Adding Reels to your Instagram account just got easier! Instagram Reels are now available in the SND Dashboard. And as with any social media content creation in SND, you’ll have the chance to post the Reel right away or schedule it for later.

So how do you get started using Instagram Reels in SND Dashboard? Select your Instagram account(s), add your video and then publish it. It will automatically post as a Reel. It’s the same workflow you’re used to which keeps it simple.

We wouldn’t be SND without providing a best practice or two! We suggest getting aggressive with Reels because they’re definitely a priority for Meta. The current emphasis is on Content Creators and the content being surfaced is Reels.

Instagram (and SND) also recommend you keep your videos short (less than a minute, please) and vertical (9:16). All videos that are less than 15 minutes will automatically be published as a Reel.

Reach us at support@socialnewsdesk.com with any questions!

The post Instagram Reels are now live in SND! first appeared on Social News Desk.

Reels have been available in the Instagram native platform for just about two years, and many newsrooms have already been taking advantage of this vertical short video format.

What are Reels, anyway?

Instagram Reels are vertical, 15 to 60 second short-form videos that can be created natively on Instagram or uploaded directly to Instagram from the SND Dashboard. These videos can be published to your main Instagram feed as posts and on your account grid as well as to Instagram’s Reels Tab (a special section on the Instagram app dedicated just to these short videos). We recommend publishing as both a video post and a Reel for max exposure. The best part – Instagram shows your Reels to people who don’t Follow you yet! So you’ll be more likely to reach new people and turn them into followers.

What’s so great about Reels?

Meta says that 20% of the time users spend on Instagram happens on Reels. And we’ve seen that Reels get more reach than most other pieces of content – way more. In an analysis of Instagram videos in Social News Desk, we found that on average, Reels got up to 7 times more reach than videos that were not Reels.

Ready to get started? Learn more about using Reels in Social News Desk, or reach out to our Client Success Team.

The post Hook new audiences with Instagram Reels first appeared on Social News Desk.

When creating an Instagram post, upload photos and videos in the order in which you’d like them to appear in your Carousel, then publish or schedule your content as usual. It’s that easy!

As with Twitter Carousels, this is a great way to tell a more complete story on social media. Whether your Instagram Carousel showcases your photographer’s best shots, the full 5-day forecast, or amazing UGC video from your fans, you’ll be able to share it all.

Be sure to pair your Instagram Carousel with a link via Newsin.bio to help your followers find the full story on your site!

Need guidance? We’re always here to help – info@socialnewsdesk.com.

The post Share more with Instagram Carousels in SND first appeared on Social News Desk.

Our Meta-certified Promotions team quickly launched a large-scale campaign that promoted local tune-in down to the ZIP code in each market, customized for the individual times that each region airs the show. In addition, we built a strategy to drive traffic through Social News Desk’s unique Dynamic News Ads technology, showcasing the best content at the best time for each person who views an ad in the campaign.

SND’s Dynamic News Ads uses a proprietary algorithm to determine which content to use, how long it should be available, and when content is no longer eligible to appear in an ad. When breaking news happens, content can appear in an ad right away – no editing and uploading necessary. In addition, our team’s Superhuman Optimization uses up-to-the-minute data and in-house custom technology to ensure campaigns are performing as expected (or better).

Overall, SND Promotions drove millions of impressions to build awareness of The National Desk’s expanded broadcast, and Sinclair Broadcasting Group was thrilled with the results.

“We were really impressed with how SND was able to push social media traffic. Our website user count more than doubled during the campaign.”

Ed Sautter, Sr. Director of Promotion & Marketing – Digital, Sinclair Broadcast Group

The National Desk website also saw more than double the amount of social referrals, sessions, and new users month over month.

If you’re interested in learning how SND Promotions can help your newsroom reach your goals, get in touch with us at info@socialnewsdesk.com.

The post SND Promotions drives huge results for Sinclair’s The National Desk first appeared on Social News Desk.

Providing a clickable link in your IG profile isn’t new, but the way SND is streamlining the workflow is. You know, we’re just over here trying to make our clients’ lives easier.

Here’s a round-up to show off what our clients are doing. Click on each Newsin.bio image to experience it on Instagram.

Here are three good reasons to set this up today:

• The feature is included in your Dashboard and every loaded IG account has its own unique Newsin.bio url.
• You can add links to content you’ve already published.
• Looking forward, you can publish and schedule Instagram content.

We can walk you through how to add Newsin.bio. Email SND’s Client Success team anytime for help.

The post Have we seen your Newsin.bio? first appeared on Social News Desk.

The Oklahoman, part of Gannett’s USA Today Network, uses eye-catching images on Instagram. Using Newsin.bio, they are able to direct users to a gallery of links that clearly outline which story the user is looking for.

Jaime Cardenas, who works in Social Media Strategy and Analytics for Local News at Gannett, tells us, “A few newsrooms have been using it and they are liking everything about it, especially how it looks and how easy it is to use. A big selling point has been the ability to use Post Manager to backfill the page before adding the link to the bio.”

“…[T]hey are liking everything about it, especially how it looks and how easy it is to use.”

Jaime Cardenas

Newsin.bio automatically uses the Instagram account name for a bespoke gallery page, ensuring that the brand accounts are perfectly aligned.

WUCF, the PBS and NPR affiliate in Central Florida, uses Newsin.bio as part of their SND publishing workflow for both their TV and radio stations’ Instagram accounts. Andrea Dennis of WUCF says, “We already went through and added Newsin.Bio! Loving it.”

It’s easy to get started with Newsin.bio – all you need is an Instagram account in Social News Desk! Our Client Success team is at the ready to help your newsroom simplify your Instagram link strategy.

The post SND’s Newsin.bio feature streamlines the “links workflow” for Gannett papers on Instagram first appeared on Social News Desk.

Meet Newsin.bio, a new way to streamline content publishing from Social News Desk to Instagram. Newsin.bio is built right into SND Dashboard and allows you to easily post to your Instagram feed AND to your Newsin.bio page AT THE SAME TIME! (**the crowd goes wild**)

Every Instagram account in SND is already set up with a unique Newsin.bio URL. You’ll find it in your Post Composer when you create a new post for Instagram.

And before you ask … this is included with your SND Dashboard license – so there’s NO EXTRA FEE for this. Which means you can stop paying for any other link in bio solutions you might currently be paying for (ahem).

Here’s how to get the most out of this exciting new feature…

STEP 1: Add Your Unique Newsin.bio Link to your Instagram Profile

Once you’ve found it in the Post Composer window, you’ll want to add your unique Newsin.bio URL to your Instagram profile’s bio section to start driving traffic to your website right away. It’s easy – just go to your Instagram profile and click Edit Profile, and enter the URL in the Website field.

STEP 2: Add Links to Previously Published Content

At first, your unique Newsin.bio page will be empty. But you can easily pull in previously published Instagram content so that all those posts show up on your Newsin.bio page too. Kind of like a library. The simplest way is to go to the SND Dashboard’s Post Manager and filter for posts made to your IG page. Next to each, click “Edit Tags & More” button where you can quickly add the story link. Doing so makes it show up on your unique Newsin.bio page, linked back to your website.

HINT: You can also do this from the Social Account Stream for your Instagram page.

STEP 3: Publish & Schedule Instagram Content

Now that you’re all set up, simply include your story link in the Newsin.bio field each time you post to Instagram from SND Dashboard. You’ll see a field for the story link right below where you add the image on the Post Composer. When it goes live on Instagram, it also goes live on your Newsin.bio page. SIMPLE!

Last but not least, make it a habit to include a line in your Instagram post text such as “Click the link in our bio to read the story” or “Click the Newsin.bio link in our profile to read more” – you get the idea.

But wait! There’s more … Newsin.bio will have analytics soon too! So stay tuned for that update.

Need help getting set up? Got Questions? Email SND’s Client Success team anytime.

The post Automatically add links in your Instagram bio with SND’s Newsin.bio feature – now live! first appeared on Social News Desk.

Why now?

Believe it or not, Instagram’s Content Publishing API has officially been in “beta” since 2018. As a Facebook Partner, SND was one of the first to gain access to the beta API and has maintained publishing capabilities for its users ever since – as part of the beta program. These changes signal Instagram’s “general release” of the API. And with that comes stricter rules…

What are the new rules?

Here’s the official statement from Instagram:

We’d like to share with you upcoming changes Instagram is making that will impact some of our features for publishing to Instagram:

1. As of November 3, 2020, you will only be able to add the location of your Instagram account’s associated FB Page to your Instagram posts. For example, Jessica owns the @jessicabikeshop Instagram account, which is linked to the “Jessica Bike Shop” FB Page. Jessica has added “San Francisco” as the location on the “Jessica Bike Shop” FB Page. As of November 3, @jessicabikeshop will only be able to tag “San Francisco” as the location on any Instagram posts published via Content Publishing API.
2. Between January-March 2021, you will only be able to post a maximum of 60 posts within a rolling 30-day period.
3. Between January-March 2021, any of your Instagram accounts linked to a FB Page with a large audience may be asked to confirm their identity and secure their account before they can resume publishing via Content Publishing API. This process will include two steps: 1) Enabling two-factor authentication to protect their account from unauthorized access, and 2) Confirming their location by turning on their mobile device’s location services

Instagram has communicated that these changes are to maintain the safety and integrity of the Instagram community.

When will this happen?

That’s a little murky. But we’ve started to see early signs of the change within SND’s own user-experience. For example, we’ve gotten a few reports of this error popping up for users who are heavy posters. But so far the exact “60 posts per 30 days” rule doesn’t seem to have rolled out fully … yet.

Now what?

Stay Calm. Carry On … continue to post to Instagram but make sure you’re doing so with purpose and remember that “every post counts” … literally.

The post Instagram to limit number of posts you make per month first appeared on Social News Desk.

Read more feedback!

Where to find SND Planner!

Sign up for a live training webinar!

SND Planner is comprehensive, new technology to assist with a hybrid approach to posting on Social Media. We didn’t want to completely automate the process of posting – instead, we have enough automation to make you incredibly efficient while still putting an emphasis on the importance of manual posting and making editorial-decisions on the fly.

Want to learn more? Reach out to info@socialnewsdesk.com.

The post SND Planner: Release the Compliments! first appeared on Social News Desk.

The current guidance from Facebook is more recommendation than rule: “Avoid too much image text. We’ve found that images with less than 20% text perform better.”

Facebook defines “image text” as “any text that exists on your ad image or creative,” indicated by #3 in the example below.

While there’s no longer a hard and fast rule on image text, Facebook is still strongly recommending that most of the text stay in the body of the post rather than inside the image. We have a few more recommendations to make sure you’re getting the most out of your ads, without resorting to more image text:

• Less is more. Keep your post text short so it’s not cut off on any placements.
• Use headlines for important points. When you include a URL in your ad, you can customize the headline. Don’t leave it blank, this is great visual real estate!
• Include an emoji, if appropriate. Not every ad is emoji-friendly, but if the subject matter isn’t too serious, consider dropping an emoji in the headline and/or the post text. Every bit of color catches the eye!

Need help crafting an effective ad? Our team is trained and certified to make sure you’re spending your money effectively, and that starts with great creative. Get in touch with us at info@socialnewsdesk.com to learn how to get started.

The post Facebook’s “20% Rule” is No More first appeared on Social News Desk.