What’s the key to engaging content? How can I keep people coming back for more?

These are questions that I hear all of the time, so when I had the opportunity to go to Facebook Community Boost and speak directly Facebook’s creative team, I jumped at the opportunity to ask the questions that you want answers to!

I asked about everything from increasing sales with social media to the latest ad trends and best practices. I totally geeked out! I walked away with so many nuggets of wisdom, but one theme that kept coming up over and over again, was the importance creative visuals. 

Everything starts and ends with eye-catching, visually appealing, and interesting content. 

We’re living in a world where we have less than 2 seconds to catch someone’s attention and most of the time, the visual is the only thing that stands out. The problem is, making those visuals takes time. 

Luckily, Facebook recommended 10 best photo & video apps to make better content, quicker and easier!

Before you get frustrated or spend hours trying to make a good photo or video, make sure you check out these apps to see if they can save you some time (or money). 

After all, you have better things you can be doing than editing a photo for the 1,000th time!

Best Photo Enhancing Apps

1. Adobe Photoshop Express

It’s Photoshop on your phone and at your fingertips! 

This is a very powerful app, especially, if you take a lot of photos on your phone. The app boasts being a fast, easy, and fun way to touch your way to better looking pictures, and best of all it’s FREE!

It is jam-packed with features and is a great way to edit on the go. It’s the perfect for those who aren’t as well-versed in the full Adobe Photoshop program and don’t have time to learn an entire new program.

Features Include:

• Over 60 Unique Looks (like filters)
• Image Corrections
• Dehazing (removing fog and haze from the atmosphere)
• Luminance Noise Reduction (brighten and sharpen dark, grainy photos)
• Text Styles (to make memes)
• Perspective Correction (straighten crooked images)
• Apply Blur 
• Connection to Creative Cloud (save and continue edits in other connected Adobe Photoshop apps)
• Collages

It is available on the App Store, Google Play, and the Windows Store.

2. Adobe Spark Post

A quick and easy way to make eye-catching graphics and images, all in the palm of your hand!

It’s from Adobe, so you know it has to be good. This app promises to create stunning graphics, in seconds. It is full of time saving features and is the perfect for those who aren’t the best with design and don’t have time to create templates from scratch.

Features Include:

• Professionally Designed Templates
• Themes for a Consistent Look
• Magic Text (applies typography automatically as you resize text to make it pop)
• Automatic Resize (instantly adjust size for each social platform)
• Text Effects (apply shadows, outlines, and cut-out effects)
• Animated Video Posts (one tap animations)
• Hand-Picked Designer Fonts & Shapes
• Auto Recolor (change color palette with one tap)  
• Text Cut-Outs (reveal background image through text)
• Free Premium Stock Photos
• Connection to Creative Cloud (save and continue edits in other connected Adobe apps)

It comes in both a free and premium version, and is available on the App Store and Google Play.

3. PicLab

This is another one to make eye-catching visuals, quickly and easily. 

This app aims to make editing photos fun and effortless. It’s stocked with easy-to-use features that can take your images to new heights.

If I’m being honest, this isn’t my favorite app out of the bunch, but it still gets the job done. It doesn’t have as many features as some of the other apps and it prompts a lot of in-app purchases, which I am never a fan of with free apps.

Features Include:

• Image Overlays and Masks (shapes, borders, textures, light-leaks, & more)
• Stickers and Artwork
• More Than 20 Photo Filters
• Designer Fonts & Typography
• Text Effects (adjust opacity, drop-shadows, and layers)
• Photo Effects (adjust brightness, saturation, contrast, blur, and exposure)
• Drawing Tool (scribble right on your photos)
• Collage Tool 
• Cropping Tool (preset and custom cropping ratios)

It is available on the App Store, Google Play, and the Windows Store.

4. Plotaverse

Facebook recommends this as a simple way to animate still photos or turn videos into GIFS.

Plotaverse claims to be the #1 Motion Art App that allows you to easily animate images and add video overlays in minutes. It is a premium app, that requires a membership ($4.99 monthly or $35.99 annually).

Full disclosure: I do not use this app, therefore, I do not recommend it. My promise to you is that I will not recommend something that I, myself, don’t use or test out first.

Part of the reason that I don’t use or recommend this app is because of the ongoing membership cost. I’ve looked into this app quite a bit, and I just don’t think it packs enough value for the ongoing cost. 

I’ve also looked at a lot of content made on Plotaverse (it’s website is a giant gallery), and the animations just look a little too fake to me. For the cost of this app, I would expect a high quality final product and this just falls a bit short. 

Facebook must see something in this app though since it recommends it!

Features Include:

• FX Overlays (video overlays)
• Animation and Selection Tool
• Instant Playback
• Image Adjustments (brightness, contrast, hue, saturation)
• Magnifier and Pinch Zoom
• Crop Presets
• Social Sharing Presets
• Save to Camera Roll
• GIF, MP4, and Animated PNG Exports
• Apple Pencil Pressure Sensitivity
• Real-Time Animation Speed Control

It is available on the App Store and Google Play.

5. Ripl

This is a great app that can give you professional looking content in a matter of minutes! 

You can quickly and conveniently layer animations on top of photos to make eye-catching videos and slideshows–no editing or design experience required.

It is full of templates, connects to social media so you can schedule content out, and it offers analytics to see which video is working the best. It has both a free and premium version, so you can test it out thoroughly before spending any money on it. 

This is a great app that’s very easy to use. If you have the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can make the same type of content without buying another app, but if you don’t want to learn another program, Ripl is a great option. 

Features Include:

• 250+ Customizable Design Templates (collages, banners, slideshows, etc)
• Animated Post Recommendations Customized For You
• Hundreds of Font and Music Choices
• Desktop and Mobile Compatibility
• Email and Social Media Integration (one-tap sharing and scheduling)
• Export Saving (save files outside of the app to use elsewhere)
• Real-Time Analytics

It is available on the App Store, Google Play, and Desktop.

Best Video Enhancing Apps

6. Videoshop

A simple and easy way to take your videos to the next level! 

This app boasts being a simple video editor, with fast editing tools so that anyone can have customized videos. It not only lets you combine photos and videos, but it also lets you resize videos and experiment with stop motion. 

This is another paid app with membership fees ($3.99 monthly, $23.99 annually). I’ve tested it out and it is a good option, especially for beginners, but I no longer use it. 

If you have the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can accomplish everything that this app does, without having to pay another membership fee. 

Features Include:

• Trim (cut unwanted footage, split into multiple clips)
• Music and sound Effects
• Slow and Fast Motion
• Adjust Display (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.)
• Merger (combine clips into one)
• Text Overlay
• Voice Over (record your voice over video)
• Animated Titles
• Filters and Transitions
• Stop Motion
• Resize
• Reverse (play videos in reverse)
• Copy and Undo
• Tilt Shift and Rotate
• Social Compatibility (one-tap sharing)

It is available on the App Store, Google Play, and the Windows Store.

8. Quik

This is probably the best video editing app in the whole bunch!

It’s simple to use, and it’s made by GoPro (to edit GoPro footage), so you know it’s going to be good. The app claims that video editing has never been so fast or fun. It takes just a few taps to create a powerful, professional looking video. 

The best part is, it’s free and you don’t have to have a GoPro to use it. It is compatible with videos shot on GoPro models, phones, and other devices. 

Features Include: 

• Video Analysis to Select Best Footage (detects faces + colors to frame perfectly)
• HiLights (tag the best footage)
• Upload Your Own Photos and Video Clips
• Works with Motion Photos
• 23 Themes Designed for Any Occasion (includes transitions and graphics)
• Customize Themes to Fit Your Style (font, filters, and graphics)
• Slow and Fast Motion
• Smart Cuts (Quik will magically cut footage for you)
• Text Overlays, Title Slides, and Stickers
• Smart Audio (automatically turns on audio when voices are detected)
• Custom Formatting (cinema, square, or portrait formats for easy social sharing)
• More than 100 free songs (or upload your own)
• Sound Sync (automatically sync transitions to beat of the music) 
• Save Videos in HD (1080p or 720p)
• Easy Social Sharing
• Save Drafts for 7 Days (get more time to work on projects by saving as drafts)

It is available on the App Store, Google Play, and Desktop.

8. Instagram Stories

This one isn’t actually a stand alone app, it’s part of the Instagram app.

Facebook owns Instagram, and it is really pushing stories on both platforms as “the next best thing”, so it makes sense that they would recommend using Instagram Stories to create awesome content. 

Stories are a fun way to elevate your content with text, drawings, stickers, and more. It can be a little less polished because Stories only live for 24 hours, unless you add them into your highlights. 

Features Include:

• Stories Archive (so you never have to save it to your phone)
• Stories Highlights (save stories to your profile, even after it’s disappeared)
• Stickers (location, hashtag, mentions)
• Engagement (polls and questions)
• Text Overlays
• Drawing Tool (scribble on your photos/videos)

Instagram is available on the App Store and Google Play. 

9. Boomerang

This is another fun one from Instagram. Even though you can make a Boomerang within the Instagram app, it actually has its own stand alone app too!

Boomerang lets you easily create mini videos that loop back and forth. All you need is your phone and something that is moving. The app does the rest!

Because you can make this same type of content right on the Instagram app, I don’t think you necessarily need to download the Boomerang app, unless you want to use your Boomerangs elsewhere.

Features Include: 

• Uses Front and Back Facing Camera
• No Sign Up or Account Required (start using immediately)
• Create Video with Only One Button 
• Easy Social Sharing (share directly to Facebook or Instagram with one tap)

It is available on the App Store and Google Play.

10. Legend

Combine typography and video with this simple app. 

Legend animates text to create stunning videos and GIFs . All of the text animations were handcrafted by professional motion designers and combine hundreds of typography, animations, backgrounds, and colors. 

I love how easy to use this app is, but I don’t like that it only works on iOS.

I’m always a bit weary of apps that are exclusive to one operating system. It makes me question whether or not the developers are skilled enough to build a functioning app for both iOS and Android, or if they just didn’t care enough to put in the extra work to get it on both operating systems. 

Whatever the case, I wonder if the app will be updated regularly and if bugs will be worked out in a timely fashion.

Features Include: 

• Add, Crop, and Trim Photo/Video Backgrounds
• Background Images by Flickr
• Save Videos and GIFs to Photo Library
• Easy Social Sharing
• Send Autoplaying Messages
• Custom Animation Triggers (time, distance, percentage, etc)
• Highlights Hashtags and Usernames
• Animates Numbers and Displays Emojis

It is available on the App Store.

Standing out on social media is hard. Not only is it time consuming, but it can also be expensive and frustrating if you struggle with design. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be!

The key is to create interesting and eye-catching content.  By using any of the 10 best photo and video apps that Facebook recommends, you can create professional looking content in a matter of minutes.

The best part is, you don’t even have to be good with design because most of the apps have professionally made templates that you can customize! 

The more time (and money) you can save making awesome content, the more time you will have to do things that you want!

Next time you need to make some social media content, give these photo and video apps a try and let me know how it goes. 

Believe me, your Instagram will thank you!

The post 10 Best Photo & Video Apps for Great Content (According to Facebook) appeared first on Simple Socialite.

Roughly $15 billion dollars are spent on Facebook ads every quarter and nearly 2 billion people see ads on Facebook every single day. With numbers like that, it is no surprise that businesses are flocking to the social network for their advertising needs. 

While Facebook is pretty simple to navigate on its own, the ad platform is anything but. There’s so many places to click, different levels within the ad accounts, and the whole thing just looks overwhelming and complicated. 

Trust me, I get it! The good news is, once you know what you’re doing and where to look for things within the ad platform, Facebook ads get a whole lot easier!

And because the people at Facebook are so awesome, they offer Facebook Blueprint, which is a FREE way for anyone to learn Facebook ads. All you need is a Facebook profile! 

What Is Facebook Blueprint?

Blueprint is Facebook’s online learning platform. It contains short lessons and a variety of courses so that you can focus only on what you need. 

Its covers everything from how to make an ad, understanding the ad policies, and targeting your audience to more advanced strategies like mastering pixel analytics and optimized ad buying. There is literally something for everyone at every level! 

Facebook Blueprint is completely self-paced and is designed for you to only do the lessons that you need. You are not supposed to do them all (unless you are opting for the certification), so there is no way that you can ever fall behind.

But speaking of that certification, Facebook does offer a Blueprint certification, but most people don’t need to do this. This is designed primarily for digital agencies and professional marketers, but even most of them don’t have the certification either! 

Think of Blueprint as a resource. If you get stuck on something or have some extra time and want to learn a little more, then dive in. But if you’re pressed for time, no worries! It will be there whenever you get back to it.  

Why Is Facebook Blueprint The Best Way To Learn Facebook Ads?

1. It’s free. It will not cost you a dime (unless you want to go for the certification).

2. It’s accurate and updated frequently – it comes from straight from Facebook after all!

I can’t say enough about these top two reasons! These two things alone make Facebook Blueprint stand out against other Facebook ad courses.

3. It’s very convenient and you can do it on the go! You can fly through a single lesson in about 5 minutes and you can access all of the courses from any of your devices.

4. It lets you focus only on what you need. You can jump around and do only the courses that fit your situation and progress. You don’t have to complete one course before moving on to the next.

5. It provides personalized support, transparency with the updates, and certification options to help you troubleshoot and further your skill set.

Getting Started With Facebook Blueprint

If you need to learn about Facebook ads, or just have a quick question about Ads Manager, the algorithm, or targeting your audience, then Blueprint is a pretty awesome free tool. 

Getting started is super simple also! Just make sure you are logged into your Facebook accounts (which you most likely are anyway) and visit https://www.facebook.com/business/learn. From there, you will be able to start your first lesson or browse all of the Blueprint courses. 

With roughly 2 billion people exposed to Facebook ads on a daily basis, the opportunity for growth is huge! But Facebook ads can be very tricky, especially if you are just starting out.

Facebook Blueprint is not only free, and self-paced, but it is also completely accurate and updated frequently so it never goes out of date when something changes. Thanks, Facebook!

Because there are so many benefits of using it, Blueprint is the best place to learn Facebook ads, especially if you are just getting started!

The post The Best Way To Learn Facebook Ads For FREE appeared first on Simple Socialite.

You know social media is important, but you also know that it’s time-consuming and it drives you crazy!

It’s hard to keep up with and to always make new content, especially if you’re posting every single day (or multiple times a day) on Facebook and Instagram.

At the same time, you know social media is an awesome tool that can help your business grow. So then you’re left wondering, how often should a business post on social media?

But let me tell you a little secret. You don’t actually have to post every single day to have a successful social media strategy.

Let me say it again for the people in the back. You don’t actually have to post every single day to have a successful social media strategy. 

What’s More Important on Social Media: Quality or Quantity?

For a while now, there’s been an ongoing debate about quality versus quantity when it comes to your content on social media. Is it better for a business to have a lot of content and post all of the time, or is it better to post solid, knockout content much less often? 

The answer to that question is that it depends on the platform that you are using. 

Pinterest is more of a search engine than a social media platform, so a business should post a little bit more often on there. But when it comes to Facebook or Instagram, it’s okay if you pull back a little bit!

When social media first came out (& even up to  just a few years ago), it was all still brand new, so the algorithms really favored the quantity of posts that people were putting out. They just wanted content on their site, so the more the merrier!  

Back then, the more often a business (or anyone) posted content to Facebook and Instagram, the more likely it was that a lot of people would see that content. 

Now that it’s been around for a little while, we have had the chance to see how social media actually works and how people consume content. Because of that, Facebook has changed the algorithm a few times so that its platforms better align with how people are actually using them.

• It is very, very hard for anyone to post good content 365 days a year!
  • Even professional sports teams & big brands don’t have enough good stories to tell every single day. It just doesn’t happen.
• People are more protective of their newsfeed than ever before!
  • Consumers are aware that businesses post on social media often, and they don’t want their newsfeeds to be taken over by posts from a business they follow
• By focusing on quantity instead of quality, you can actually lose customers
  • Just because a business posts something, doesn’t mean the audience actually wants to see it, especially if it doesn’t provide any value. Don’t annoy your audience because you are posting just to post.

How Often Should A Business Post on Social Media?

The way it works now is that the algorithm favors quality content over quantity of content. That just means that it is better to have a few solid posts that get a lot of engagement than a lot of just okay posts that don’t do as well.

Facebook owns Instagram, so they actually share the same algorithm and ad platform policies. If the Facebook algorithm favors quality over quantity, then so does Instagram!

It’s much better to have 4 posts with 100 likes and 27 comments, than it is to have 17 posts with only 2 likes each and no comments. 

The algorithm is based on our interests and targeting, but it also factors in how people are interacting with the content we put out.

If it consistently sees that a business is posting content that people don’t engage with (they don’t like it, comment on it, or share it) then the algorithm is going to show that content to less and less people, because it thinks people don’t like what you’re putting out.

But if a business was able to put out a post that got 100 likes and 27 comments every single time, but they only posted twice a week, then algorithm would see that people love that content, so it would show it to more people. 

It is going to vary on how often each business should post on a social media and that is because each business and industry is different. A good rule of thumb is to post at least 2-3 times per week, minimum. That way, your feed will be updated frequently and you will have more time to focus on making quality content over sheer quantity.

Why Should A Business Post Less on Social Media?

Focusing on quality over quantity is good for so many reasons!

• You can spend less time on social media because your business doesn’t have to post every single day
• Your audience (and users on Facebook) have a better experience because they enjoy better content from your business
• New people and other potential customers get a better first impression when they stumble on your content
• Facebook & Instagram shows more people your content for free
• Your content reflects your business and brand better because it is more aligned with your audience
• Your business can get a reputation for producing a high quality of work and potential customers may perceive your products to be higher quality as well

A few years ago, when social media was still new, everyone focused on putting out a lot content, as often as possible. It was all about quantity and posting as much as you possibly could. 

But now that things have changed, the algorithms really favor quality of content over the quantity of content. That means that a business should post better content, less often, on social media! 

Gone are the days of posting every single day (or multiple times a day) and endlessly spinning your wheels to try to make this social media thing work. But you can still use this awesome tool to grow your business!

The best part is that you can actually save time and work less on social media, while seeing even better results than before! Win-win.

The post Quality or Quantity: What’s Better on Social Media? appeared first on Simple Socialite.

(Psst) I have to let you in on a little secret. How many followers you have on social media doesn’t really matter all that much! There I said it…

Growing the number of followers on platforms like Facebook and Instagram is the one thing almost every business owner I talk to is concerned with. While it’s true that this used to be very important, the truth is, that is one of the last things you should care about when it comes to social media.

That is of course, as long as you have some social media followers and aren’t starting completely from scratch. I’m not saying you don’t need any followers on social media (because you do). I’m just saying, the number of followers isn’t all that important. Your time is better spent focusing on something else and here’s why…

1. People Don’t Like To Follow Brands

Our news feeds are filled more click-bait and ads than ever before, and the amount of spams emails we get on a daily basis is overwhelmingly high. The worst part is, once it all starts, it feels like it’s almost impossible to stop, no matter how many times you unfollow or unsubscribe.

Consumers have taken notice and now they are much more guarded with their online activities. They know once they follow your brand on social media, they are going to hear from you, consistently, and that you are going to be selling to them.

They also realize that the algorithms are going to show them other, similar content because it is something they are “interested” in. That can easily start to take over their feeds, which ruins their social experience (and frankly, annoys them), so they would rather just not follow you.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but think about it this way. Can you think of 5 brands/businesses (that aren’t your friends or family) that you like to follow? What about 10? If the answer is no, you are just like most people, and that’s perfectly okay!

2. You Can’t Take Likes To The Bank

It’s as simple as that. Even if you have the most likes, comments, shares, and followers in the entire world, you can’t walk into a bank and cash them in. It doesn’t work like that. 

On their face, followers are worth a total of $0. Leads, sign-ups, and sales are where the money is at and that is what you should be focusing on.

Just because someone follows you doesn’t mean they are going to buy your products/services. In fact, most purchasers don’t like, comment, share, or follow the brands they buy. They linger.

Most people are too busy with their normal lives to take time out to engage with a brand regularly. Instead, they poke around, quietly doing research until they are ready to buy. Those are the people you want to focus on, not your social media followers.

3. There Is A More Important Metric

Follower count is nothing more than a vanity metric. It looks nice to outsiders, but it doesn’t give you an accurate idea of how many people are actually seeing your content on a regular basis. That is where Custom Audience’s come into play.

Facebook and Instagram allow you to create Custom Audiences based on people who have engaged with your pages, in a custom time period that you set, up to 365 days. (Personally, I like to set it for at least 7, 30, and 365 days). From there, you will be able to see how many people engaged or took some action (like, comment, share, click, etc) on your page.

When you compare those numbers to the amount of new followers you got in the same period, 9 times out of 10, you will see that the engaged with the page numbers are much, much higher. It all goes back to people not wanting to follow brands and quietly engaging in the background instead.

The real beauty of this metric is that it can also be used to retarget those who have engaged with your content in the past. That means that you can show those people, who already like you at least a little, your high converting sales content in an effort to make money!

As long as you have some social media followers (500+ is a solid number), you probably don’t need to worry too much about gaining even more. That fact of the matter is, gaining followers is hard, and it doesn’t necessarily do much for your business.

People are hesitant to follow brands because they are already annoyed and bombarded with marketing messages; followers do not equal sales because most buyers are quiet lurkers; and there are simply better metrics to measure your success.

At the end of the day, social media followers look nice, but they don’t bring home the bacon!

The post 3 Reasons You Should Ignore Your Social Media Followers appeared first on Simple Socialite.