PNG, and GIF. Keep in mind that the profile picture safe area in the banner image is 430 x 172 pixels.
• Twitter Post Size – The recommended Twitter post size is 1600 x 900 pixels.
• Recommended Twitter Video Size – The ideal Twitter video limit and size are 140 seconds and 1600 x 900 pixels, respectively.
• Twitter Ad Size – The recommended Twitter ad size is 1600 x 900 pixels. If you want to create a Twitter ad quickly, you can use Pixelied’s editor.

Keeping these dimensions in mind along with the Twitter header image size will help you craft an excellent profile. With the right images, Twitter users can get more engagement, followers, likes, and retweets.

Therefore, it’s best to keep note of all the image sizes so that your photos don’t get cropped or messed up.

How Do I Upload My Twitter Banner?

Once you understand the ideal Twitter banner size, you should also know how you can upload the banner. Here’s a step-by-step process you can follow:

1. Open Twitter on your browser or mobile phone and sign in to your Twitter account.
2. Go to your profile by clicking the Profile button on the left-hand side of the web page.
3. Click on the Edit Profile button under the banner image area on the right side. This will open a window where you’ll be able to edit your header photo, profile photo, name, bio, location, website, and birth date.
4. Hover over the camera icon and click it. If there’s already a picture, you can click the X to remove it. When you click on the camera icon, a file explorer window will pop up and you can choose your new banner image. Select the image you’d like to upload and click Open.
5. Once the image has been uploaded, you can adjust the photo according to the size and dimensions. If you’ve followed the Twitter banner size, you don’t have to do anything. However, if you’re using an image that’s not sized properly, you can adjust the slider to focus on what you want. Once you’re done, click the Apply button.
6. Click the Save button on the top right corner of the popup window and your new Twitter banner will load.

You can also change your profile photo in the same way too. This process is relatively similar for mobile devices too. The only difference is that you’ll have to give Twitter access to your phone’s files to choose your new banner image.

Furthermore, if you’re having trouble uploading images, make sure they’re JPG, GIF, or PNG files.

Tips for Creating a Great Twitter Banner

Similar to other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, your Twitter banner can also play an important role in increasing your followers and engagement. That means you need to put in some extra effort into designing a great Twitter banner.

Understanding the photo size is just the first step. The next step is to understand what makes header images great. Regardless of whether you’re marketing something, have a business page, or just looking to increase the number of followers on your personal account, you need to keep a few things in mind.

The following points consist of Twitter content guidelines as well:

1.     Brand Your Banner

If you want to build a loyal Twitter following, you need to create a brand. If it’s just you, you will need to build a personal brand based on certain likes, dislikes, characteristics, and more. Users like to relate to the people they’re following, increasing the importance of building a consistent brand.

That’s why your brand must showcase all aspects of your Twitter profile, including your banner image, profile image, and more.

You can brand your banner by adding a logo, using the display in a certain way, or by uploading something that can automatically be associated with you.

2.     Establish Emotional Appeal Based on Your Audience

Your content should always be based on emotional appeal to relate to other Twitter users. When you upload something, there’s a good chance it’s going to be seen by a lot of people. To make them engage, it has to be relevant enough.

That’s why when you create your banner, you have to add some sort of emotional elements that speak to your followers.

For example, The Pet Collective uses pictures of animals to build emotional appeal.

3.     Center-Align Key Design Elements

While the ideal Twitter banner size and dimensions are there to ensure your picture gets shown properly, you still need to worry about the safe area. You don’t have the entire space to showcase your design because the profile picture obscures some part of the banner image.

While you can use the top, bottom, and right sides of the banner, however, the lower-left corner should be left alone. The bottom left dimensions you should leave alone are 420 x 172 pixels.

You’ll see a lot of cropped brands that don’t take the profile photo into account. At times, it obscures their personal brand assets.

For a proper background design, make sure all your design elements remain in the safe zone.

4.     Simplify the Design

The most important thing is to simplify your design as much as possible. You don’t want someone to look at your banner image and question what they’re seeing, or worse, ignore it altogether.

Utilize some graphic design tips when creating your banner image. Some common tips include focusing on clarity, cleanliness, intelligent use of fonts (a minimalist font works best), and alignment.

If you have a business Twitter account, you probably already understand the concept of marketing design – utilizing images, graphics, and other design elements to communicate a brand’s message.

To do that effectively, you can’t make your banner image design so complex that it’s hard to understand by users.

Therefore, it’s crucial to keep your design as simple as possible. A simple design increases your chance of you making a positive impact on your followers. Here’s a prime example of this:

Sure, it’s Nike, but the point remains. Nike could put a picture of their latest sneakers on the banner section, instead, they choose to keep it simple by using their slogan. It’s much more impactful because the majority of people on Nike’s Twitter profile wouldn’t be there to look at a picture of their sneakers, especially in the banner image.

Designing Your Twitter Banner Using Pixelied

Once you’ve developed a solid understanding of the Twitter banner size and how you should design your banner, you can move on to the actual creation process. To make things quick and simple, Pixelied already has Twitter banner templates that you can use without having to worry about the size and dimensions.

Here’s how you can design your Twitter banner with Pixelied:

Step One – Open Pixelied’s Editor

Open Pixelied’s editor in your browser. You’ll immediately see a massive canvas with preset dimensions for your Twitter banner.

On the top right, you can choose what background color you want to set. Or, you can move on to step two.

Step Two – Choose a Twitter Header Template

On the left-hand side, you’ll see templates for Twitter headers. These templates are already designed according to the Twitter banner size.

You can choose from various eye-catching templates designed for different types of profiles. You’ll find personal profile templates, brand profile templates, and more.

Once you choose a template, it will replace the blank canvas and you can start editing.

Step Three – Edit Your Header Using the Design Elements

After choosing your template, you have a lot of design elements to choose from.

Here’s the list of options you have.

• Images – let you add stock photos from all over the internet, or you can upload your own.
• Text – lets you add multiple text boxes.
• Illustrations – allow you to add custom vectors and illustrations.
• Mockups – give you an idea of what your design would look like on different devices.
• Brandify – is for utilizing your personal brand assets if you’ve saved them.
• Elements – let you add various shapes and characters.
• Icons – allow you to add website icons, social media icons, and more.
• Blend – allows you to mix colors.

You can also play with opacity, shadows, and other options.

Step Four – Download Your New Twitter Header

When you’re done with your design, click on the Download button in the top right corner. You’ll see the following window:

Choose a format between JPG or PNG for Twitter.

You can also adjust the quality. However, it’s best to go with the highest quality (100).

Other than that, you don’t have to worry about the size option, since it’s already been set as per the standard banner size.

Once you’re done, click on the Download button at the bottom and you’ll have your new Twitter banner.

Bottom Line

If you want to build a good personal brand on Twitter, you need to have a uniform and well-aligned design in your images. If you’re new to Twitter, you can use a Twitter handle generator to help you get started.

Once you’ve entered all your information, upload a good-looking profile picture with a clear background. After that, use Pixelied’s editor to design your ideal banner image.

That way, you don’t have to worry about the Twitter banner size. More importantly, you can create a great design that resonates with the brand you’re trying to build.

The post What is the Recommended Twitter Banner Size? [+Templates] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

It’s pretty obvious that your content and audience play a massive role in determining the success of your TikTok videos. However, if you’ve researched your target market and have a good understanding of what type of content your audience wants to see but are still not getting the traffic you want, the issue might be the reach. 

The best way to solve that issue is by timing your posts. You don’t want to post something when your audience is otherwise occupied. By the time they’re free, your post would have been overtaken by hundreds of other TikTok videos. 

In this article, we’ll go over questions like what is the best time to post on TikTok, along with some tips on how you can nail it. 

Let’s dive right in.

So, What’s the Best Time to Post on TikTok? 

The best time to post on TikTok according to global statistics and analytics is between 5 AM to 10 AM or 7 PM to 11 PM (regardless of the timezone).

However, to paint a more accurate picture, it all comes down to what timezone you’re in, where your audience is located, and the type of audience you are trying to reach. Influencer Marketing Hub conducted a study of over 100,000 posts each day of the week according to Eastern Standard Time (EST). 

The schedule below showed the highest engagement rate according to their results: 

• Monday: 6 AM, 10 AM, 10 PM
• Tuesday: 2 AM, 4 AM, *9 AM
• Wednesday: 7 AM, 8 AM, 11 PM
• Thursday: 9 AM, *12 AM, 7 PM
• Friday: *5 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM
• Saturday: 11 AM, 7 PM, 8 PM
• Sunday: 7 AM, 8 AM, 4 PM

Since these studies were conducted in the EST timezone, you will need to use a conversion tool to see what time it will be in your timezone. 

That said, this isn’t universal. There are a lot of other factors at play here; therefore, it might not be as simple as converting the timezone. 

Why the Best Time to Post on TikTok is Different for Everyone 

Like all social media platforms, you can have a global base of users and audience. Your timezone and location automatically influence how much your content will be viewed. Although there isn’t a specific time to post videos, there can be an ideal time to post your TikTok videos. 

You can use analytics from other social media accounts to see where the majority of your followers are located. You need to figure out who your target audience is, according to the type of content you like to make. Figuring out the gender, age, and interests will influence the time as well. 

When we consider external influences like the recent coronavirus pandemic, additional factors come into play too. For example, since 2020, more than 40% of people in the US workforce have been working from home. That meant the best time to post on TikTok was much wider during that time. Timings really started to vary as a lot of people were working odd hours, leading to varying work hours and social media usage times. 

As 2021 is already half gone, things are starting to return back to normal or to what it was pre-pandemic. However, people, in general, have more flexibility now. 

Alternatively, that also means your audience’s routine might keep changing throughout the year, and that means the posting time will as well. You will need to analyze your posting times accordingly using TikTok Analytics. 

Why Does Posting Time Matter? 

Tiktok has over 800 million active users and counting, making it one of the fastest-growing social media platforms.

If you want to specifically use TikTok for marketing, you need to post your videos when your target audience will be active to ensure maximum engagement. TikTok marketing is being hailed as the next big thing because it gives brands insight into what goes viral, what’s popular with the audiences, and more. 

Below we’ll explain what makes posting time important. 

There’s a “For You” Section 

To keep people hooked and consistently scrolling, TikTok has a For You page. Over 75% of the time users are browsing the For You page to see the top trends and viral content. 

It’s similar to Instagram’s “Explore” section. It provides a look into the content you normally interact with but aren’t yet following. 

The timings matter a lot if your video makes it to the For You page, and it affects how many people see your content. It doesn’t matter if they are following you or not, but more people are interested in viewing random content.

However, the For You section is more dependent on the TikTok algorithm, and that in turn is dependent on the reactions of people that have viewed your video. 

People are Active During Select Times 

Your TikTok audience is only active during some portion of the day and figuring out what those times are crucial to your content’s success. 

Typically, TikTok usage peaks during nighttime and morning time. That means people tend to use it when they’re going to sleep and when they wake up. However, don’t take that as gospel, it still mostly depends on your target audience. 

In any case, considering this, the best time would be 6 am to 10 am or 7 pm to 11 pm.

Different Times Call for Different Forms of Content 

It’s best to see what content gets the highest engagement at what time. The Content tab in your TikTok Pro account will show your past 7 days of posting performance. That will give you an idea of the following things: 

• What time am I getting the most traffic and engagement?
• What type of content does my audience like the most?
• At what time does my audience like this specific type of content?

With the help of tracking sheets, it makes it easier to study key metrics, and look around for patterns that can help improve your engagement.  

How Can I Find Out the Best Time to Post on TikTok? 

To find out the best time to post on TikTok, you need to start studying statistics you get on each post, and for your overall account. By using the TikTok Pro account,  businesses can find out more about their followers, including their interests or what region their videos are being posted and shared in.

It can be useful for TikTok influencers, celebrities, and businesses to have a TikTok Pro account. It won’t give you any extra features for editing your videos or anything of the sort. But it will help you understand your users with the analytics features.

TikTok Pro will help you create more engaging content based on what your audience is interested in. Most of the influencers use TikTok Pro to improve the performance of their posts, giving them an edge over others.

The following step-by-step process delves into how you can set up your Pro account and access TikTok Analytics. 

Step One – Access TikTok Analytics with a Pro Account 

You need to have a TikTok Pro account to use the Analytics feature. Follow the steps below to switch up to a TikTok Pro account:

1. Go to your profile page (the “Me” button).
2. Tap the 3 horizontal dots at the upper right corner.
3. Go to “Manage my account”.
4. “Switch to Pro Account”.
5. Select your appropriate categories and what type of account is required.
6. Fill out the required details. 
7. Select “Done”. 

It might be wise to check out TikTok’s pricing beforehand.

Step Two – Learn the Basics of TikTok Analytics 

Now that you have a TikTok Pro account set up, you can start using the Analytics feature. 

This section will explain some basic statistics and how you can use them for analysis. 

You can find them by clicking on the video inside the Content Tab for every specific video and post.

These statistics will include the following:

• The number of users who watched your video and their top locations.
• Where your video traffic mostly came from, whether it’s your followers or the For You page.
• How many times your video has been played.
• The number of likes it has received.
• The total number of comments it has received.
• How many times it has been shared.
• Total playtime.
• The average watch time. 

All of these things will help in your analysis.

Step Three – Research Audience Locations 

When you go to the ‘followers’ tab in Analytics, you can find a section for your audience territories; this will display your reach and the total number of users who have watched your videos.

It’s a great tool to see and analyze the diverse breakdown of territories.

Step Four – Find Out Engagement Times and Convert Them to Your Timezone 

Once you’ve studied the relevant statistics and figured out the time most people are active, engage with your content, and where they live, it’s time to covert the time from their timezone to yours. 

This will help you figure out the best time to post on TikTok according to your timezone, leading to higher engagement rates. 

You can use any timezone converter tool like The Time Zone Converter. 

Step Five – Evaluate Your Best-Performing Content 

The Content tab in TikTok analytics also has some of the most insightful features to help you see how many views each video got from the past 7 days, what time the views came in, and more.

Each post will have its own dashboard, allowing you to individually assess the performance of each post. 

Step Six – Track Content Performance 

You should keep an eye out for your content performance to see if the numbers have increased or decreased.

The total number of profile views or how many followers you have gained or lost is crucial, as it directly influences engagement on your TikTok Profile. It will also help you determine whether the best time to post on TikTok for you has changed or not. 

Step Seven – Learn from Other Social Media Accounts 

If you have Premium accounts on other social media platforms, you can use all of these together to figure what works best for your audience. Collectively, it can help you understand what type of content your audience is most interested in, or where they are at. 

Apart from this, you can see what is common on all platforms, as to what your audience likes to engage with the most. While each social media platform will have different engagement times, it can still be useful to determine which social media videos work and what doesn’t work. 

Bottom Line 

Once you’ve set up your TikTok Pro account, it will be infinitely easier to determine the best time to post on TikTok.

It’s safe to say that with almost one billion users, there’s a lot of competition out there. You need an edge to ensure your content gets the reach, views, and engagement it deserves.

The key to TikTok success is always consistency. However, there’s no point in consistency if people don’t actually get to see your content.

Therefore, work out the best time to post on TikTok, develop a posting schedule based on that, and start posting. If you need an editing tool to set up some unique images and work on social media design, you can always check out Pixelied’s editor.

The post What is the Best Time to Post on TikTok [With Tips & Tricks] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

If you’re looking for some preset filters, you’ll find tons of them on various platforms like Snapchat and Facebook. However, there are many websites that are dedicated to providing unique filters for multiple social media sites.

Regardless of whether you want a filter to improve your photos, add an extra touch to them, or just want to memefy them, filters can make your pictures a lot better.

In this article, we’ll go over some of the best Instagram filters has to offer, where you can find them, and see some examples of great filters.

Let’s check them out!

15 Best Instagram Filters to Up Your Insta Presence

Not everyone is an experienced photographer. But with the help of some filters, you can easily spice up your photos using just your smartphone. There are about 40 native Instagram filters that you can choose from for your Instagram posts.

You have the option to adjust the filter strength if you feel like it’s adding too much or too little to your image. Intensity adjustment is another feature of the filter that you can use until you’ve found a sweet spot. Experimenting with a range of options from filter enhancing brightness to vintage effects is also something worth considering.

Filters can be a great way to upgrade your visual content. You can use these filters to create captivating images and build on compelling brand aesthetics. Or you can use the “Normal” filter, which has zero effects added.

The “Normal” filter is the most widely used option, with more than 89% of pictures uploaded without a filter. However, you can always use some added contrast or a black-and-white effect on some photos.

Below we’ve chosen the top 15 Instagram filters that you can use for both Instagram posts and stories.

1. Clarendon

Clarendon is a popularly used Instagram filter that gives images a natural touch. It brightens the lighter areas of the image and dims the darker tones. It doesn’t burst the saturation or contrast but adds a natural blue-toned filter.

2. Juno

If you want your warm tones to stand out a bit, Juno is the perfect filter for you. It will make colors look more vivid by slightly adding high contrast to them. Juno is great for outdoor nature pictures since it adds more colors to them, making nature seem more lively.

3. Valencia

Valencia is great for brightening pictures or adding the “golden hour” touch. It has a very subtle yellow tone. Furthermore, it works wonders when you want to bring out paler colors to a warmer tone.

All of this makes Valencia an ideal option for daylight pictures.

4. Lark

Lark is yet another great filter for when you want to calm the image down a bit. It will decrease the vibrance and add some red-tone saturation, keeping the blue and green enhanced. This will bring the image to a more natural look.

5. Willow

This filter is for the ones who just love everything in black and white. Willow gives pictures a very subtle dull touch and a fading effect, giving it a vintage feel. It cools down the contrast in the image as well as bringing out a more calm element in the image.

6. Hefe

Hefe is the definition of dramatic. It boosts the saturation and gives images a very sharp and deep aesthetic. Hefe is great for images that have mountains and skyscrapers captured with detailed shadows.

7. Ludwig

Ludwig slightly decreases contrast, highlighting the redder tones and reducing the yellower tones. This filter also decreases saturation, making the image very vibrant.

Ludwig is great for architecture images or portraits.

8. Lo-Fi

Lo-Fi, as the name suggests, gives images a Lo-Fi feel. It adds a color cast with some texture, creating an immense amount of depth to the image while giving it a dramatic look. It adds saturation and shadows, making it more intense.

Lo-Fi is great for models or MUAs wanting to highlight their makeup.

9. Gingham

Gingham is a filter that brings out a vintage look while keeping the effect very subtle at the same time. It still lets you keep the natural colors of the image but adds a slight vignette look by decreasing some saturation.

This filter is great for giving your images a warmer tone or to soften color vibrancy.

The list will now continue with Instagram story filters,  that are named after cities for the most part. (Note: these filters don’t have an adjusting bar)

10. Jakarta

Jakarta is considered to be one of the most popular filters used to highlight all areas and objects of the image, giving it a very realistic view. It has a hint of green hues, a very intense tint. This filter is also very good for nature and awe-inspiring landscapes.

11. Rio De Janeiro

Rio De Janeiro is a filter that gives your images a slightly reddish tone. This filter adds a very warm and calm effect. It gives images a purely magical vibe and is more for a daylight selfie.

12. New York

The New York filter is great for autumn pictures as they adjust towards the filter tones. It shades the corners with a darker hue, just like a vignette effect. It’s also very good for outdoor views, like views that include skyscrapers.

13. Jaipur

If you like very bright lighting, Jaipur is the perfect filter for the job. It adds a very strong pink tone to the image, just as the Indian city is called “Jaipur, the pink city”. It’s great for oceanic views but can bring about positive tones in any environment.

14. Oslo

Oslo provides just a bit more light than your original image, keeping it very natural and settling. It increases the exposure and highlights certain elements. Oslo is the go-to filter for food photography.

15. Melbourne

The Melbourne filter has fewer colors going on, making it very elegant. It decreases the tone of every color around it. Furthermore, the filter fades images to perfection but doesn’t make them black and white. Melbourne is perfect for forest and landscape images that you might capture while traveling.

How to Use Instagram Filters

It’s easy to access the built-in Instagram filters. They come up while you’re editing your image. Below are some steps on applying your favorite filter to your Instagram post.

Using Instagram Filters for Instagram Posts

Instagram provides quick and easy access to all their filters while uploading your image or video (use an Instagram video size guide to help you with that). You can use these filters by following a few easy steps mentioned below:

1. Open the Instagram App.
2. Tap on the “+” sign at the bottom.
3. Select the image/video you’d like to upload.
4. Choose a filter that you would like to use for your IG post (double tap for filter strengths).
5. Tap “Next”.
6. Add your caption, location and then tap “Next” or the navigation arrow button.

If you cannot find your desired filter at the list at the bottom, slide to the right, and you will find the option to “Manage”.

By tapping it you’ll be able to see a list of filters to choose from on your filter dashboard. You can adjust where they’re placed, keep your favorites and hide the rest.

If a filter has a checkmark, it means it’s showing on your filter dashboard as shown below:

Make sure your Instagram video thumbnail also showcases the filter.

Using Instagram Filters for Your Instagram Story

Instagram filters are as easy to use as Snapchat filters. Simply swipe on your screen till you find the right one. Below are some steps to apply and find more filters:

• Open the Instagram App.
• Slide right across the screen to get to the story page.
• Select the photo/video you would like to upload.
• Swipe across the screen to see what filter fits best for you.

There are some customizable filters, that users have made and uploaded to the effects gallery. To access them, all you’d have to do is:

• Tap and hold your finger on any filter for 3 seconds.
• Slide right.
• Select “Browse effects”.
• It will appear on the filter dashboard now too.

Once you’re done, go ahead and hit “Upload”. However, make sure you keep the Instagram story dimensions in mind before uploading a story.

Using Instagram Filters for IGTV

Since you can’t do most of the editing on IGTV, Influencers and bloggers use third-party apps like Splice or Videoshop to edit their videos. However, adding filters to your IGTV episodes can be just as easy as applying them to normal Instagram video posts.

Once you have your video all ready to be uploaded:

1. Open the Instagram App.
2. Select the video you want to upload.
3. Tap “Next”.
4. Apply the filter, or adjust the filter strength.
5. To save your changes tap “Next” or the navigation arrow.
6. Add your caption, location and then tap “Next” or the navigation arrow.
7. Tap “Share”.

You now have a filter on your IGTV.

Additional Sites and Software for Instagram Filters

If you want to customize your pictures, you have plenty of other options that provide more filters and editing tools. Each third-party software has more filters that are made entirely in-house.

By using these apps, you get a variety of effects, apart from just filters, that you can use to enhance your image. This will help create stunning professional images suitable for marketing.

It’s not just for major edits, but it can also be used to make minor edits such as image masking, reducing shadows, or correcting minor colors.

Below are a few editing tools that you can use to enhance your pictures apart from Instagram:

●      Pixelied

Pixelied is the one-in-all editing tool that can help you improve your Instagram game to a professional level. You can create stunning posts, ads, and profile pictures with the recommended Insta profile size.

●      Best IG Filters

This site is best for finding the top trending Instagram filters but they don’t let you edit your photos.

●      Pixelixe

This site is a relatively simple and straightforward editing tool that lets you preview Instagram filters.

In Conclusion

Now you know exactly what filters are considered to be the best, and what filters would be more suitable for different sorts of images. Using filters isn’t anything new in 2021, but it helps create an environment where you don’t need to work hard on things, such as finding the perfect lighting.

Creating images by adding filters or effects makes it unique in its own way. With the help of this article, you can now edit images more creatively.

Besides, it’s always nice to change things up a bit and experiment with new filters. Better yet, create your own best Instagram filters.

The post 15 Best Instagram Filters in 2021 [And How to Find Them] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Every picture leaves an impression on the viewer. So you want to have a positive impression on the viewer, and for that, your picture should reflect your personality.

You don’t want a professional photographer instructing you to sit a certain way or stare profoundly into the abyss to upload good profile pictures. All you need is some good ol’ inspiration.

In this article, we’re going to discuss different profile picture ideas to inspire your creativity, along with some editing tips and best practices.

Let’s get into it.

10 Profile Picture Ideas and Tips to Improve Your Social Media Presence

You might have seen thousands of pictures on your news feed since you started using social media platforms. Or, might have even had many profile picture ideas to consider. But, only some will really catch our attention and make us want to connect with them.

There’s a fine line between appearing fun and being professional. It all depends on what we want to share and how we want people to perceive us. That said, our social media platform says a lot about us – almost everything.

Your profile picture can be a gray area when you don’t know if it will look good, or what effect it will have on people; be it your Instagram account or Facebook profile, or even your Linkedin profile, for that matter.

However, you may be able to nail it, at least the profile picture part, using some inspiration.

Below, we will discuss the 10 best profile picture ideas to consider when uploading a new profile picture:

1.     Headshot

It can be tempting to choose a photo where you’re being handed an award or a selfie from last night with a group of your closest friends. You can save those for another album.

As your first impression, your profile picture should be of your head and shoulders. No, not that head and shoulders.

You should really focus on framing yourself with a close-up of your face and eyes. It should really bring out your facial features; it tends to increase trust.

It is very important to be looking at the camera for your main picture, for personal branding, that is.

2.     Avatar

Avatars are no longer popular in just video games but have become increasingly popular on social media platforms as well. Many people still use it to give their profile a unique identity, while staying completely anonymous.

They tend to provide a general outlook of how you look without revealing the fine details.

You can use a bunch of anime avatar-making software to make cool profile pictures.

These avatars are mostly used on Twitch and Discord. But, they can be used as pretty much any profile picture. Plus, you can customize it however you like. Give yourself some avatar wings while you’re at it, or dragon scales.

3.     A Personal Picture (Not of You, Personal TO You)

If you don’t want to connect with every other person, or just want to connect with people that really know you, you can choose a picture of something that’s close to you. It could be a picture of your pet, car, kids, or your favorite flower.

This is great for people that don’t like to reveal their personal profiles and want to control who they connect with. Or, people who just want to show off their cute dogs.

4.     Logo

If you have a business profile and want to use your business logo as your profile picture, go for it. You can use your custom logo for your brand.

If you don’t have one, you can either use your business’s storefront for your brand profile accounts, which is very common in branding.

A high-quality image of your logo can make you stand out and be more discoverable for new and active customers. It also helps increase brand recognition and awareness.

5.     Your Core Team

Along with logos, you can choose to add your core team members as your business profile picture.

This shows transparency and credibility while forming a sense of familiarity.

It’s a small world out there, and if a customer sees a photo of your employees, they’re more likely to make a connection. They might even offer you their business as it builds a sense of trust.

6.     Smile

Body language speaks loud, and so should your smile. Your smile should be wide and welcoming, rather than a mugshot. It’s safe to say that a welcoming smile is one of the best types of profile pictures you could upload.

A smile compels your audience to connect with you make you seem more welcoming and friendly. Even if it’s for your professional profile, it will create an instant connection with more people willing to approach you.

Ask yourself, would you rather connect with a smiling person or someone who’s looking glum?

However, make sure it’s not a smile like this.

7.     Colors

Colors are an extremely strong way of expressing emotions, and an excellent showcase of our personality. They tell us something about a person on a subconscious level.

Furthermore, colors are also a great way to stand out. You should use more contrasting colors for your social media profiles, and warm tones for your professional networks. Color psychology is a very real thing, and it works.

For example, orange is the recommended color for Instagram. Alternatively, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook mostly use blue as their primary color.

Another way to utilize colors is by making use of unique colors that no one else uses.

There’s a lot of psychological research that goes behind how color affects the way people respond, so make the best of it.

8.     Basic Editing

A few things fall into basic editings such as clarity, contrast, and cropping. Your profile picture should have enough saturation to make it warm and natural, but not too low and not too high either.

The picture should be clear of any distortion, and not look very grainy. Avoid noise in your photos at all costs, unless you’re going for that particular aesthetic.

For cropping, you should stick to the standard square 1:1 aspect ratio, since most platforms require a square image. For example, if you want to upload a PFP on Discord, you need to follow the recommended Discord profile picture size.

Focus on what you want to show and how much you want to crop out. You should keep the main focus on you and your face at all times.

9.     Background

Keep your background as simple as possible to keep as much attention on yourself. A busier background will distract the viewer.

You should keep the background contrasted with the colors you’re wearing. For example, if you’re wearing warm colors, have the sky as your background. Similarly, dark colors should be contrasted with dark colors as the background.

10. Professional Photographer

To make a high-quality picture, hiring a professional photographer will get you a better chance to aim for a better frame. A skilled friend could also take great headshots that will feature you.

However, there’s a very strong difference between a professional photoshoot and the kind of photoshoot we do on our phones. You should highly consider hiring a professional if you’re focused on social media marketing.

However, if you’re trying to develop a brand, analog photography is your best bet. You need professional-looking photos of your products, even if it’s your profile picture.

The Ideal Dimensions for Social Media Profile Pictures

You want to look professional no matter what the case is, but it can be difficult to understand and optimize for all social media platforms.

With different dimensions, one picture cannot work for all. You’ll eventually need to crop it; otherwise, it will just look pixelated.

Below is the cheat sheet for dimensions for most social media profiles:

• Instagram Profile Picture: 320 X 320 pixels
• Facebook Profile Picture: 170 X 170 pixels
• Facebook Cover Photo: 828 X 465 pixels
• Twitter Profile Photo: 400 X 400 pixels
• Twitter Header Image: 1,500 X 500 pixels
• LinkedIn Profile Photo: 400 X 400 pixels (minimum)
• LinkedIn Custom Background: 1584 X 396
• LinkedIn Banner Image: 646 X 220 pixels
• YouTube Profile Picture: 800 X 800 pixels (Size Guide)
• YouTube Banner Size: 2,560 X 1,440 pixels on desktop (Size Guide)
• Twitch Profile Picture: 800 X 800 pixels (Size Guide)
• Google+ Profile Picture: 250 X 250 pixels (minimum)
• Google+ Cover Photo: 1080 X 608 pixels
• Pinterest Profile Picture: 150 X 150 pixels

You can find a detailed guide here.

How Do I Take a Professional Picture Myself?

You should keep in mind that while taking a headshot is important, the key is to mix things up a bit while still keeping it true to who you are. With a few tips to get the right shot, you can easily create professional headshots yourself.

Ideally, professional headshots should be updated every year, and now, when technology is literally at our fingertips, we should definitely put it to better use.

Try using your phone to get some test photos. This will give you an idea as to how the final product might turn out. Use a tripod if you have one.

Below we’ll discuss a few tips to keep in mind when creating captivating headshots:

Lighting

It can be hard to get professional lighting at home, but not impossible. Find a location that works better with the light source you have.

Don’t feel overwhelmed though, check out these tips on how you can nail it.

One useful tip to avoid shadows is to have the light focused directly on you, and additional lights focused on either your side or pointed towards the wall. This will ensure that the light is focused on all 3 parts of the frame, avoiding any unnecessary shadows behind you.

You can also make homemade flash diffusers using a white balloon and a flashlight. Just blow up a balloon and put it over the flashlight. It depends on how big you blow the balloon up. Test it out to see what works better for your portrait.

Try Different Poses and Attires

Once you’re all set up with the location and lighting, find out what color contrast works best with your clothes and the location. Try to focus on rather simple and professional attire, as it is a professional headshot.

Once you’ve got sorted that out, it’s time to set up your tripod. You’re aiming for a square image, so set your tripod according to the frame starting from your head down to your waist.

You’ll want to try a mix of different poses to see what works best for you. To be fair, everyone knows their good side.

In Conclusion

Now that you have a set of profile picture ideas to give you an edge over the ultra-competitive content on your social media platforms, you can start taking some good pictures of yourself.

Your profile picture is the key to creating your personal brand.

It pretty much impacts almost every response you get off your social media accounts, regardless of whether you’re a blogger, business owner, or influencer. Everyone needs an online presence nowadays, including small businesses.

With some of these photography tips and ideas and an excellent picture editor like Pixelied, you can create the perfect profiles for your social media presence.

The post 10 Best Profile Picture Ideas to Boost Your Social Presence appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

Thing is, most of these features are added silently or without a how-to guide. That’s why you only see a handful of people using a Facebook profile video, even in 2021.

A looping Facebook profile video is typically very eye-catching for that exact reason – the scarcity of it.

In this article, we’ll go over a step-by-step process of how you can create a Facebook profile video, along with some tips to improve your Facebook profile overall.

Let’s get started.

How to Make and Upload a Facebook Profile Video

Facebook users can only use this feature if they have the Facebook mobile app on their Apple or Android smartphone. There’s no way to create a Facebook profile video on your browser yet.

Uploading a Facebook profile video on iOS is as easy as uploading a picture on an Android. But there are a few perks that only android users get to enjoy, such as, selecting their thumbnails.

Below, I’ll explain the steps to edit and upload your profile video:

1. Open the Facebook App

Open the Facebook app on your smartphone to get started. After that, if you’re using an iPhone, go to your profile tab located at the bottom of the screen. If you’re using an Android phone, click on the hamburger menu on the top right side and click on the ‘See Your Profile’ button on the top.

2. Tap the Camera Icon

Towards the bottom-right corner of your Facebook profile picture, you’ll find a tiny camera icon. Tap this icon to reveal an entirely new menu where you’ll see the following options:

• Add Frame – is for adding a customized frame around your profile picture. They’re the overlays you see on some Facebook profile pictures, such as frames for different flags, movements, and more.
• Take New Profile Video – is for instantly using your phone’s camera to make a new Facebook profile video. You can use the front or back camera of your phone to record your new profile video. Choose this icon if you want to create a new profile video immediately.
• Select Profile Video – option is used when you want to use a video from your phone’s gallery as your new Facebook profile video. You can use social media videos as long as they follow the profile video guidelines. Use this option when you have created a Facebook profile video and just want to upload it now.
• Select Profile Picture – option is used to upload a new profile picture from your phone’s gallery. It can be a picture of anything as long as it follows Facebook’s guidelines.
• Turn On/Off Profile Picture Guard – option is for turning on a security feature to protect your privacy. It locks your profile picture for people who are not in your friend’s circle and stops them from zooming in, taking screenshots, or even opening your profile picture.
• Add Design – is for adding different kinds of designs on top of your profile picture.
• Make Avatar Profile Picture – option is for creating a custom avatar through another trusted app and using it as your Facebook profile picture.

For the Facebook profile video, you only need to focus on the second and third bullet points.

3. Select Profile Video or Take New Profile Video

You can either browse for a video you already have in your camera roll or shoot a new one. Depending on what option you choose, you’ll get a different prompt.

If you choose to take a new profile video, your camera will open up and you can shoot your video. You can also edit it accordingly after you’re done.

If you’re selecting a profile video, your camera roll will open up so you can choose the video you want to set up.

4. Edit Your Profile Video

For the basic part, you can either trim or crop your profile video. However, if you want to edit your video, Facebook offers a few editing options with filters or transitioning effects. Make sure it’s only 7 seconds or shorter though.

If you use those seven seconds wisely, you can end up with a pretty decent profile video.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, here’s something to consider:

Cinemagraphs never go out of fashion and look very cool. You could also change your attire rather than one dress per picture. Additionally, you can also try mixing some colorful filters to different moments.

5. Upload Your Facebook Profile Video

Once you finish editing your video, you can upload it by following the steps mentioned below:

• Android: Tap “next” and at the bottom of your screen you can select a thumbnail for your video.
• iPhone: Tap on the “Use” button.

You now have a Facebook profile video that will be running on a loop.

How to Improve Your Facebook Profile

You have a few built-in editing options on your Facebook app, as it has to keep its graphics game on-point. These features keep updating to keep up with the ever-evolving features on other social networks.

For instance, Twitter came out with auto-play for videos, just like Facebook. Later, Snapchat added the animated selfie lenses which Facebook also has.

You’re pretty much going to find the same features across all social media platforms.

By using the Facebook video profile feature, you have a chance to improve your personal branding and show your personality in 7 seconds. Think of it as part of your personal brand assets.

Your Facebook profile video can be very effective in grabbing people’s attention and creating a good impression. This allows you to express yourself in a short video.

Alternatively, if you’re into memes, it can be an interesting alternative to meme pictures being shared on your profile.

Some other features Facebook introduced to improve your Facebook profile apart from Facebook profile video are temporary profile pics, featured images, bigger sections for your (photos and friends), and visibility controls.

Let’s go over some of these features quickly so that you have an idea about what these are, and how you can use them to your advantage to rise above the noise.

Facebook Cover Video

This is a great tool for marketers looking for new features to promote their brand. A Facebook cover video is the same as a profile video. It’s a short video clip for the banner above your current profile picture/video.

It’s a great place to show your team members or a chance for you to share something exciting about your business. It allows you to share more about your company and what you do.

If you have Facebook Business Manager, you can make use of this feature. Below are the steps to upload a Facebook cover video:

• Open Facebook through Facebook Business Manager.
• Select the “Upload Video” option, and choose your cover video file.
• Adjust your video according to the dimensions.
• Smash that upload button.

You can do the same for any groups you’re an admin of too. However, you’ll have to take care of the dimensions, such as the Facebook group cover photo size.

Promote Your Brand

While Facebook only has a few options to edit videos, you could use other decent video editing apps. Create something that can boost your brand, but don’t forget to add something that that resonates with your personality.

Keep in mind that you need to try to keep your focus on your business persona, and use your personality to showcase the products your business provides. People find you more credible and creative when you add a touch of your personality to your brand.

You don’t necessarily have to use your profile video for marketing, just keep it personal and simple for your brand identity. Most people tend to remember videos more than an image.

Temporary Profile Pics

The temporary profile picture feature just came out a short while ago. It makes it easier for you to express what you feel, or what you stand with. You don’t even need to change it. It will revert to the original photo after a certain amount of time.

There was a trend surfacing on Facebook a while ago with the rainbow filter supporting LGBTQ rights. In 2015, more than 26 million had used that filter to show their support, but eventually, everyone changed it back when the trend calmed down.

You now have the option for it to change back on its own, after however long you want (you can select the minutes, hours, or days).

Below are the steps to upload a temporary profile picture:

• Open your Facebook profile.
• Select to update your profile picture.
• Upload your selected picture or add any frame of your choice.
• Select “Temporary”.
• Select the time, to have it switched back to your original profile picture.
• Hit “Save”.

Temporary profile pictures are a great way to get in on any trend that resonates with what you believe in.

Featured Photos

Featured photos are the photos that appear below your profile picture as a highlight of your life. These pictures can be viewed publically apart from your profile and cover picture.

The photos don’t appear on your news feed, only people that visit your profile will be able to view them.

They are essentially 3-9 photos that define who you are. You can add memories, defining moments, memes, or anything that gives an insight into who you are.

BioField and Visibility Controls

Facebook has had this feature for quite some time. You can control your privacy for every detail on your Facebook profile page and news feed.

However, a new feature that came out a while back was the 100 character Biofield. If you select ”Public”, it will be visible to everyone. There, you can add a simple one or two-line statement about yourself.

Keep in mind that information like your name, profile, and cover pictures, username, gender will remain public by default so it’s easy for someone to find you.

On the other hand, anything like where you live, or how many friends you have or your pictures will remain private, or public, depending upon your preference.

If you truly value your privacy, you can set up your profile so it doesn’t show up in the general search. That way, only your friends can see your profile, and only you can add new people.

What are the Technical Requirements for a Facebook Profile Video?

Now that you know all the basics, tips, and processes, it’s also important to be familiar with some technical aspects to ease out the process. We already established that to upload a Facebook Profile Video you need to either have an iOS or Android phone.

There aren’t many technical requirements for a Facebook profile video; but, there are a few you should keep in mind like the file format, size, editing options, timing, sound, and thumbnails.

You don’t need to worry about cropping the video, as Facebook has a built-in crop tool that lets you adjust around the required dimensions.

Here are a few technical details that you should consider:

• Timing – Your Facebook profile video should be up to 7 seconds long. If you upload a longer video, it’s going to use only the first 7 seconds by default. You’ll need to adjust around to fit what 7 seconds of the video you want to feature.
• Cover Thumbnail – You can use the slider and adjust it according to your video thumbnail.
• Sound – You can turn the sound on or off, as you want.

The size of the video should appear as the standard Facebook profile size. This means you would need to crop the video to a 1:1 aspect ratio – that’s pretty much the only size ratio you can use.

Lastly, for the video file format, Facebook supports various formats such as MOV or MP4, but, you can only upload a GIF. Here’s a more detailed outlook on what formats Facebook supports.

In Conclusion

Creating a Facebook profile video will certainly help you catch people’s attention. It’ll give you a chance to enhance your creativity by leveraging video ideas in dynamic ways.

However, the key is to not overuse the feature. Try to use it when it’s relevant and if you have a Facebook profile video that resonates with your profile.

If you want to design any visuals for your Facebook profile video, you can always make use of Pixelied.

The post How to Make a Facebook Profile Video in 2021 [With Steps] appeared first on Pixelied Blog.

In fact, more than 82% of today’s internet traffic is video content. This suggests how users’ preferences have dramatically changed over the years. The once-popular blog posts are now being abandoned ever since the advent of social media. 

Social media videos are entirely different content compared to articles. When it comes to connecting a brand with the target audience, social media videos help convey the message in a way that written content doesn’t. 

Today, videos have become a winning tool for marketers to reach out to the audience. Video marketing strategies have shaped a new thread of connection between a brand and customers, where both of them can be a part of this remarkable campaign. 

With so many social platforms provided, you need to know that every platform has its very own unique audience. You can’t expect to connect with your target viewers when you know nothing about how each platform works. 

After all, different social networks serve different audiences. Make sure to research and create various video content for every platform. It may sound daunting at first, but if you want to reach out better, that’s the only way to steal your audience’s attention.

The perks of having social media videos

Online representation is mandatory in today’s business landscape. With the vast development of the internet, having social accounts can help you strengthen your brand trust. 

When you’re going online, creating video content should be on your top list. Since videos account for the majority of online content, having them means that you’ve secured a general audience. 

Moreover, a study has claimed that video content can generate 12x engagement rates compared to text and images combined. That’s a massive number, to begin with. It’d be beneficial to use video content to promote your brand on social media. 

To take you further into perspective, here are some social media video statistics you should know.

• Over 93% of marketers say that social media videos help them acquire more customers
• More than 54% of customers want to watch branded videos
• When it comes to favorites type of content, many people opt for social videos than blog posts

Every social media video platforms you should care

Every social media platform possesses a distinct characteristic. That’s the reason why many companies build new platforms to offer a different experience for their users. 

Each platform brings a different value for its audience. By understanding these platforms, you’ll be able to find the right audience that fits your purposes.

1. YouTube

YouTube is the second-largest social media platform worldwide. It’s also the world’s second-biggest site that uses videos as its main social communication.  

With over 2 billion users across the world, YouTube is hands down the greatest video hosting platform ever made. Considering to use YouTube is an understatement. Since many, if not almost, every brand has established its official account on the platform. 

YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase your brand’s values and convey messages in a meaningful way. This platform allows you to directly communicate with viewers and listen to their feedback through the community and comment section.

That way, you can receive an honest, sometimes critical response that will help you improve your brand in the future.  

If you’re sure to dip your toes into YouTube, you might as well consider researching which types of video content garner views and the recommended thumbnail dimensions for your videos. Compelling content like tutorial videos, explainer videos, and product videos are a great start to collect as many viewers. 

In addition, viewers are the essential key when getting popular on YouTube. The number of views pushes the platform’s algorithm to recommend your videos to others. As a result, you’ll receive a new batch of viewers and subscriptions at the same time. 

2. Facebook

Facebook is still the king of social media. With over 2.85 billions monthly active users worldwide, this platform is one of the best places to run your social campaigns. 

Before you get into the joy of using Facebook, it’s crucial to understand how people use this platform on a daily basis. People on Facebook love engaging with inspirational and entertaining posts. This is the reason why you can easily find motivational quotes here compared to other social media platforms. 

Facebook users are also more interested in watching videos rather than a long, bulky text on the wall. Videos that evoke emotions sell much better on this platform. Hence, content like testimonials, customer stories, and shocking facts receive a greater response from users.

However, you should know that over 85% of Facebook users watch videos with sound off. The reason may be quite simple, every video on Facebook is built that way. Users need to unmute a video to listen to the audio as soon as it plays. 

That’s why it’s vital to include captions on your Facebook videos. People who don’t turn the sound on may not understand what you’re trying to say. This will greatly affect you in delivering an important marketing message to your audience.  

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is unlike every other social media platform on this list. It’s specifically designed for professionals to connect and engage with one and another. Hence, the baby boomers and older millennials make up the biggest audience on this platform.  

People use LinkedIn for professional purposes, such as searching for jobs, reaching out to clients, recruiting purposes and receiving career-related information. Therefore, it’s perfect for a brand looking for a way to broaden the network and meet like-minded individuals. 

In this case, B2B companies can make good use of LinkedIn to generate leads and make sales conversions. 

On LinkedIn, you can practically share branded videos or product videos without shame. After all, that’s what LinkedIn is designed for in the first place. In fact, these types of video content do well on this platform as they are helpful for other professionals in search of certain business content. 

Unlike YouTube, LinkedIn has no features to keep video content or make a video playlist for recurring viewers. That means once you post videos, they will disappear shortly or get buried down on the LinkedIn feed unless you make them as an ad.  

4. Twitter

Twitter is an excellent place for public relations. You literally have no boundaries when it comes to sending and receiving tweets with everyone. Hence, making it a great medium to connect with your target audience.  

On Twitter, things escalate quickly. A simple tweet can take over the internet trend in a matter of hours. Whether it’s a few liners of your words or single video content, becoming viral on Twitter is relatively easy compared to other social networks. 

For a business, using Twitter is a great deal in connecting with customers. You can build an entirely different brand persona on Twitter that you can’t do on other platforms, and no one will question you for that. 

In any case, your audience will feel more connected with you if you can speak their language. This can be obtained when you lower down your professionality and make yourself a part of Twitter’s image: entertaining. 

5. Instagram

Instagram is a very visual platform that focuses on serving engaging content like images or videos. This platform is like a highly curated gallery that everyone can make. 

Since it heavily relies on visual content, Instagram is excellent for showcasing your brand in appealing images and videos. This platform has now evolved into a great marketing tool where you can post different types of content that fits your needs. 

Instagram Stories allows you to post a 15-second video or slide images that will disappear after 24 hours. This feature helps you give a short announcement or product snippet for your followers, allowing you to attract their attention even better.  

On the other hand, you can fill up to 10 images or videos on a single post with Instagram Carousel. It helps you minimize customers being distracted when scrolling through the feed as it spikes their curiosity into what you have in the next slide. 

Not to mention that you can add hashtags to your video content. This allows people to discover your videos easily. 

6. TikTok

At the beginning of it, TikTok was popular as a platform for random teens dancing around to some retro music. However, the sentiment has then cooled down as many big brands have joined this platform. 

Big brands like Nike, Pepsi, and the NBA have taken advantage of this platform as its audience is entirely different from other networks. 

TikTok itself is a bit different. With only 15-second long vertical video content, this platform is very appealing for those looking for a short, entertaining piece. The sound in TikTok videos plays an important role. Using a trending song can increase your reach on TikTok pages.  

With that in mind, often, old songs become popular again and resurface on the internet as TikTok videos are shared across different social platforms. 

TikTok now has over 800 million monthly active users across the globe. This number is estimated to grow rapidly as many brands begin to join the bandwagon, enlivening the already popular social network on the internet. 

Takeaway

Social media videos have become the greatest item to have in your marketing campaign. With so many people are used to consuming video content, running a video marketing strategy has never been easier. 

Take a look at the guide above to find the best platform for your brand. It may be challenging to provide different video content for different social platforms, but you know very well that reaching out to the right audience is your biggest priority in promoting your brand. 

The post A Guide To Social Media Videos: Which Platform Works Best For You appeared first on Pixelied Blog.