11 corporate communications tools to boost team performance

Communications tools are make-or-break for modern companies

Because every missed deadline, bottleneck and minor misunderstanding trickles down to impact your team’s productivity.

But the bigger your company, the faster these issues tend to snowball out of control.

That’s why dedicated business communications tools have become a staple of in-person, remote and hybrid teams alike.

The problem? There’s no shortage of software out there. Couple that with the fact that onboarding your team to new tools is no small feat. This is especially true for enterprises.

If you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered in our comprehensive guide to corporate communications.

What are corporate communications, anyway?

Corporate communications refer to how stakeholders in business interact with colleagues (internal) and customers (external). From updates and expectations to messaging and results, businesses prioritize communications for the sake of organization, productivity and accountability.

And so corporate communications tools represent the software and apps that stakeholders use to manage the interactions above.

These tools can be put into two buckets based on their respective audiences — internal and external.

Internal vs. external corporate communications tools

Internal communications cover interactions that happen among stakeholders within an organization. This includes employees, folks at the C-level and other internal collaborators (think: freelancers or contractors).

To manage these relationships and keep stakeholders up-to-date, companies might use:

• Project management tools
• Team chat tools
• Video conferencing tools
• Company Intranet or wiki tools

On the flip side, external communications tools are used to deliver key messages to customers, subscribers or partners. These tools might include:

• Marketing tools (think: social, CRM, email)
• Customer communication tools (think: live chat or help desk software)
• PR and media tools

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to adopting comms tools. That said, a combination of internal and external tools is key to keeping everyone involved with your business in the loop.

Why business communications tools matter so much

Investing in dedicated digital communications should be a matter of “when” and not “if” for companies of all shapes and sizes.

Enterprise. SMBs. Solo. You name it.

Consider the well-documented benefits of streamlined communication below:

• Encourage meaningful collaboration among your team. When teams’ tasks and goals are aligned, they create better business outcomes. There’s a reason why effective communication and higher rates of employee engagement go hand in hand.
• Empower people to be more productive. Recent research from Teamwork notes that people are up to 25% more productive when they have quick access to deliverables, requirements and other critical project information. With the right business communications tools, you can consolidate all of the above in one place.
• Create a more connected company culture. Food for thought: only 7% of workers feel that communication is “accurate, open and timely” at work. This signals the need for businesses to really put their corporate communications under the microscope for the sake of not only productivity but their workers’ well-being.

Also, keep in mind that the efficiency of internal communications has a direct impact on how you communicate with customers.

For example, consider how marketing messaging and creatives for campaigns require multiple steps, stakeholders and approvals.

When a department is on the same page and able to communicate effectively, its messages to external stakeholders are more likely to resonate.

11 corporate communications tools to try

Below is our breakdown of the best comms tools, all proven to bring businesses together and help workers communicate better.

Of course, no company necessarily needs everything on this list. That said, the internal and external tools here can highlight areas where your business’ comms might need a tune-up.

Internal communications tools

Building an internal communications strategy is a must-do, especially for remote and distributed teams. Let’s start by looking at tools to help your team internally.

1. Asana

Especially given the rise of remote teams, project management tools are a must-have for companies big and small.

Tools like Asana provide businesses with a unified place to plan and track the progress of any given project. From tasks and to-do lists to full-blown project timelines and department calendars, Asana makes it all easy to track with:

• Multiple project views (including Kanban boards, lists and calendars) that provide a constant pulse on the progress of a task
• The ability to assign roles and permissions for collaborators (including entry-level employees, contractors and C-level) to keep workflows structured
• Automated updates and notifications to keep a constant pulse on task progress

2. Slack

It’s hard to find a team that isn’t using Slack (or a similar team chat tool) to stay connected.

With Slack, you can organize your team’s communications into company-wide, department-specific or role-specific channels. This allows for immediate, timely communication that doesn’t totally interrupt workers or cause needless meetings. Arguably the biggest selling point of Slack is its ease of use and endless integrations (including many of the tools on this list).

3. Teamwork

A project management solution that’s almost a hybrid of the two tools above, Teamwork sets itself apart with its ability to track granular project data in addition to updates and messaging. For example, you can track individual contributions to any given task as well as team-wide time spent on tasks.

Teamwork answers “what’s been done, what needs to be done and what’s next” in one place. The platform’s project tracking features represent a massive time-saver and create fewer back-and-forths among collaborators.

4. Confluence

From internal docs and policies to reference pages and wikis, Confluence represents a sort of “home base” for teams to refer to.

The platform serves as a project management tool in its own right but also provides teams with a digital whiteboard to brainstorm and make notes as needed. Confluence’s features are yet another example of how you can consolidate corporate communications rather than jump between multiple apps, inboxes or internal drives.

5. Bambu by Sprout

Employee advocacy is all the rage right now. Bambu empowers your teammates internally to earn maximum on external marketing messages.

For example, Bambu makes it easy to boost your brand’s biggest announcements and latest blog posts. Rather than craft individual updates or captions, the platform provides templates, inspiration and creative options to boost your social posts messages in the most engaging way possible.

6. Dialpad

Dialpad represents an all-in-one video conferencing, chat and phone solution that’s ideal for distributed teams.

Perhaps the most “corporate” of our corporate communications due to its enterprise clientele, Dialpad boasts a number of features to improve team comms. This includes AI tools such as call sentiment analysis, automated notes to address sales objections and automatic call transcriptions.

External communications tools

For the second half of our breakdown, we’ll look at external tools you might consider as part of your marketing tech stack.

7. Sprout Social

No surprises here! Sprout Social is a powerful, all-in-one tool for streamlining internal and external comms related to social media.

How so? For starters, we allow teams to consolidate all of their social messages and notifications in one place. Not only does this mean less jumping between platforms, but also empowers teams to respond to more messages faster via collaborative features. The ability to combine your inboxes is a massive time-saver and likewise gives you a more comprehensive view of your customer comms.

Beyond that, Sprout also serves as the home base for all of your external social content.

Updates and announcements. Videos and images. Stories, Reels and everything in-between.

With Sprout, you can schedule and optimize your content across multiple social networks at once. Having all of your social media assets and updates in a single platform allows you to maximize your reach and get your message across to the appropriate audiences faster.

And we don’t stop there!

Below are a few more ways you might use Sprout as a corporate communications tool:

• Developing and rolling out your social media crisis plan
• Listening to crucial social conversations and shout-outs to uncover opportunities to intervene or answer questions for customers
• Encouraging cross-team collaboration and unified comms among your entire marketing department (including social, design and content marketing)

8. SendinBlue

While trends in marketing come and go, email remains a staple of external comms.

Newsletters. Welcome messages. Winback campaigns. The list goes on.

Platforms like SendinBlue are scalable and make it a cinch to set up automated workflows for any campaign you can think of. The ability to assess engagement metrics and fine-tune your campaigns over time means that you can maximize the eyes on your marketing messages.

 

9. HubSpot

HubSpot’s suite of corporate communications tools includes a robust CRM, email marketing platform and CMS rolled into one.

Having all of the above in one platform gives marketers the opportunity to have a more complete understanding of their customers and their needs.

For example, which content do our leads engage with the most? What’s our most common sales objection? Which of our campaigns results in the most direct revenue?

With HubSpot, you have a holistic view of your marketing channels and likewise what makes your customers tick.

10. Muck Rack

PR and relationships with bloggers, journalists and media outlets are key for businesses looking to earn some much-needed exposure.

Tools like Muck Rack make the process of finding relevant outreach targets and pitching them faster. Providing instant access to thousands of journalists, the platform allows you to track the progress of your pitching campaigns and automate the process of conducting follow-ups as needed.

11. Shorthand

Shorthand is a self-proclaimed “scrollytelling” tool that allows users to create digital experiences (such as websites and landing pages) to share with customers. The tool boasts a variety of team collaboration features that makes it easy for writers, designers and other marketers to come together to create the most compelling stories possible.

Below is a snapshot of how the platform works:

How to pick your corporate communications tools

We get it: choosing between tools can be tough.

This is especially true if you’re on the hunt for an enterprise solution.

To wrap things up, let’s review a few key details that’ll help you make a decision faster.

Be mindful of your budget

No-brainer, right? Most SaaS tools require negotiated pricing for larger teams. Regardless, try to pick solutions that are reasonable to scale and don’t involve usage-based pricing.

Onboarding should be a breeze

Ideally, you should be able to adopt and roll out corporate communications tools across your team ASAP. Many tools go to great lengths to educate and empower teams when it comes to onboarding. Some will basically hold your hand through the process to make it less daunting.

For example, Asana has a ton of resources, guides and videos to help teams get started.

Don’t second-guess security

Security matters for any piece of software and your business communications tools are no different. Potential breaches or data loss isn’t an option when you’re dealing with sensitive company materials.

For example, many businesses defaulted to Zoom during the pandemic. However, ongoing privacy concerns highlight how choosing a tool prior to shopping around can result in headaches down the road.

Double-check integrations with your current software

As noted earlier, anything you can do to consolidate tools and communications is a plus. Most major comms tools connect with each other to help boost productivity and likewise reduce notification spam.

Below is a snapshot of two of Sprout’s most popular integrations for both internal and external comms.

Make sure your comms tools have a track record

When in doubt, read reviews! Although there’s nothing wrong with test-driving brand news tools, we recommend sticking to a more “proven” platform for comms.

Review sites like G2 can highlight which apps have long-term users and the most satisfied customers. Insights from buyers can likewise break down specific features or concerns that might be relevant to your team.

Which corporate communications tools do you use?

If you want your teams to communicate more effectively, start with your tech stack.

Any combination of the tools above is a solid starting point toward building a more connected and aligned business. Doing so not only makes your workers’ lives easier but also empowers your team to send the right message to your customers.

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out or guide to leveling up your corporate communication skills to do exactly that.

The post 11 corporate communications tools to boost team performance appeared first on Sprout Social.

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Welcome Email Campaigns: How to Onboard New Subscribers

It's a big deal when someone signs up for your email list. You've put in a lot of work to attract this person and to build up enough trust with them that they'll let you into their inbox. 

But the work isn't done once they've signed up. Now your job is to engage them – to build on the trust and interest you've established with them so they'll become a long-term, enthusiastic subscriber. 

All that starts with a welcome email. 

What's a welcome email?

A welcome email is an automated email message that is sent out to new subscribers as soon as they sign up for your email list.

Some email marketers don't send a single welcome email – they send a series of them. These welcome series are sent out over time, usually one per day, and are typically a sequence of three emails. 

Why send a welcome email?

• Welcome emails get dramatically more opens and clicks than regular emails.
  One study found that welcome emails get 396% more opens and have a 533% higher click-through rate than other promotional emails. 
• To make the most of new subscribers' interest in your emails – right at the moment after they've signed up.
• To help your subscribers get to know you.
• To give your new subscribers a message right when they sign up so they won't have to wait until your next regularly-scheduled email.
• To showcase the content you want new subscribers to see first.
• To increase your subscribers' engagement with your list long-term by starting off with a great experience. 

Welcome emails, confirmation emails, and thank you pages

Let's step back from welcome emails for a moment and talk about how they fit into the overall experience you're creating to welcome new subscribers. This involves welcome emails - yes. But it also includes the thank you page you show subscribers after they've signed up and a confirmation email message if you're using double opt-in. 

Just to be clear: Welcome emails are not confirmation emails. Both types of emails are sent right after subscribers sign up, but a confirmation email is used to confirm that someone wants to be on your list.

Confirmation emails are part of a process called "double opt-in," where people have to sign up and then confirm again that they want to sign up. Double opt-in does require an extra step, but it's worth it. It generally results in higher engagement rates later on.

Here's a flow chart that shows how welcome emails and confirmation emails differ, and how they can work together. 

We're focused on email messages in this post, but there is another important element of your welcome sequence: The thank you page.

As the graphic above shows, thank you pages are shown right after someone signs up for your list. After a subscriber clicks "submit," they can be redirected to a page that thanks them for signing up. That's a thank you page.

Some of the smartest email marketers make great use of their thank you pages. They don't just show a nearly blank page and say "thanks for signing up. They don't use a default message from their email service provider. They'll give their new subscriber a full multi-media experience, complete with a welcome video, like this thank you page from AWeber customer Tim Ferriss:

Ferriss's welcome video is just 53 seconds long, but it's the perfect introduction to the newsletter for new subscribers. It explains why he created his newsletter, what it includes, and what subscribers can expect from their experience. 

Elements of a great welcome email

Welcome emails do a lot of things, so they often include several different sections. Those sections can include:

• Welcoming your new subscribers and thanking them for signing up
• Explaining what kind of content subscribers can expect from you and how often
• Delivering an incentive or "freebie" (if you offered one)
• Including your contact information so your subscribers can easily reach you and "safelist" your emails
• Introducing yourself briefly to your audience so they can get to know your brand better.

AWeber customer Lewis Howes of The School of Greatness sends a very clear welcome message that covers all these points:

Pro tip: Notice the other section Lewis has added to this email? It's in the postscript. He asks new subscribers to submit a question. This is a fantastic way to find out what topics your audience is interested in. It will also make you seem (and be!) more accessible and friendly. 

Types of welcome emails with examples

Your welcome email message should provide everything your new subscribers need to start learning about your business. But depending on your business model and your email marketing strategy, what they need to know may be different.

Here are a few different types of welcome emails and a few welcome email examples:

• Contest entry
  If you’re collecting subscribers through a contest you’re promoting, your welcome email should explain the terms of the content and what new subscribers can expect next.
  
  Pro tip: Remind your new subscribers that they’re on your list now because they entered your contest. Bootprints sends all contest participants this welcome email to give people a heads up that they’ve entered and that they’ve signed up for the email list.
  

• Incentive
  When you should use it: If you offer an incentive on your sign up form in exchange for email addresses.
  
  Pro tip: Always deliver your subscribers’ coupon in that first welcome message – don’t make them wait! Bullymake delivers on its opt-in promise right away.
  

• Log in to get started
  If you have an app or website with a trial offer or membership
  
  Pro-tip: Make it easy for people to get started by linking directly to the place where they can log in.
  

• Steps to getting started
  Do you have existing content, upcoming events or other special offers you want new subscribers to know about upfront? Then this type of welcome email is for you.
  
  Pro-tip: Don’t overload people with information. Give them two or three resources to get started, but save some content for the rest of your welcome campaign.
  
  This welcome email example from Litmus covers all those bases:

• Get to know you better
  This is a great option to help you make a more personal connection with your subscribers.
  
  Pro-tip: Not everyone will have a hard-hitting story like Trisha from Go Eat Your Beets in the example below, but that doesn’t mean you can’t include a few tidbits about yourself to show that there’s a real human being behind those emails.
  

Welcome email subject lines

If you know how important subject lines are, and you know how important welcome emails are... you might be a little nervous about writing the subject lines for your welcome campaigns. 

Have no fear. Here are ten great welcome email subject lines. Extra credit if you set up a subject line split-test to find out which one performs best for your list:

• Welcome to [Your company name or your newsletter's name]!
• Welcome! Your [name of freebie/lead magnet] is waiting
• You're on the list. Here's your discount code.
• Welcome to [your company name], [subscriber's first name]!
• Welcome to [your company name]! Your free gift is inside!

Want more subject line split-testing inspiration? See our blog post about how Morning Brew reached 1,000,000 opens with this split-testing strategy.

How to structure a welcome campaign

Once you know what you want to include in your welcome campaigns, you can begin structuring the rest of your welcome sequence. 

If you’re new to the idea of email automation, a welcome campaign is the perfect place to start.

The first email of your welcome campaign will help set the tone for the rest of the emails in your welcome campaign. And, if you choose to send only one email in your welcome campaign, (instead of a series of emails) it will need to include enough to get your new subscribers acquainted with your and your emails. 

Before you figure out the content of each email, you should outline your goals to ensure that your content aligns with them. Here’s a sample outline that you can use to structure your welcome campaign:

Email #1: 

Timing: Sent immediately after signing up

Goal: Deliver your freebie/lead magnet or any special offers and explain what to expect from your emails, including how frequently you'll send them. 

Email #2

Timing: Sent 24 hours after signing up

Goal: Explain the "why" of your company and your mission statement. Invite subscribers to follow you on different social media platforms.

Email #3 

Timing: Sent 48 hours after signing up

Goal: Include a few customer testimonials and links to your all-time best-performing content or the content you'd most want new subscribers to see. For example, Wine Awesomeness sends this email about screw caps vs. corks – a hotly debated topic among wine aficionados and newbies alike. 

Still not sure what to include for welcome email content? Try this strategy that blogger John Corcoran recommends for creating your first welcome email sequence:

“Take six articles that you’ve written already that are the most valuable content for your target audience,” he said. “Turn them into autoresponders and spread them out over six weeks. You will know that anyone added to your list will get one email a week from you for six weeks and they can get to know you.”

Don’t have six articles? That’s ok – start with one or two, then add more later. Your welcome email can always be improved later. Put together the best one you can now, track which links people click the most, then go back and make your welcome email even better later on.

Want to make things even easier? You can also use welcome email templates, or even a complete welcome sequence automation to save yourself more time. 

What happens after the welcome campaign 

The fun doesn’t have to stop at the end of your welcome campaign. Thanks to your well-crafted messages, your subscribers now know a lot more about you. They might be ready to purchase a product from you or to be added to your newsletter list. It's up to you what happens next.

The post Welcome Email Campaigns: How to Onboard New Subscribers appeared first on AWeber.

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Always up-to-date guide to social media image sizes

Last Updated: April 28, 2022

Whether it’s a brand promotion, video, news update or even a meme, visual content rules the social media landscape. What has become so important is effectively conveying your brand on social media through images and video.

In this quick-scroll world of social media, the visual face of your brand is often times the first thing your audience sees and possibly the one thing they remember. It’s hard to cut and paste an image and reuse it across all of your social networks unless you have a tool like Landscape.

Sprout Social’s very own tool is free to use to resize, crop and scale social media image sizes. And along with our resizing tool, we’ve provided all the specific dimensions and a few quick tips to help you decide which image best fits each position.

Before we get into it, here are some additional resources:

• Easily reference this social media image sizes list in our always up-to-date Google Doc.
• Also bookmark our social media video specs and ad guide!

Easily manage multimedia content with Sprout

Sprout’s Asset Library simplifies publishing and asset management by providing you with a centralized location to store images, videos and text.

Quickly create, organize, edit and publish assets directly from the Asset Library to deliver on-brand, visually engaging posts for any connected social network.

Start Your Free Trial

Social Media Image Sizes Per Network

These links will make it easier for you to navigate to the specific social media image sizes per network:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• TikTok
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Google My Business

Facebook Image Sizes

With 1.18 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the world’s largest social network. One bad image choice could spell the difference in attracting and engaging with this huge user base and being completely ignored.

One thing to remember when choosing your photos is that there is a difference between how things will display on your personal timeline and how things will display in a user’s newsfeed. Make sure that you are choosing dimensions based on where you want the majority of viewers to see your image.

Learn more about Facebook image sizes

Get specs and tips for implementing the best visual content on Facebook with these guides:

• Always up-to-date list of Facebook ad sizes & specs
• The Picture-Perfect Facebook Cover Photo Size
• Facebook Event Photo Size & Dimensions Guide

Profile Picture: 180 x 180 (Displays 170 x 170 on Desktop)

Say cheese: this is going to be the photo representing you or your brand on Facebook. This is the square photo that appears on your timeline layered over your cover photo. Your profile picture will also appear when you post to other walls, comment on posts or when your profile is searched.

Image Guidelines

• Must be at least 180 x 180 pixels.
• Photo will appear on page as 170 x 170 pixels on desktop and 128 x 128 on smartphones.
• Profile pictures are located 16 pixels from the left and 176 pixels from the top of your cover photo on desktop.
• Profile pictures are located 24 pixels from the left, 24 pixels from the bottom and 196 pixels from the top of your cover photo on smartphones.
• Photo thumbnail will appear throughout Facebook at 32 x 32 pixels.

Business Page Profile Picture: 180 x 180 (Displays 170 x 170 on Desktop)

Facebook recently changed its Profile image for Business Pages to appear to the left side of the screen. The new look helps Facebook Business Pages stand out among personal accounts. However, the dimensions are the same, but the photo appears on the page slightly different.

Image Guidelines

• Must be at least 180 x 180 pixels.
• Photo will appear on page as 170 x 170 pixels on desktop, 128 x 128 on smartphones, and 36 x 36 on most feature phones.
• Photo thumbnail will appear throughout Facebook at 32 x 32 pixels.
• Business Page images will be cropped to fit a square.

Cover Photo: 820 x 312

Your Facebook cover photo will only appear on your Facebook timeline, but it is a lot bigger than the profile picture, which gives you more freedom to choose something creative. Where your profile picture might be a good choice for a picture of you, or a brand logo, use this space to post something that speaks more toward you as an individual or as a brand.

Image Guidelines

• Appear on page at 820 x 312 pixels. Anything less will be stretched.
• Minimum size of 400 x 150 pixels.
• Displays at 820 x 312 pixels on desktop and 640 x 360 pixels on smartphones.
• For best results, upload an sRGB JPG file less than 100 KB.
• Images with a logo or text may be best as a PNG file.
• Business Page dimensions are exactly the same as personal accounts.

Shared Image: 1,200 x 630

A shared image is one of the most common forms of sharing on Facebook. These images will always appear on your timeline, and ideally they will show up in most of your followers’ News Feeds — though with the decrease in organic reach, it’s unlikely that everyone will see your post. The more people engage with your post, the more likely it is that the rest of your followers and their followers will see that activity.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended upload size of 1,200 x 630 pixels.
• Will appear in feed at a max width of 470 pixels (will scale to a max of 1:1).
• Will appear on page at a max width of 504 pixels (will scale to a max of 1:1).

Shared Link: 1200 x 628

Another great tool in your Facebook belt is the ability to share a link. It’s very similar to posting a shared image, but it gives you even more fields to work with. You can choose to create a shared link with a small square image to the left and text on the right, or with a larger rectangular image on top with text underneath.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended upload size of 1,200 x 628 pixels.
• Square Photo: Minimum 154 x 154px in feed.
• Square Photo: Minimum 116 x 116 on page.
• Rectangular Photo: Minimum 470 x 246 pixels in feed.
• Rectangular Photo: Minimum 484 x 252 on page.
• Facebook will scale photos under the minimum dimensions. For better results, increase image resolution at the same scale as the minimum size.

Event Image: 1920 x 1005 (Recommended)

Facebook Events help capture the attention of users and cut through the noise on Facebook. Reminders are sent to your audience and having a good space with an even better image is important. Make sure you have the right dimensions down for a Facebook Event cover photo.

Image Guidelines

• Facebook will scale down to minimum dimensions: 470 × 174.
• Shows in feed: 470 × 174.

Fundraiser image: 800 x 300 (recommended)

Facebook has added the ability to create a fundraiser for charitable organizations or personal causes. The cover photo for these fundraisers slightly varies from a typical Facebook cover photo, with a minimum size of 400 x 150. The best experience across many display types will come from a higher resolution image, though.

Looking for Facebook ad sizes?

Facebook ad formatting can be even more complex than organic posts, so for more guidelines, check out our complete guide to every Facebook ad size!

Find more information on the image sizes for Facebook, visit the Facebook Help Center.

Twitter Image Sizes

Don’t let its logo fool you–Twitter is not just for the birds. In fact, with 313 million monthly active users, Twitter is one of the social media networks that your customers will most often use to discuss your brand. And recently, Twitter made some big changes to its overall layout.

Profile Photo: 400 x 400 (Displays 200 x 200)

Your Twitter profile photo is the main image that represents you or your brand across the network. It’s going to be seen across the site in a number of places by a number of people so make sure it’s of the highest quality. Here’s the places your profile photo will be visible on the site.

• On Your Page: The largest display of your profile picture is on your homepage and can be viewed by your followers as well as individuals who stumble upon your page.
• In-Stream: A smaller version of your profile picture appears in a follower’s Twitter stream every time you Tweet. It also appears in the stream of your followers’ followers every time you’re Retweeted.
• Who to Follow: Your profile picture is also going to appear next to a link to your page in the “Who to follow” box. This is located directly to the right of your twitter stream. Choose a recognizable image here.

Image Guidelines

• Square Image recommended 400 x 400 pixels.
• Maximum file size 5 MB.
• Image types include: JPG, GIF or PNG.

Header Photo: 1,500 x 500

Your header photo is the image that spans the top of your Twitter profile page. It’s quite a bit larger than your profile photo so make sure to save it at the highest resolution possible. Because you have more room to be creative with this picture and it will likely be the first thing your visitors see, make it something captivating.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended 1,500 x 500 pixels.
• Maximum file size of 5 MB.
• Image types include: JPG, GIF or PNG.

In-Stream Photos and Shared Links

Twitter users can attach photos to any of their Tweets. Depending on whether you’re attaching one photo, multiple, or sharing a link, the way photos crop and display in stream will vary slightly.

Fortunately, in 2021, Twitter made waves with #Twittercropisgone, eliminating the sometimes-unfavorable automated cropping for vertical images that had often become the subject of memes and in-jokes among users of the platform. Extremely wide or tall images with unusual dimensions may still get cropped, but for most images in standard 4:3 or 16:9 dimensions (or close to them), you won’t have to worry as much about centering subjects around automated cropping.

no bird too tall, no crop too short

introducing bigger and better images on iOS and Android, now available to everyone pic.twitter.com/2buHfhfRAx

— Twitter (@Twitter) May 5, 2021

The following are some best practices to get an optimal result, and you can also preview the end result in Sprout’s Compose window before you publish.

Recommended sizes for images by types of Tweets:

• Image from a Tweet with shared link: 1200 x 628 pixels
• Tweet sharing a single image: 1200 x 675 pixels (recommended, but most images with standard aspect ratios will not be cropped)
• Tweet sharing two images: 700 x 800 pixels (both images)
• Tweet sharing three images:
  • Left image: 700 x 800 pixels
  • Right images: 1200 x 686 pixels
• Tweet sharing four images: 1200 x 600 pixels (per image)
  • Four is the maximum number of images available on one Tweet
• Recommended aspect ratio is 16:9.
• Can edit images if tweeting from Twitter iOS or Android app.
• Maximum file size of 5 MB for photos, and 5 MB for animated GIFs on mobile and 15 MB on web.

Find more information on in-stream photos at the Twitter Help Center.

Instagram Image Sizes

Instagram is one of the most popular photo-sharing social networks. It’s the best place to showcase your visual creativity, even down to making a compelling grid out of the way your photos’ thumbnails display in sequence.

Profile Picture: 110 x 110

Instagram is based on visuals, which should be an indication of how important it is to follow these image size guidelines. Ensure your profile image is recognizable so users can find you even easier through search or explore.

Image Guidelines

• Appear on your profile at 110 x 110 pixels.
• Square photo: make sure to maintain an aspect ratio of 1:1.

Photo Thumbnails: 161 x 161

When someone goes to your page, they’ll be presented with all of your content arranged in rows of thumbnails. These smaller renditions of your images and videos will expand when clicked and include a place for people to comment.

Image Guidelines

• The thumbnails will appear on the page at 161 x 161 pixels.
• Square photo: make sure to maintain an aspect ratio of 1:1 ratio.

Photo Size: 1080 x 1080

Instagram is all about the images and videos presented in your followers’ feed. In fact, Instagram higher resolution photos when taken from the native application. If you decided to upload a photo or video from any other device, the resolution will be much lower.

Image Guidelines

• The size of Instagram images has been increased to 1080 x 1080 pixels.
• Instagram still scales these photos down to 612 x 612 pixels.
• Appear in feed at 510 x 510 pixels.
• Square or rectangle photos: make sure to maintain an aspect ratio between 1:1 or 1.91:1.
• For portrait (4:5) photos, recommended dimensions are 1080 x 1350 pixels.

Instagram Stories: 1080 x 1920

With more than 300 million daily users, Instagram Stories are a popular source of visuals on the app. There are both video and image options available to publish. And while this feature is meant to be ephemeral, it’s possible to upload your own content.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended resolution is 1080 x 1920.
• Minimum resolution is 600 x 1067.
• Aspect ratio is 9:16.

For those looking for more info on Instagram ad sizes, including video specs, check out this guide!

TikTok Image Sizes

With 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has grown considerably over the last few years, seeing a 45% growth compared to 2020. With nearly half its users under the age of 30, TikTok is becoming the social platform for younger target audiences.

Profile Image: 200 x 200 (Recommended)

All TikTok users have the option to upload a profile image to their accounts. This is the perfect opportunity for businesses to showcase their personalities through branding or to highlight a specific campaign.

Image Guidelines

• Minimum 200 x 200 pixels
• Image types include: JPG, GIF or PNG

Looking for more TikTok specs? Our Always-Up-To-Date Video Specs guide can answer those questions.

LinkedIn Image Sizes

With 467 million registered users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. Where other social networks may be good drivers of traffic and customers, LinkedIn is a great place for you to source great employees and to connect with other industry leaders.

Personal Profile Image: 300 x 300 (Recommended)

LinkedIn started using a new layout for personal profiles and kept the box logo with company pages (more on that below). However, the personal profile dimensions for LinkedIn is very straightforward. This is the main image that represents you on your personal profile. So anytime someone takes a look at your profile for some quick info, this is the prominent image that represents you. It’s important to get the size right.

Image Guidelines

• Minimum 300 x 300 pixels
• Maximum file size 10MB.
• Image types include: JPG, GIF or PNG.

Personal Background Image: 1584 x 396

LinkedIn’s background image is a newer feature for your personal profile. It’s a little bit trickier to find something that really fits that space well, but if you get it right, your profile will look great.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended 1584 x 396 pixels.
• Maximum size of 4MB.
• Image types include: JPG, PNG or GIF.

Company Logo Image: 300 x 300

One of the two brand logos that you should be uploading to LinkedIn is the standard company logo. This is the bigger of the two and is going to show up right next to your brand name on your LinkedIn homepage. This image also appears in the “Companies you may want to follow” section. The more enticing the photo, the more likely you’ll gain followers.

• Recommended 300 x 300 pixels.
• Minimum 300 x 300 pixels.
• Maximum 4MB (Square layout).
• Image types include: PNG, JPG or GIF.

Company Cover Image: 1128 x 191 (recommended)

Unlike the personal background image, the company or standard business background image covers the entire top of the page. The image appears much larger than the personal dimensions, giving businesses a bit more space.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended size 1128 x 191.
• Maximum file size of 4MB.
• Image types include: PNG, JPG or GIF.

Shared Image or Link: 1200 x 627 (Recommended)

This size works for LinkedIn posts that share a photo or a link with image to a blog post or article to your company page’s feed.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended size for images or links: 1200 x 627 pixels based on mobile scaling
• Image types include: JPNG, JPG or GIF.

Life Tab – Main Image & Company Photos

The life tab on LinkedIn company pages lets you provide a more in-depth look at the day to day experience of your company’s employees. Currently, the two types of images you can upload here are the main image, which serves as a hero and highlight to your page, and the horizontal scrolling gallery of other company photos beneath.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended size for main image: 1128 x 376
• Recommended size for company photos: 900 x 600
• Image types include: JPNG, JPG or GIF.
• The life tab only appears on the mobile app, and not the mobile web version of LinkedIn, so exact display sizes will vary by device. Upload the recommended size for the best experience.

Find more information in the Linkedin Help Center.

Pinterest Image Sizes

Pinterest can be an amazing social tool for driving referral traffic to your site. This is mostly due to the fact that 90% of Pinterest pages are external links.

So it’s very important for you to make sure you’re optimizing your Pinterest page regularly and using proper image sizes for your boards and pins.

Profile Picture: 165 x 165

When setting up your Pinterest account you have the option to do so using Facebook, Twitter or email. If you choose Facebook or Twitter, Pinterest will pull in the profile image that you have set there.

If you’re using email, or would prefer to use a different photo, you can do that too: just upload a square photograph (the larger the better) and Pinterest will resize it to fit. Like other social sites your profile picture on Pinterest should be something closely tied to you or your brand.

Image Guidelines

• Recommended size: 165 x 165 pixels
• Maximum 10 MB.
• Image types include: JPG and PNG for profile pictures.

Pin Sizes

When adding a pin to your board, it’s important to remember that Pinterest puts a limit on the width of the image but not the length. This gives you the opportunity to add a photo that’s square or one that will scale to be even taller. Just remember to make sure you’re creating large images because they add more value, not just because you can.

Image Guidelines

• It’s recommended to use an image aspect ratio of 2:3 to 1:3.5
• Expanded pins have a minimum width 600 pixels, so to maintain aspect ratio, 900 px is the recommended height.

Board Display

Creating boards is one of the most important things that you can do on Pinterest. It’s important to make sure you’re using an image that fits the size criteria perfectly. Not only is it important to choose a photo that is enticing to your audience, it’s important to choose one that’s relevant to that particular board.

Image Guidelines

• 222 x 150 pixels (large thumbnail)
• 55 x 55 (smaller thumbnail)

Find more information in the Pinterest Help Center.

YouTube Image Sizes

YouTube has more than 1 billion unique users every month and is available on hundreds of millions of devices. More than 1 million brands have already realized that YouTube is a great opportunity to reach their fan-base.

Channel Profile Image: 800 x 800

YouTube allows you to select different profile image borders, but the dimensions stay the same. Ensure your YouTube has a profile image set up before you select your border.

Image Guidelines:

• Recommended 800 x 800 pixels.
• Image types: JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG.

Channel Cover Photo: 2,048 x 1,152

Spice up your YouTube channel with some “channel art.” When users click through your YouTube videos to your channel, some appealing images could entice them to stay on your page longer and watch more of your videos.

Image Guidelines:

• Recommended 2560 x 1440 pixels.
• Safe area for mobile and web (without text and logo cropping) 1546 x 423 pixels.
• Maximum file size: 4MB.
• Image types: JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG.

Across Different Devices

There are a lot of different platforms and devices that users can stream YouTube on so it’s important that you review your creative across devices and confirm that the most important parts of your image, such as text or logos, are displaying legibly in the ‘safe zone’ noted above.

Find more information in the YouTube Help Center.

Video Uploads: 1280 x 720 (Minimum HD)

Uploading your content to YouTube is the one of the most important parts of establishing your presence on the site. Videos can tell viewers something about you as a person, or it could show off something that your business might offer.

Video Guidelines

• Videos must maintain a 16:9 aspect ratio. Smaller videos such as 4:3 will be pillarboxed to fit.

For more on the specifics of YouTube video optimization, or to size video on any other social network, check out our complete guide to social media video specs.

Google My Business Image Sizes

Google My Business has become an essential platform for businesses with local, brick-and-mortar presences to gain visibility and conduct their review management strategy.

Types of Images for Google My Business:

• Logo: Your recognizable logo image. May not be available for all types of businesses–see Google guidelines for more detail.
• Cover photo: A photo of your business that will typically be the first one shown. Choose a photo that gives the best overall representation of your place of business for this photo.
• Business photo: You can use your other business photos to highlight different elements of your business or offices and help show off what local visiting customers should look for when they stop by.

For all three types of images, Google’s official guidelines recommend the below specs for the best appearance on the platform.

Image Guidelines:

• Recommended resolution: 720 x 720 pixels
• Minimum resolution:250 x 250 pixels
• File size maximum: 5 MB
• Format: JPG or PNG.

The post Always up-to-date guide to social media image sizes appeared first on Sprout Social.

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