Instagram started off as a photo app, but has evolved into a much more advanced platform and now includes video content in the form of Instagram stories, Instagram posts, and long form video content on IGTV.

With the increase in video popularity on the platform, individuals and brands are quickly learning the ins and out of video and video optimization on Instagram to better their content and engagement. One common question we’ve seen asked is what Instagram video format is most ideal for the platform?

I’ve outlined the best Instagram video format that everyone should use, ways that you can increase video quality, and I showcase some examples of the best Instagram videos on the platform. [click to continue…]

It feels like ever since Facebook Zero was announced, marketers and brands haven’t been able to talk about anything but the major social media site that caused “friending” to become a verb. After several months of fixating on Facebook, though, Instagram has finally stolen the spotlight away from their partner platform with their new IGTV.

Instagram’s new IGTV is a huge development in the marketing world, bring more long-form content to the platform in a way that’s sure to shake things up.

In this post, we’ll take a look at everything we know about IGTV, including what it means for the platform, what it means for marketers, examples of businesses already knocking it out of the park, and a few ideas for where to get started. [click to continue…]

Podcasts are a purely auditory experience, so it’s all about listening. Visuals have nothing to do with it, right?

While this may seem like the case, that’s actually really far from the truth. The cover art that users see, after all, is the first real experience that they have with your content. And long before they decide to listen, they’ll look at that artwork and it may even influence whether or not they stick around long enough to read the description of your podcast, let alone download it.

We all know this to be true. We eat with our eyes first, which is why restaurants strive to have Instagram-worthy dishes, even though the taste is what really matters most. Cover art for your podcast is no different, and it should be valued accordingly.

Also worth noting is that when users are browsing through different platforms featuring a large number of podcasts, they’re looking for something to catch your eye. If your cover art really doesn’t entice them, they’ll scroll right past.

In this post, we’re going to go over podcast cover art best practices and answer any questions you may have, in addition to showing you exactly how to create it even if you don’t have any design experience. [click to continue…]

Infographics are an underused but often high-performing medium that more content marketers should be taking advantage of. It’s a visual display of information, making it easy to digest and interesting to look at. This means more shares, both on social media and other sites.

It’s not just common sense that tells us infographics are so effective; research proves it, too. Different studies have shown that:

• An infographic is 30x more likely to be read than an article made up of pure text
• Colorful visuals increase a person’s willingness to read content by 80%
• People will retain 65% of information that’s combined with a relevant image, as opposed to remembering only 10% when they only hear the information
• Content with relevant images get 94% more views than content without them

That’s the high-performing part.

The underused part of the equation often comes into play because infographics can be intimidating to create. More than that, it can be time consuming and very, very expensive to hire designers to create just a single image once.

This doesn’t have to be the case, however, thanks to professional-quality, customizable infographic templates like the ones that we have available here on Snappa.

In this post, we’ll discuss what you should look at when choosing an infographic template to use and the 12 most popular infographic templates for small businesses.

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Having the right Soundcloud banner size and the right visuals that represent you as an artist can make or break your profile. You want to leave a good impression on listeners visiting your Soundcloud page. Before users even click the play button, the first thing they will see is your Soundcloud banner and profile photo.

Soundcloud has taken artists from their bedrooms to tours across the world. It’s crazy to think that a simple SoundCloud profile like yours can be seen by thousands or even millions of people.

I’ve looked through some of the biggest and bests SoundCloud profiles across the platform to give you the ideal SoundCloud banner size and best practices so that you can attract more listeners to your profile. [click to continue…]

There’s no question that Twitch TV is a dominant force in the online live streaming industry. With over 100+ million monthly unique users and over 25 000 Twitch partner channels, Twitch has become the go-to platform for e-sports streaming.

Twitch has made live streaming way more accessible than it was years ago and gamers of all ages are creating Twitch channels worldwide to showcase their gameplay. To really stand out from the other Twitch channels, it is important to have the right Twitch banner size, profile picture, but more importantly professional looking visuals that will help your channel stand out from the rest. 

We have compiled all the right Twitch TV sizes and channel best practices that will take your Twitch channel to the next level! [click to continue…]

Photography has always been an integral part of design. Unfortunately, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing cheesy stock images of people in suits shaking hands. Not only are a lot of these stock photos tacky, but they cost a lot of money.

Thankfully, there’s been a growing number of websites with beautiful stock photography popping up all over the web. Best of all, they’re free!

In this post, we’ve curated a list of awesome websites for free stock photos. [click to continue…]

I firmly believe that both content and copy should be written with the intention of being read by people first, and Google second. It won’t matter if you show up first in the search engines if you can’t connect with your target audience.

That being said, it also doesn’t matter much if you produce great content and your target audience can’t find you.

There’s no question that search engine optimization (SEO) is a necessity for every business who wants to build an online presence (which should be all businesses). There are some aspects of SEO that can be complicated, like creating site maps, but there are other tactics that are easily used even by those without in-depth technological knowledge.

In this post, you’ll learn how to improve your SEO through visual content with these easy-to-implement strategies that are accessible to all businesses, no coding required. [click to continue…]

Instagram is arguably the most popular social media app in the world and it deserves this title for many reasons. According to SmartInsights, Instagram has over 800 million monthly active users, while Instagram stories have over 250 million daily active users. The biggest brands are all using Instagram and they are seeing many benefits for their business.

With over 70% of US businesses on Instagram (Sprout Social, 2017), it is hard to stand out in front of your followers. You need to be producing authentic content and you have to be consistent. Engaging with your fan base and being an active member of the community is essential. This can be time consuming, but if you do it right, you will see positive results from Instagram.

Rather than telling you what to do or what not to do, we’ve analyzed some of the best brands on Instagram to share with you some insights on what they are doing well. You can then apply these insights to your business and find positive results yourself! [click to continue…]