As a digital marketer, I am inevitably drawn to the fast-paced and dynamic environment of social media. Everything is constantly changing and even the most minute size change to a sponsored Facebook post can be a game changer. Whether you are managing a massive brand with hundreds of thousands of followers or just starting to get your feet wet in the digital world, it is so important to familiarize yourself with the various types of social content.

There are several cheat sheets and infographics you can find online that provide dimensions for social properties. My personal favorite is Sprout Social’s guide which always has an up-to-date Google doc with the creative specs for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr. This is extremely helpful when creating or managing visual content on each of your platforms (including your personal pages!). In addition to these basic graphics, you also must stay informed on all social advertising sizes.

When you’re dealing with paid digital media, an essential reference is the Facebook Ad Guide which clearly lays out each type of ad and it’s recommended dimensions. The specs for Instagram ads, Audience Network, and Facebook Messenger are also included. Google provides a similar guide for their display and video ads. However, if you do not have the capabilities to create 10 sizes for each display campaign, the sizes that are most effective are 336x280, 300x250, 728x90, 300x600, and 160x600

Lastly, staying on top of visual content trends is key! User generated content isn’t going away anytime soon and it’s important to understand what content you can and cannot repurpose. While some of the lines may be blurry, it is always smart to take the ‘better safe than sorry’ approach when it comes to brands taking advantage of user generated content. Have a policy in place to always give photo credit, and to ask users for permission to share their photo. Additionally, develop a branded hashtag to encourage users to not only share content relevant for your brand, but to also make it discoverable. Apple’s #shotoniphone campaign is a great example of UGC promoting their camera capabilities without running into permission issues.

Digital marketing is constantly evolving- stay up to date on content trends and you’ll be ahead of the pack! Need help navigating the world of digital? Contact the SparkShoppe team today!