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Instagram Reels in 2022: A Simple Guide for Businesses

By now, you already know that Instagram Reels are a gold mine for helping you grow your following. The short, entertaining videos have a special way of grabbing users’ attention, which can mean lots of engagement for your brand.
Since Reels debuted two years ago, they’ve become the platform’s fastest-growing feature. Creators like Justin Bieber, Lizzo, and Stanley Tucci helped transform the addictive feature from a TikTok wannabe to a full-blown competitor. And we’re not surprised.
But how do you use this tool to reach more people, get new followers, or spread the word about your products and services? In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, from how to make a reel on Instagram to figuring out the best time to post it.
Bonus: Download the free 10-Day Reels Challenge, a daily workbook of creative prompts that will help you get started with Instagram Reels, track your growth, and see results across your entire Instagram profile.
What are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels are full-screen vertical videos that can be up to 90 seconds long. They come with many unique editing tools and an extensive library of audio tracks (featuring everything from trending songs to snippets of other users’ viral content). On top of sounds, Reels can include multiple video clips, filters, captions, interactive backgrounds, stickers, and more.
Reels are different from Instagram Stories. Unlike Stories, they don’t disappear after 24 hours. Once you post a Reel, it’s available on Instagram until you delete it.
The best part? Reels are currently favored by the Instagram algorithm, which is more likely to recommend them to people who don’t follow you than feed posts. That’s huge for social marketers.
Users can also discover Reels in a dedicated section of the Instagram app. A scrollable feed full of trending Reels (a.k.a. Instagram’s version of the TikTok For You page) can be accessed through the Reels icon at the bottom of the Instagram app’s home page.
An individual user’s Reels can be viewed in a dedicated tab that can be accessed above the account’s Feed.
Reels are also heavily featured in the Explore tab. If you’d like to set your Reels up for success with this powerful discovery tool, check out our guide to getting your content on the Instagram Explore page.
How to make a Reel on Instagram in 5 steps
If you’re familiar with Instagram and/or TikTok, you’ll find making Reels quite easy.
Are you a visual learner? Check out this video and learn how to make an Instagram Reel in under 7 minutes:
Otherwise, follow these simple step-by-step instructions.
Step 1: Tap the plus icon at the top of the page and select Reel
To access Reels, simply open the Instagram app and head to your profile page. Click the plus sign button on the top right of the screen and select Reel.
You can also access the Reels editor by swiping left to the Instagram camera and selecting Reel from the bottom options.
Step 2: Record or upload your video clip
Instagram Reels gives you two options to create a Reel:
- Press and hold the record button to capture footage.
- Upload video footage from your camera roll.
Reels can be recorded in a series of clips (one at a time), or all at once.
If you set a timer early on, there’s a countdown before the hands-free recording starts.
During the recording, you can tap the record button to end a clip, and then tap it again to start a new clip.
Then, the Align button will appear, allowing you to line up objects from the previous clip before recording your next. This allows you to create seamless transitions for moments like changing outfits, adding new music, or adding new friends to your Reel.
If you want to watch, trim, or delete the previous clip you recorded, you can tap Edit Clips. Check out our Instagram Reels tutorial for more in-depth editing tips.
Step 3: Edit your Reel
Once you’re done with recording, you can add stickers, drawings, and text to edit your Reel using the icons on the top of the editor.
The Reels editor features built-in creative tools so you can do all your editing from one interface.
Here’s what each feature does:
- Audio (1) lets you select audio from the Instagram music library or import it from your device and add it to your video. You can even choose to add your favorite part only.
- Length (2) lets you change the length of your video. You can choose to make your video 15, 30, 60, or 90 seconds.
- Speed (3) lets you change the speed of your video. Slow it down by choosing .3x or .5x or speed it up by choosing 2x, 3x, or 4x.
- Layout (4) lets you adjust the layout and add more than one recording to the frame.
- Timer (5) lets you set a timer that will go off before you start recording and set a time limit for the next clip. This is useful if you want to record hands-free.
- Dual (6) lets you record videos using your front and rear cameras at the same time.
- Align (7) appears after you record your first clip. It allows you to line up objects from the previous clip.
After you’ve aligned your clips, you can tap the music note icon to add trending sounds or music, or record a voiceover.

You can also tap the download icon to download Instagram Reels to your device to view or edit later.
Check out our Instagram Reels tutorial for more in-depth editing tips.
Step 4: Adjust your Reel’s settings
When you’re ready, tap Next in the bottom right corner of your screen. You will be able to:
- Edit your Reel cover. You can choose a frame from the video or add an image from your camera roll.
- Add a caption.
- Tag people in your Reel.
- Add a location.
- Enable Facebook recommendations. If you select this option, your Reel will be surfaced to Facebook users who are likely to enjoy your content (according to Meta’s algorithms). You don’t need a Facebook account to use this feature.
- Rename your audio. If you add your own audio (e.g. a voice recording) to your Reel, you can give it a name that will show up in other users’ Reels if they decide to use the sound.
- Enable or disable automatically generated captions.
- Decide whether you want your Reel to be posted to your Instagram Feed (and not just the Reels tab on your account).
Step 5: Post your Reel
Once you adjust your settings, tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen.
Congrats! You’ve posted your first Reel. Now, let’s move on to some tactics that will help you make this format work for your brand.
Instagram Reels can be a great way to get your business in front of the right audience. The feature can also help you grow your following and boost engagement rates. But this doesn’t happen automatically. You’ve got to know the hacks to go viral on Instagram Reels.
1. Know how the Instagram Reels algorithm works
The magic of Reels is in Instagram’s not-so-secret sauce — the algorithm. This is the all-knowing matchmaker the platform uses to determine which Reels it shows to which users. Understanding the way the Reels algorithm works can help you get more views from the Explore page and the Reels tab.
Adding trending sounds, using the right hashtags, and making your Reels visually appealing are all great ways to tell the algorithm, “Hey! Pay attention to me!”
2. Have fun with trending audio
If you scroll through Instagram Reels or TikTok on the regular, you’ll notice that many creators use the same sounds on top of their videos. Thousands of people have used The Home Depot Beat and the typing sound audio. That’s not a coincidence.
Instagram Reels sounds are snippets of songs or audio clips from other creators’ videos. When they gain popularity, they can help you get more views if you add them to your Reels. This is because users often search by sounds and because, quite frankly, the aforementioned algorithm seems to like it.
The best way to find trending audio on Instagram is to use the platform and take note of which sounds you’re seeing pop up more than others.
When you scroll through Reels, make note of any sounds that have an arrow next to the name of the sound. The arrow indicates that they’re trending. It can be tough to find sounds after you’ve already excited a Reel, so make sure to save them and use them later.
One last tip! Be sure to choose songs wisely and use them sparingly. We all know what happens when trending sounds get overused. (Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no).
3. Don’t be too salesy
As much as you might want to sell, the reality is that users don’t open up social media apps hoping to see ads. They turn to Instagram to explore ideas, connect with others, and get a quick burst of entertainment during breaks in their day. That’s why you need to make sure your Reels help them do just that.
Be sure to create content (yup, this includes Reels) that’s actually entertaining to your target audience. Whether that means leaning into a trending dance or creating quick how-to Reels, aim to delight, inform, and entertain users rather than sell to them.
See: Away’s comedic approach to travel content, Barkbox’s clever use of trending sounds, and Delta’s brilliant attempt to gamify Reels.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t turn your Reels into ads, though. Boost those high-performing—but non-salesly!—Reels to get even more visibility.
4. Post consistently and don’t give up
You can use the same strategies to be successful with Reels that you used to boost content on Instagram Stories or in the original Feed. Consistently posting is one of the best things you can do to help improve your performance across the platform, including in Reels.
That’s because it helps increase your odds of going viral. Plus, the algorithm is kind of like your biggest fan—it loves when you post new stuff! In general, the Instagram gods prioritize showing recent videos over stale ones, so keep things fresh.
Posting often also helps you aggregate a ton of helpful insights that will guide you when you’re trying to figure out what works and why. The more you post, the more you’ll learn about your target audience—what they like, when they scroll, and more.
5. Collab with other creators
Last year, Instagram added a new feature called Collabs. This option lets you share credit with another creator and allows them to share the Reel from their page as if it was their own.
The Collab feature is a game-changer if you work with influencers, brand partners, and others. It lets you extend your reach to their entire following, which can mean tons more likes, shares, reach, and overall engagement.
Here’s how to use Collabs:
- When you’re ready to publish your Reel, select Tag people.
- Tap Invite collaborator.
- Select the user who you feature or mention in your video.
Once the user accepts your collab invitation, the Reel will show up in the Reels tab in their account.
Instagram Reels cheat sheet
Need quick answers to all your burning Reels questions? Skim our cheat sheet (and bookmark it for later).
How to schedule Instagram Reels
Scheduling social media posts is a must when you want to stay on your game without having to work overtime. Luckily, there’s an easy way to schedule Instagram Reels with Hootsuite.
Using Hootsuite, you can schedule your Reels to be auto-published at any time in the future.
To create and schedule a Reel using Hootsuite, follow these steps:
- Record your video and edit it (adding sounds, filters, and AR effects) in the Instagram app.
- Save the Reel to your device.
- In Hootsuite, tap the Create icon on the very top of the left-hand menu to open the Composer.
- Select the Instagram Business account you want to publish your Reel to.
- In the Content section, select Reels.
Start your free 30-day trial. You can cancel anytime.
- Upload the Reel you saved to your device. Videos must be between 5 seconds and 90 seconds long and have an aspect ratio of 9:16.
- Add a caption. You can include emojis and hashtags, and tag other accounts in your caption.
- Adjust additional settings. You can enable or disable comments, Stitches and Duets for each of your individual posts.
- Preview your Reel and click Post now to publish it immediately, or…
- …click Schedule for later to post your Reel at a different time. You can manually select a publication date or pick from three recommended custom best times to post for maximum engagement.
And that’s it! Your Reel will show up in the Planner, alongside all of your other scheduled social media posts. From there, you can edit, delete or duplicate your Reel, or move it to drafts.
Start your free 30-day trial. You can cancel anytime.
Once your Reel is published, it will appear in both your feed and the Reels tab on your account.
Note: You can currently only create and schedule Reels on desktop (but you will be able to see your scheduled Reels in the Planner in the Hootsuite mobile app).
How to download Instagram Reels
Whether you’re a creator or a consumer, downloading Instagram Reels is a useful tool to have up your sleeve.
When creating, it helps you save drafts directly to your device or share them with others before they go live. You’ll also want to download Reels you’ve created if you plan to share them on another platform.
When scrolling, downloading allows you to save other creators’ videos permanently, even if the creator takes them down. It also allows you to access them when you’re offline.
There are several ways to download Instagram Reels.
If you own the Reel, you can download it using the Download option from the Reels editing page. Once it’s published, you can download it from the Reel itself. Click on the three dots in the bottom right corner of the Reel and select Save to Camera Roll.
If you want to download someone else’s Reel, you’ll have to record your screen or use a third-party app, such as InstDown or InSaver.
Learn more in our guide to downloading Instagram Reels.
The best time to post Reels on Instagram
Knowing what time to post on Instagram Reels is an easy way to target your users when they’re the most active. Catching them when they scroll means more engagement and further reach for your brand.
The thing is, everyone’s ideal post time is different. For Hootsuite, the best time to post on Instagram is between 9 a.m. and noon, Monday through Thursday. But your audience may skew later, earlier, or scroll more on the weekends.
Don’t worry. There’s a quick way to figure out when to post. In Hootsuite, you can see the best time to publish Instagram content from the Analytics feature. Click “Best Time to Publish” to see when your users are the most likely to engage with the post. The heat map is a handy way to visualize the best times.
Start your free 30-day trial. You can cancel anytime.
Another way to find the best time to post Reels is to check what worked best for you in the past. To review the performance, of your existing head to Analytics in the Hootsuite dashboard. There, you’ll find detailed stats, including:
- Reach
- Plays
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares
- Saves
- Engagement rate
Instagram Reels dimensions
Getting the sizing right is another great way to set your Reel up for success.
Using the wrong dimensions can make your post look—we won’t sugarcoat it—downright ugly. And that means an instant swipe-up from users. On top of that, the almighty algorithm doesn’t like it when your Reels look stretched or distorted. We don’t blame her.
So what’s the ideal Instagram Reel size? Make your Reel frames and cover 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels. If you choose to have your Reel show up on your regular Grid (probably a good idea, by the way), make sure your thumbnail fits the ideal size of 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels.
What about the Instagram Reels ratio? Users will have the best experience viewing Reels in full-screen mode, which features a ratio of 9:16. However, Instagram also shows Reels in the main feed, and crops them to a ratio of 4:5.
Just make sure to avoid putting any important information around the edges of the frame, because it could get cut off.
Read our full guide to Instagram Reels sizes.
How long are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels can be as long as 90 seconds.
When Instagram first debuted the Reels feature in 2019, users could only post Reels up to 15 seconds long. In 2022, users have a choice of four Instagram reel lengths up to 90 seconds each. That means you’ve got a full minute and a half to dazzle your audience.
But should you actually use all 90 seconds? Not always. It totally depends on the Reel itself. In general, aim for user-friendliness when you’re deciding how long to make an Instagram Reel.
Longer Instagram Reels come in handy for more time-consuming stories, how-to guides, tours, and more.
You certainly don’t want to draw things out, though. Remember that the point of Reels is to create small snippets of delightful content, so keep it short and sweet.
Bonus tip: Unless you’re looking for a quick way to enrage your audience, you should never post multi-part videos when you could do it in one. That’s what 90-second Reels are for!
How to search Reels on Instagram
One of the best things you can do as a savvy Reel creator is checking out what other people are doing on the platform. To get unique Instagram Reels ideas, you can search for content to help inspire you.
A quick way to search for Reels is to use the general search bar at the top of the app. Type in a search feature and explore content, users, and hashtags related to that term.
While Instagram’s standard search function is helpful, it doesn’t only show Reels. A good great way to search only Reels is to click on hashtags from other Reels. This will limit your results to Reels and filter out images.
For example, if you’re an avid consumer of puppy content, you can click on the #dogsofinstagram hashtag from a Reel’s caption to see more Reels of dogs being cute.
Easily schedule and manage Reels alongside all your other content from Hootsuite’s super simple dashboard. Schedule Reels to go live while you’re OOO, post at the best possible time (even if you’re fast asleep), and monitor your reach, likes, shares, and more.
Save time and stress less with easy Reels scheduling and performance monitoring from Hootsuite. Trust us, it’s reely easy.
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YouTube Shorts Monetization Guide [How Much Can You Make?]
![youtube-shorts-monetization-guide-[how-much-can-you-make?]](https://www.social-ping.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/135449-youtube-shorts-monetization-guide-how-much-can-you-make.png)
Just like all the other social platforms, YouTube has been leaning hard into short-form video content, with a Shorts tab on the main menu and a prominent Shorts feature on the watch page. So, it’s no surprise that YouTube Shorts reached two billion monthly logged-in users as of July 2023.
In this post, we talk specifically about YouTube Shorts monetization, a.k.a. how to make money from your YouTube Shorts. If you’re looking for a more general primer on this format, check out our blog post on how to make YouTube Shorts.
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Can you monetize YouTube Shorts?
Yes!
It’s been possible to monetize regular long-form YouTube videos for more than 15 years now. In that time, creators, artists, and media companies have earned more than $50 billion from their YouTube content.
But Shorts are a much newer format, and they weren’t originally part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Fortunately for all those who found themselves wondering, “When will YouTube Shorts be monetized?,” the platform announced YouTube Shorts monetization options in late 2022. Since then, creators who focus on YouTube’s short video format have been able to earn money from their work.
How does YouTube Shorts monetization work?
YouTube Shorts monetization is, well, a little complicated. The sources of monetization are:
- YouTube Shorts ad revenue sharing
- YouTube Premium subscription revenue sharing for Shorts
- YouTube Shopping
- YouTube fan funding
YouTube first launched Shorts monetization through the YouTube Shorts fund in 2021. It was a $100 million fund intended to encourage the adoption of the new format by rewarding Shorts creators who made the most engaging content. It was always meant to be a stopgap measure while YouTube worked on a long-term model for monetizing Shorts. This fund was discontinued when the Shorts ad revenue sharing model launched in February 2023.
YouTube Shorts ad revenue sharing
In this method of seeing your YouTube Shorts monetized, you get a share of the revenue generated from ads between videos in the Shorts feed. Your share is based on a four-step formula.
Source: YouTube Help
- YouTube adds together all the revenue from ads shown between videos in the Shorts feed.
- YouTube calculates how much of the revenue associated with Shorts is needed to cover music licensing for tracks used in Shorts. That money is paid directly to music partners. The rest of the ad revenue goes into the Creator Pool
- YouTube allocates a percentage of the total Creator Pool to each monetizing creator based on their share of total views in each country.
- YouTube applies the revenue share formula: They take 55% of the allocated revenue and you get 45%.
YouTube Premium subscription revenue sharing for Shorts
Like ad revenue sharing, this method of seeing your YouTube Shorts monetized allocates payments based on your share of views within your country. In this case, the formula only applies to subscription Shorts views.
Here’s how YouTube describes the formula:
“YouTube will pay 45% of the net revenue from YouTube Premium that is allocated to monetizing creators for Shorts. A portion of YouTube Premium revenues are allocated to help cover costs of music licensing.”
You can see your estimated daily Shorts Feed ad revenue in YouTube Analytics.
YouTube Shopping features
In addition to revenue sharing from ads and Premium subscriptions, you can monetize your YouTube Shorts using YouTube Shopping to promote your products.
If your Short features products, you can tag them during the upload flow. A product overlay will then show on your content, which allows users to browse and purchase your products without leaving YouTube while continuing to watch your Short.
YouTube Fan Funding
Once you turn on YouTube monetization, you’re eligible for all YouTube fan funding options, including:
- Super Thanks
- Super Chat
- Super Stickers, and
- Channel Memberships
The most relevant to creators focused on YouTube Shorts are Super Thanks and Channel Memberships.
Formerly known as Viewer Applause, Super Thanks is a way for your biggest fans to show appreciation for your content. Through Super Thanks, a viewer purchases a one-time animation that only they see over the top of your Short. They also get to post a customizable and colorful comment in the comments section of the Short.
Super Thanks is available at four price points, ranging from $2 to $50. You get 70% of the Super Thanks revenue after taxes and fees.
Source: YouTube Official Blog
Meanwhile, channel memberships is a fan funding program that allows you to reward paid members with perks like badges, emojis, exclusive content, and live streams.
You can set your membership tiers as low as $0.99 and as high as $499. You can have up to five tiers with different monthly price points and perks. Creators keep 70% of that amount, while YouTube takes a 30% commission.
Who is eligible for YouTube Shorts monetization?
To be eligible for full YouTube Shorts monetization, you need to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers. You also need to have either 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days or 4,000 valid public watch hours of long-form videos in the last 12 months.
Public watch hours from Shorts in the Shorts Feed don’t count towards the watch hour threshold, so the Shorts views requirement is the better target if you focus primarily on Shorts.
Source: YouTube Help
Can you monetize YouTube Shorts before you hit these thresholds? Yes, but in a limited way. In June 2023, YouTube launched an expanded program to allow newer creators and those with a smaller following to monetize through YouTube Shopping and fan funding.
However, you will not have access to Shorts ad revenue sharing or YouTube Premium subscription revenue sharing.
To apply for this expanded program, you need to have 500 subscribers. You also need three valid public uploads in the last 90 days and three million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. (Or 3,000 valid public watch hours of long-form videos in the past year.)
Source: YouTube Help
For both programs, you must also:
- Understand and comply with the YouTube Channel Monetization policies.
- Live in a region where the program is available. (The expanded program is for now only available in these countries.)
- Ensure your channel doesn’t have any active Community Guidelines Strikes.
- Turn on 2-step verification for your Google account.
- Have access to advanced features on YouTube based on your channel history or by verifying your identity (not applicable for the expanded program).
- Have an active AdSense account.
You can log into YouTube Studio at any time to see how close you are to eligibility, and request notification when you’re eligible.
Source: YouTube Studio
How to start monetizing YouTube Shorts
Here’s how to become part of the YouTube Partner Program and start monetizing your YouTube Shorts.
- Sign in to YouTube.
- Click your profile picture in the top right and then click YouTube Studio.
- Click Earn in the left menu.
- If you’re eligible, you’ll see an Apply button. Go ahead and click it. If you’re not yet eligible, click the Get Notified button to come back and finish the process once you meet the requirements.
- Click Start to review and Accept the Base terms.
- Link your existing AdSense account, or click Start to set up a new one if you need to.
- Wait for YouTube to review your application. (This usually takes about a month, so be patient.)
- Once you are approved, go back to the Earn section of YouTube Studio and accept the Shorts Monetization Module.
Note: These are the instructions for applying from your computer. The specific instructions are slightly different for Android and iOS, but in both cases, you start by opening the YouTube Studio app and tapping Earn in the bottom menu.
To start monetizing with Super Thanks fan funding, go to the Earn tab in YouTube Studio and click Supers. Click Get Started and follow the prompts.
For Channel Memberships, go to the Earn tab, then click Memberships and Get Started.
How much can you earn through YouTube Shorts monetization?
Unfortunately, the earnings from YouTube Shorts are – at least so far – not spectacular. The consensus among YouTube Shorts creators is that revenue per thousand views (RPM) is coming in around $0.05 to $0.07. That’s about $50 to $70 for a million views.
For those of you curious about YouTube Shorts monetization updates, here is Feb2-Feb 8th earnings from approx 35 Million views. pic.twitter.com/kMyjW6KB0b
— Zach King (@zachking) February 10, 2023
YouTube Shopping revenue will depend entirely on how well you promote your products and the price point of those products. Keep an eye on Revenue in your YouTube Analytics to see how much you earn through your YouTube Shopping tags in Shorts.
Likewise, Super Thanks will depend on how much your fans value your content, and how close a connection you form with them. Super Thanks is, after all, like a digital tip.
So: Are YouTube Shorts monetized? Yes. But, the earnings are not going to replace what a creator would typically earn from long-form YouTube videos.
However, as you’ll see below, the YouTube Shorts monetization features are not the only way to earn money with your short-form content on YouTube.
4 other ways to make money with YouTube Shorts
1. Join an affiliate program
There are two ways to make money on YouTube Shorts with an affiliate program, depending on how big your channel is and where you live
YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program
If you have more than 20,000 subscribers and are based in the United States, you may be eligible for the official YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program. This program allows you to use YouTube Shopping to promote products from other brands in your Shorts and earn a commission.
Just like regular YouTube Shopping, you can tag the products directly in your content and use a call to action to let viewers know where to shop. You can also request product samples from select brands to help you plan and develop future YouTube Shorts.
External affiliate programs
You can also use YouTube Shorts to promote affiliate programs that you join directly. There’s no set number of subscribers for this, or any required amount of watch time.
You simply find an affiliate program that relates to products you mention in your Shorts, and then earn an affiliate commission for sales you refer to that retailer. In this case, you get paid by the retailer that runs the affiliate program (or their affiliate network), rather than by YouTube itself. So how do you actually direct viewers to your affiliate link?
This YouTube creator uses a pinned comment on his Shorts to direct viewers to his profile for links to specific products. Think of it as the YouTube Shorts equivalent to an Instagram link in bio.
Source: @SimontheSiameseCat
He is promoting products using the Amazon Associates program. Since this is one of the largest affiliate programs out there, we’ve got a whole blog post on everything you need to know about Amazon Associates.
Shorts that include affiliate content must follow Google’s Ad Policies and Community Guidelines. You also need to disclose that there is paid promotion in the Short. During the upload workflow, tap Yes, it includes paid promotion, then tap Yes.
Your Short will then show a label to let viewers know that the video includes paid promotion.
If you’re interested in this approach to YouTube Shorts monetization, check out our post on how to use affiliate marketing.
2. Work with brands
Rather than applying for affiliate programs, you can reach out to brands to work with them directly. If you have a large enough following, brands may even start to reach out to you.
Working with a brand as a YouTube Shorts influencer could mean anything from free products to getting paid a fee to create and post brand-specific content.
As with affiliate marketing in YouTube Shorts, you need to disclose the brand relationship using the paid promotion disclosure option in the upload workflow.
3. Patreon
If you were an artist living in Renaissance Europe, you’d likely have a patron to fund your work. Patreon brings this concept into modern times by allowing content creators to monetize their content through paid subscriptions.
Video is the top content format on Patreon, so it’s a good fit for monetizing YouTube Shorts. You could use Shorts to share an excerpt of a deep-dive video and let viewers know the full story is available through one of your Patreon membership tiers.
Or, you could use the Community tab on Patreon to chat with your patrons and develop a community.
So, what’s the advantage of using Patreon over YouTube channel memberships? First off, you can create a Patreon with no minimum subscriber or watchtime threshold.
Beyond that, you’ll need to explore each program to see which makes more sense for your specific situation and the perks you want to provide.
For more ideas, check out our full blog post on how to earn money with Patreon.
4. Use Shorts to grow viewership for long-form videos
While this is not strictly speaking a direct form of YouTube Shorts monetization, it’s an important thing to think about when calculating ROI for your YouTube Shorts.
Sure, the YouTube Partner Program payouts for YouTube Shorts are not spectacular. But, especially for new YouTube creators, Shorts can be the one of fastest ways to build your audience. You can then create and monetize regular long-form YouTube videos, which earn ad revenue at a much higher RPM.
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5 B2B Social Media Marketing Tactics That Actually Work

B2B social media marketing can be an effective way for brands to build awareness, strengthen relationships, and close sales. But B2B social marketers face unique challenges when it comes to tone and content mix.
So, how do you use social tools to bring in (and keep) followers, create engagement, build brand awareness, and fill your funnel? Read on for all the tips you need to build an effective B2B social media strategy.
Bonus: Get a free social media strategy template to quickly and easily plan your own strategy. Also use it to track results and present the plan to your boss, teammates, and clients.
B2B social media marketing is the use of social channels to market products or services to business clients and prospects. (B2B stands for business-to-business, as opposed to business-to-consumer or B2C.)
Marketers at B2C companies use social channels to reach consumers and influence purchases. Effective B2B marketing requires a different approach. B2B marketers have to think more strategically to reach business owners and decision-makers. They then nurture relationships that can lead to large purchase agreements.
All social channels can have a place in B2B marketing. But the balance and type of content will look different for a B2B social media strategy than for a consumer-focused plan.

B2B social media success begins with a sound B2B social media strategy. Here’s how to build one for your brand.
1. Align goals with business objectives
Just like a good B2C strategy, every B2B social media plan should answer the following two questions:
- What are the company’s business objectives?
- How will B2B social media marketing help achieve them?
But the similarities mostly end here. B2B and B2C social media marketers use social platforms for different purposes. B2C social media campaigns drive sales, while B2B social is more “top of funnel.” Social media goals for B2B marketers should likely focus on longer-term business objectives.
In fact, the top 3 overall goals for B2B companies are:
- Create brand awareness
- Build trust and credibility
- Educate audiences
Generating sales or revenue comes in at number 8.
Those top three goals all contribute to social media B2B lead generation. Successful B2B marketers also use content marketing to nurture subscribers, audiences, or leads.
Our blog post on goal-setting can help you establish the right goals and objectives for your B2B social media plan.
Don’t forget to include internal objectives and goals within your plan. According to research published in the Journal of Business Logistics, social media can help account managers increase both product and competitor knowledge.
2. Know your audience
Your corporate structure probably caters to various client personas. Or, at least, different client categories.
For instance, a design firm might work for commercial, public, and residential customers. It likely has team members or verticals that specialize in each category.
Your B2B social media marketing strategy should do the same. Focus on building fleshed-out buyer personas of your ideal customers. These will allow you to create social media content that speaks to real people.
Understanding your audience also means understanding which social channels they use. As a general rule, you should be where your customers are. Not sure where that might be? Start with the overall social media demographics. Then, dive into some audience research.
Almost all B2B content marketers (96%) use LinkedIn. They also rated it as the top-performing organic platform.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
For paid social media posts, the picture for B2B social media platforms is similar but not identical. LinkedIn again comes out on top (78%). But Instagram outranks YouTube and Twitter (a.k.a. X) is down at the bottom of the pack.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
Separate channels may also be relevant for different verticals, products, and markets. Depending on the industry and size of your business, you might want to consider:
- a news channel
- a careers channel
- a customer service account
Or any other account that speaks to a specific audience within your niche. Make sure you’re delivering the information your target audience wants in the right place and at the right time.
Keep in mind that B2B social marketing will likely become even more personalized in the future. Account-based marketing (ABM) will become the norm. In ABM, sales and marketing teams work together. They personalize outreach and marketing to decision-makers at target companies.
Social media is a prime tool for ABM. For instance, social listening allows you to keep tabs on your most important prospects.
3. Understand the competition
While you never want to copy the competition, it’s always useful to know what they’re up to. Understanding what the competition is doing helps you understand your own specific niche.
Start by benchmarking your current social media performance against your competitors. Hootsuite Analytics has a built-in benchmarking tool that shows how you stack up against others in your field.
You can get an even better understanding of the competition by using social media listening to monitor their social media activities, so you can gain insights from their B2B social media examples. Such as:
- When and how often they post
- What kinds of voice and tone they use
- What kind of content gets the most engagement
- Specific customer pain points that may be unaddressed
You can use this information to guide your own social strategy. Especially before you have enough data to get meaningful insights from your own social posts. (More on that later.)
Want more details on competitor research? We’ve got a full blog post on how to conduct a competitor analysis on social media.
4. Create a content calendar and content library
Once you understand your customers and the competition, it’s time to think about what and when you will post on social media.
First, you need to plan your content calendar: What you will post on each of your social accounts and when. Deciding on the right content mix is an important part of this step, as no one will want to follow you if all you do is promote your products. We’ve got some content ideas for you later on in this post.
A social media management platform organizes your content calendar so you can create and schedule content in advance. And 76% of the most successful B2B businesses do so.
Hootsuite’s Composer allows you to schedule all of your social media channels from one screen. You have a holistic view of your content distribution. This advance planning gives you time to use the built-in content approval workflows. Composer also recommends the best time to post on each platform based on your past performance and selected goals.
Hootsuite’s content library is another important feature for B2B marketers. You can use the library to store pre-approved content and brand assets.
This protects your brand identity and reputation while making life easier for all members of the content creation team.
5. Analyze and refine
Almost all (87%) of the most successful B2B content marketers say they measure their content performance accurately. Compare that to only 19% of the least successful.
This makes sense. How can you know how well your social content performs if you don’t measure with clear metrics and KPIs?
What metrics and data should you monitor? This depends on your business goals. You might focus on response time, impressions, engagement rate, conversions, sales, and more. The important thing is to set benchmarks and achievable goals.
Don’t ignore barometers like customer satisfaction ratings, qualitative reviews, and your Net Promoter Score. Look at reductions in recruitment and customer support costs as well. All of this contributes to return on investment.
Be realistic about what efforts you’ll have hard numbers for and which will be trickier to quantify. Remember, just because you can measure something doesn’t always mean you should. And just because you can’t measure something (easily) doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.
Your best ally in building out a performance measurement plan is a good social media analytics tool. Hootsuite Analytics gives you one-screen access to performance data from every social network, including easy-to-understand graphics and charts.
Speak to humans, not businesses
Remember that you’re not talking to brands – you’re talking to the people behind those brands. Likewise, they want to do business with the humans behind your brand.
In the LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact study, 64% of executives said they prefer “a more human, less formal tone of voice” over “an even-toned, intellectual voice.”
And you’re not just talking to CEOs and purchasing officers. Younger people will move up the ranks and be making purchasing decisions within a few years. It pays to nurture relationships with industry pros at all stages of their careers.
One simple way to break out of the boardroom with your content is to get your employees involved. Tell their stories. Highlight their accomplishments. Real people make your social media presence and brand voice appear more human and boost your recruiting efforts.
Tip: You can easily build a streamlined employee social program using Hootsuite Amplify.
Help your audience do their jobs
Think about ways you can make your followers’ (work) lives easier or more enjoyable. Provide content and resources that delight them in some way. Think how-to information, industry news, trends, tips, strategy, and so on.
Thought leadership is particularly important. 61% of decision-makers say thought leadership can be ”moderately or a lot more effective at demonstrating the potential value of its products/services compared to traditional product-oriented marketing.”
In content that does specifically promote your product, focus on how it will directly benefit the customer in real business terms. The latest Linked-in-Edelman B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that non-business-critical suppliers can best increase their chances of making a sale by:
- Proving they will increase a prospect’s profit margins or minimize losses
- Showing they can increase the likelihood of the prospect retaining customers and clients during a downturn
- Showing they can help the prospect outperform competitors
Use humor your followers will understand
B2B social media is about starting conversations and building relationships that lead to sales in the long term. That “long term” part is key, though. Followers aren’t going to stick around if your content doesn’t interest them.
So don’t let B2B’s reputation for boring content hold you back. Humor is an import tool in your content-creation toolbox. You just have to find the right tone.
What kind of humor speaks directly to your audience? Is there an inside joke that only industry pros will understand? A pun that will amuse your followers while highlighting your product benefits? Signal to your audience that you understand social media is primarily a platform for content that entertains and delights.
Respond to DMs and comments
If we were to highlight the most important component of a B2B social media strategy, this would probably be it. Anyone who comments on your content or sends you a DM is expressing interest in your brand. They’re practically raising their hands and shouting, “Hey! I’m a lead!”
That said, it’s easy for comments and DMs to get lost when you’re juggling multiple social platforms, each with its own inbox. A consolidated social media inbox like the one built into Hootsuite makes sure you never miss a thing.
Hootsuite Inbox also speeds up your response time by automatically routing messages through to the most appropriate person on your team. This ensures potential sales don’t get bogged down in the customer service queue.

Reduce response time (and your workload)
Manage all your messages stress-free with easy routing, saved replies, and friendly chatbots. Try Hootsuite’s Inbox today.
1. Share a free resource
A free resource like a white paper or report can be a valuable way to earn the trust of your B2B social media followers. But only if the report provides quality information backed up by reliable data and research – and offers real-world suggestions for how to incorporate that information into operations.
Two of the main qualities business leaders look for in thought leadership content are “robust research and strong supporting data” and “concrete guidance on how to respond to the issues or opportunities discussed.”
For example, here’s the primary and secondary data information for the Hootsuite 2023 Social Media Career Report:
And here are some of the ways Hootsuite shared the report on social media:
But how much asking is too much? 🤣
All kidding aside, this is why you must ask for the damn raise already! You deserve it for so many reasons.
Discover the most convincing reasons, and build up the courage to ask with insights from our career report: https://t.co/khvqGRv9m1 pic.twitter.com/yzD3sPLZ4k
— Hootsuite 🦉 (@hootsuite) September 19, 2023
2. Crack a joke
We talked about humor earlier in this post. Here’s where the rubber hits the road. From a tongue-in-cheek play on words, to a funny meme, to a straight-up dad joke, tickle your followers’ funny bones from time to time to keep them coming back for more.
The level of humor can vary with the platform, and should be based on audience research. For instance, you can likely skew a lot more silly on TikTok than on LinkedIn.
@adobe @artandsuchevan finds creativity in the tiniest and most unexpected places ✨
Keep a close eye on your analytics after posting anything outside the norm for your brand to see how your audience responds. If they love it, give them more. If the response is tepid or you see an unusual number of unfollows, rethink your strategy and try a different approach to humor.
3. Join a relevant conversation
We talked about social listening above in the context of competitor research. But it’s also a great way to find conversations relevant to your industry and your brand.
Simply add relevant hashtags and industry terms to your Hootsuite streams. When you find a relevant conversation, pop in with helpful information (never a hard sell). This is all about building relationships and creating brand awareness.
For example, when Patrick Mahomes was caught correcting an awkward grammar mistake on Twitter (shout out to the edit button!), both Grammarly and Merriam-Webster jumped in.
Source: @PatrickMahomes
The edit deserves a touchdown.🏈
— Grammarly (@Grammarly) September 12, 2023
Proud of this edit.
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 12, 2023
4. Share some stats
We’ve talked about the importance of thought leadership already. Quick stats and infographics are an easy and effective way to share thought leadership on social media without requiring followers to dive deep into a long report.
Infographics are snackable and highly shareable, meaning they can help your content spread well beyond your own social followers.
5. Empathize
Business can be tough, and you can gain a lot of brand loyalty by showing you understand the difficulties employees face. Remember, you need to win the hearts and minds of future business leaders, not just those who are making purchasing decisions today.
We hope this message finds you well. Unless you’re on PTO. In that case, we hope this message does not find you; we hope you find yourself with a fully recharged battery. 🔋
— Slack (@SlackHQ) September 19, 2023
Easily manage all your social media profiles using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage your followers, monitor relevant conversations, measure results, manage your ads, and much more.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
Uncategorized
2023 Average Engagement Rates for 13 Industries [STATS]
![2023-average-engagement-rates-for-13-industries-[stats]](https://www.social-ping.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/134947-2023-average-engagement-rates-for-13-industries-stats.png)
So you’ve planned and launched a social media campaign, and waited patiently for the likes, comments, and conversions to roll in. Now you’re looking at your performance report, wondering what the numbers actually mean. Is a 2% engagement rate high or low? Did your target audience love your campaign, or was it a flop?
Without social media benchmarks (a.k.a. average performance stats for a social platform or industry), it’s difficult to make sense of raw data. But we got you. In this post, we’ve rounded up average social media engagement rates from 13 top industries to give you a better understanding of where you stand. (And empower you to brag to your boss with data-informed confidence — you’re welcome.)
We’ve even included a simple (and free!) engagement rate calculator you can use to quickly double-check your own performance stats.

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Average engagement rates (September 2023)
Below, you’ll find the latest average engagement rates (per post), broken down by industry and social network.
Where did this data come from? Our team collects and anonymously compiles data from social accounts connected to Hootsuite. Each benchmark is based on at least 100 social accounts, and no data can be traced back to any individual account.
For more benchmarks (including impressions, audience growth rate, posting frequency, and much more) and insights that will help you improve your marketing strategy, start a free 30-day Hootsuite trial and browse stats from your industry — and hand-picked competitors — in Hootsuite Analytics
Agencies
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.02%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 2.06%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 0.82%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.18%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.71%
Education
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.03%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 3.16%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.63%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.81%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.52%
Entertainment and media
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.4%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.66%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.09%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.32%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 9.77%
Financial services
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 0.99%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.87%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 0.97%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.74%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.64%
Food and beverage
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 0.79%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.49%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 0.71%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.11%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.64%
Government
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.33%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 2.05%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.64%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 2.14%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.8%
Healthcare and wellness
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 0.92%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 2.28%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.31%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.61%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.75%
Nonprofit
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.18%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 2.47%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.61%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 2.26%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.63%
Real estate
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 0.81%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.5%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.01%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.68%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.39%
Retail
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 0.87%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 2.07%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 0.82%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.29%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 1.21%
Professional services and consulting
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 0.89%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.62%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1.05%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.55%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.36%
Technology
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.34%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.47%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 1%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.72%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 0.55%
Travel, hospitality, and leisure
- Average X (Twitter) engagement rate: 1.32%
- Average Instagram engagement rate: 1.7%
- Average Facebook engagement rate: 0.97%
- Average LinkedIn engagement rate: 1.47%
- Average TikTok engagement rate: 6.01%
Average engagement rates: September insights
1. Instagram users are the most engaged
Across almost all industries, Instagram consistently has the highest average rates compared to other social networks.
Interestingly, educational institutions generated higher Instagram engagement than any other industry in September. If you run social media for a school, college, or university and struggle to get your engagement rates up to the industry average, here are some tips that will help.
2. TikTok is a great platform for entertainment and travel-related content
Exceptionally high TikTok engagement rates suggest that short-form video is a great way to capture audience attention in these sectors. If you operate in one of these industries and haven’t started using TikTok to promote your business yet, you might be missing out! Our beginner’s guide to TikTok marketing will help you get started and connect with TikTok’s hyper-engaged community.
3. Financial services and technology have a hard(ish) time generating engagement
In general, financial institutions and tech companies appear to generate slightly lower social media engagement compared to other sectors — on every social media platform except for LinkedIn. This might be because these industries deal with complex and technical topics that can be challenging to engage a broad audience.
Remember: It’s not a product or service that makes something seem “boring” — it’s bad marketing. You can create engaging social content even if your industry has a boring reputation. Not sure how? Check out these blog posts for inspiration:
4. The food and beverage industry wins on Instagram
Restaurants and other food-related businesses see high engagement on Instagram — which makes perfect sense, considering the platform’s focus on visual content (and its users’ obsession with posting pictures of their meals).
Free engagement rate calculator
Ready to compare your performance to industry benchmarks? Use this free tool to find out your engagement rate by post.
Note: If you’re calculating your account’s total engagement, include information about all your posts (e.g total number of posts published, total number of likes, and so on). If you’re calculating the engagement rate of a specific social media marketing campaign, only include the details of the posts that were part of the campaign.
If you’re looking for more detailed data or you want to calculate different kinds of engagement (like engagement rate by reach or engagement rate by impressions), download our free spreadsheet calculator that will do the math for you.
Or, better yet, start a free 30-day Hootsuite trial to easily track the performance of all your social channels in one place (so you can replicate what works and get more engagement). Hootsuite’s social media analytics tool collects your stats from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
With Hootsuite Analytics, you can also:
- Find out when your audience is online
- Get personalized recommendations for your best times to post for each of your accounts
- Easily view industry benchmarks and see how you compare to competitors
Use Hootsuite to track and improve engagement rates across all your social media channels. Try it free today.
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