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The JPG Top 3: The Ultimate Guide to Reels, LinkedIn Content That Works, and Who Owns YOU?

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We comb the interwebs to bring you the top 3 stories for small business social media marketing, branding, and engagement. Get it even sooner by subscribing to our FREE Top 3 email. Subscribe now

#3 Do You Know Who Owns You?

This story is an interesting one about what happens to sponsorship deals when an influencer couple breaks up (Yup … we’re at that point in the world where we’re talking about). But the reason we bring this up is to ask the question … do you know who owns YOU?

We see it time and time again when we work with a small business who has absolutely no clue who actually owns their digital assets. Their Facebook page was started by an employee 7 years ago who no longer works there (if they can even remember who it is at all), their website is hosted somewhere and they forget where or which email set up the account, and they have no clue what their Instagram password is because “it’s just saved on my phone.” (Any of these sound familiar?)

Would you treat your banking information like this? Of course not! So why are you treating your digital assets this way? Owning and controlling this information is absolutely vital. Without it you are unable to make certain growth decisions for your business, and you also run the serious risk of having your information deleted by someone who no longer cares about it. We HIGHLY recommend taking a look at all of your assets, making sure you control them all, and trimming access to only the most trusted members of your team.

#2 The Best Content to Post On LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a powerful weapon in your digital arsenal. While other platforms make people slap each other in the face with tortillas just to get noticed, LinkedIn presents itself as more of a professional hub for both your brand and personal image. This becomes an opportunity to share your opinions and experiences as a business owner while networking with others in your industry and beyond. To be honest, it’s kind of a refreshing change from the grind of Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

So the question becomes … What kind of content works best on LinkedIn? The Top 5 Content Types That Work Best on LinkedIn

#1 The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Reels

Like it or not, Reels are here to stay and they are a HUGE part of what’s working right now on Instagram. Gone are the days (for now) of just posting a quick picture and watching the engagement roll in courtesy of a few well-placed hashtags. And yes, photo content is still an important part of showcasing your brand’s voice, but to grow your presence beyond your current followers, Reels is the way it’s going to happen.

It’s pretty simple … Instagram is currently getting their butts kicked by TikTok, so they are pushing Reels HARD as a way to get people to stay on their platform as much as possible. As a result, you stand a MUCH better chance of having your brand reach new eyeballs when you play the game and do what the Instagram robots want you to. A real life example … We posted a Reel recently for a client that reached FIVE TIMES as many accounts as their current follower base. Needless to say, this video helped grow their brand to new people who otherwise would never see a single thing they post.

There’s a lot that goes into building successful Reels … video length, hashtag use, collaboration tags, etc … so we recommend this Ultimate Reels Guide as a good starting point. Good luck!

The JPG Top 3: Instagram is making big changes, Marketing during a recession, and the best times to post on Twitch

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We comb the interwebs to bring you the top 3 stories for small business social media marketing, branding, and engagement. Get it even sooner by subscribing to our FREE Top 3 email. Subscribe now

#3 Marketing During a Recession

Are we in a recession? Who the heck knows! What we do know is that whether or not some news report or pile of statistics can “officially” declare a recession, consumers and businesses are definitely ACTING like we are, so we need to plan accordingly.

One thing that tends to happen during an economic downtown is that companies start to panic and begin slashing budgets, especially marketing and advertising budgets. Don’t do it! Historical data (and we’re talking over 100 years worth here) will show that companies that perform the best during a recession are the ones who DON’T make those cuts. Not only that, but their businesses continue to have higher levels of success after the downturn. Read more here.

#2 The Best Time to Stream On Twitch

Last time we looked at the best times to post on Facebook and Instagram, so this time we wanted to give you the data on the most popular streaming times on Twitch. According to this Hootsuite article, the most popular times for viewership is 2-5pm eastern time, but they also make a very interesting point that that may be the exact time you want to avoid. Competition is high and some of the biggest names on the platform are active.

Meanwhile, the least active time clocks in at 3-7am eastern, and while that’s definitely “sleepy time” for those of us on the east coast, it’s also a time with far less competition. So if you’re a smaller channel looking to gain eyeballs, this may be the exact time you want to be streaming.

I would go one step further and use some similar mindsets when posting to other platforms. Take Facebook and Instagram for example. If you’re someone who uses Meta Business Suite to schedule posts and you look at the “optimal posting times” that Meta spits out, most of them tend to say roughly 7pm is when your page audience is “most active” (at least that’s the time I always see). Sure … on the surface that seems like a great idea. But then realize that EVERY OTHER business is also getting told this same exact time. So now 7pm is flooded with new posts that you have to fight with. With that in mind it makes sense to jump the gun and throw yours out there at 6 or 6:30 so you can get a head start.

#1 Big Changes at Instagram

Social platforms are forever changing things and testing out new features. Some of these features become across the board changes, while others disappear into oblivion. Here’s a couple IG is testing right now …

I won’t spend a ton of time analyzing the tests mentioned above simply because we don’t know if they’ll ever become anything more than just a test. The Notes feature is an interesting one because it’s the first real departure from pictures and video for Instagram and almost reminds me of a quick Tweet or the old “Zack Jackson is …” status updates from the olden days of Facebook. That said, if anybody actually cares still remains to be seen.

One big Instagram change that is definitely coming is a brand new sizing guide. Some of you may already have noticed that the images in your IG grid have gotten longer. Not everybody has had this change happen yet (I haven’t), but to those who have it means the old square picture setup is going to look cut off on both the left and right sides. This may not be an issue if your image is well centered, but it makes a huge difference when text is being cut off.

The biggest takeaway here is that Meta is gearing more and more to mobile content and viewing. They want everything to fit perfect on the screen of your phone and they don’t really care about any other device. Horizontal images and video were on life support already, but now you can pretty much save the date for their funeral. And yes, horizontal video may be higher quality, but we’re learning a very simple argument against it … NOBODY CARES! Get the full Instagram sizing guide

Facebook Finally adds story scheduling!

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Scheduling Stories is Here!

Rejoice!

Being able to schedule posts has been a Godsend for small businesses and social media managers alike. And while there are plenty of third party sites out there that offer this service, using Facebook’s Creator Studio function presents itself as a more convenient option because it doesn’t require additional logins and syncing to other sites. (Plus, let’s not act like Facebook doesn’t give preferential treatment to posts run through its own site vs. outside sources!)

Scheduling POSTS has been a great resource, but Facebook had yet to allow the scheduling of STORIES … until now! Stories are a great way to create an additional contact point with your audience, but it has always required you to do it in the moment, which can be incredibly difficult for any small business owner who’s already wearing 27 different hats on a daily basis. Now you FINALLY have the ability to do it in your down time, additionally allowing you the advantage of scheduling things with daily relevance to drop at midnight on that day and disappear 24 hours later. No longer does your “Happy Taco Tuesday” story have sit there and look all ridiculous for 8 more hours on a Wednesday morning!

There is one catch … this function is available in Facebook’s new Business Suite functions, which not everyone has access to just yet. For more information on Business Suite and scheduling stories, Social Media today has more

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