Breaking Down the Different Content Types on Facebook and Instagram and How You Should Use Each One
“Breaking Down the Different Content Types on Facebook and Instagram and How You Should Use Each One”
A post is not always a post, so what is it? Let’s break down the different types of content you are able to create on Facebook and Instagram and how you can make the most out of each one.
Posts
Posts are basic photos or videos that appear on your profile grid and on the feeds of your followers. Posts are helpful for sharing content that you want displayed on your profile indefinitely. These are good for showcasing your work, important announcements, and content that is appropriate for long-term visibility. This content can be viewed by anyone who visits your profile.
Carousels
Carousels let you upload up to 10 photos or videos in one post. It’s called a carousel because users can swipe right to left through the content to view each slide. These are great for showing step by step tutorials of your work and sharing process shots or before and afters. Carousels are a wonderful tool for visual storytelling. They can also help you achieve better engagement because users will have to interact with the content by swiping to see the other images. This can help boost your post in the algorithm.
Stories
Stories are photos or short videos that disappear after 24 hours. They are viewable by clicking on your profile photo. You can however, choose to save them as highlights so that they remain on your profile indefinitely in the highlights section. Stories are great for sharing time sensitive information like a sale or urgent message. You may choose a story over a basic post if the information you’re sharing is not something you’d need to remain on your profile. Stories also allow you to connect with your followers through polls or clickable links, which is not possible in a normal post.
Reels
Reels are short form videos that can be up to 3 minutes long. You may find this feature helpful for sharing time-lapse videos of your creative process, participating in social media trends, or speaking to your audience through video. Instagram has a reels tab solely devoted to pushing reels to new audiences so this could be a great resource for reaching new people.
Facebook & Instagram Live
These features let you broadcast a live stream to your followers. This is great for connecting with your audience on a more personal level because you’re interacting with them in real time. They can view your live stream as it’s happening and send messages to you as they watch. You may want to use this feature for Q&As, demos, exciting announcements, or just to connect with your followers. It can be helpful to give your followers a heads up when you plan to go live, that way they can anticipate it and be ready to chat with you.