How much space do you have for a Facebook Ad to convince potential customers? How many hashtags do you need to use to get found on Instagram? And how do you ensure that your message on LinkedIn is not only read, but that people also respond to it, for example?
You can largely answer these questions based on the ideal length of the message. In other words, how many characters you spend getting your message across.
Twitter is even known for it: 140 characters (although these days you have room for 280). But every social media platform has its own maximum number of characters.
And more importantly… every platform has its own guidelines for the ideal length.
That is why in the rest of this blog we will give you practical advice with which you can achieve more reach and engagement with your social media posts on these platforms:
Facebook has changed its algorithm over time in such a way that companies achieve less reach with their posts. All the more important that you grab the reader’s attention right away. Applies to both regular updates and Facebook Ads.
That’s why we advise you not to make your Facebook posts too long, even if you have more than 63,000 characters for it. They are quickly truncated (at about 400 characters) with the well-known structure.
And let’s be honest, nobody wants that. After all, most of us are on Facebook to be entertained. Not to read whole books.
On the other hand, people read too quickly about too short a message. You don’t want that either. But how long is the ideal Facebook post?
The ideal Facebook message is between 40 and 80 characters long.
Short enough not to get bored and long enough to get your message across.
That also applies to advertisements. Although you have a lot of different options, ‘shorter = better’ often applies here too.
A headline (the most important part of your Ad!) usually works best with just 4 or 5 words. Use it mainly to attract attention.
You can then provide some more context in the text of your ad. But don’t use too much space for that either. With about 80 to 90 characters (or about 13 words), your Facebookers already offer more than enough context and you also immediately ensure that your ad is displayed well on desktops as well as on tablets and mobile phones.
Instagram is all about visual content. To images and videos. And although you have over 2000 characters for your message (or caption, as it is so beautifully called), we’d better keep it short.
After all, Instagram users quickly scroll through their timeline. That’s why it’s better to use up to about 120 characters for your caption. Then your description will be fully displayed on all devices and you will also have some space left for some hashtags.
Those hashtags ensure that your message is found by your target group.
At least, by people who search for that hashtag. Therefore, add 5-10 short hashtags (up to 24 characters).
Short hashtags? Yes, short.
#becausethechanceislittlethatmandatalonghashtagsearche
s#andbesidesitisalittledifficulttoreadall
And why not more than 5-10 pieces? If you use more, your message will look like spam. Like you’re desperate for attention. Instagram thinks so too, so the algorithm ensures that your posts with many hashtags lose visibility.
Not the intention.
Speaking of hashtags… Twitter has grown big with it. For years, the platform had space for messages of a maximum of 140 characters, but that has now been expanded to 280. To make writing a bit easier.
But that doesn’t mean you should use it. In fact, tweets with 70-100 characters generally get the most engagement.
That’s because Twitter is mainly used to quickly throw news updates into the world. With an emphasis on fast. And that includes a short message.
Not the Saturday supplement in the NRC.
Research into the ideal message length on LinkedIn is scarce. But what we do know for sure is that the platform will truncate your updates after about 140 characters.
So you have 16-25 words before your message is no longer fully readable and the reader has to take action to read you in its entirety. Both for regular and paid posts.
That doesn’t have to be a big deal, but you should make sure that you convince your connections as soon as possible to continue reading or click on a link.
You can also post articles on LinkedIn. Long blogs in which you take your readers through all kinds of tips and tricks, for example. Here you can go wild: articles with 1900-2000 words generally get more views, comments and shares.
Pro tip: videos. Do you want to stand out in your connections’ feed? Use a video, because it plays automatically at LinkedIn.
But… make sure it’s no more than 30 seconds in any case. Connections often don’t have the time (and sense!) to watch your new product launch for ten minutes.
Like Instagram, Pinterest is all about the visual aspect of posts (Pins).
Nevertheless, the description of your Pins gives you the opportunity to provide some additional explanation and context. Some extra space to convince your followers of your inspiring product. To tell a story. To convey emotion. Whatever you want really.
Unlike the other platforms, where shorter is often better, you can use a few more characters for this: a description of about 180-200 characters often works well.
Look out! characters. No words.
Youtube
Youtube is all about videos. Text has nothing to do with that.
Would you think. But what many people forget is that Youtube is also just a kind of search engine. This means that the title and description of your video determine whether your video is often found. Or not.
You have about 70 characters in the title to process the right keywords. And in the description about 150 characters to tell what your video is about, without being truncated. With the right keywords again, of course.
You can discover which terms these are for you. And in terms of video length? Anything under 3 minutes usually works fine. That’s it.
Snapchat
Snapchat has no text at all, apart from the captions, right?
Correct.
But the posts in the form of a video can indeed have an ideal length. Only then not in characters or words, but in seconds. Seconds movie. And those are few.
While you can now send snaps as long as a minute, it still works best if your videos are no longer than 10 seconds. Millennials have a low attention span.
So low, in fact, that you have to grab the attention for the first 3-5 seconds or you’ll lose them. This is not only true for regular posts, but also for Snap Ads.
TikTok
The same applies to TikTok as to Snapchat. These are short videos. Generation X and Z simply love fast media consumption.
You also have up to 60 seconds for a clip here, but it is better to keep your videos a bit shorter. The videos with the most engagement are around 15 seconds. Maximum.
Long enough to tell your story and short enough to consume quickly. So perfect for the target audience.
A little disclaimer…
The recommended lengths of posts are guidelines only. It may well be that your audience needs large chunks of text. Or that you achieve the best results with just an image.
The length of the message is just one of the factors that determine your success. The quality of your posts is of course the most important.
Know More Reference Sources : https://edgeforscholars.org/the-most-effective-method-to-utilize-gcp-cloud-dns-and-https-diverts/
