Instagram & Facebook All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet

People use the Meta platforms of Instagram and Facebook the world over for connecting with others and sharing news, photos, and videos. These platforms are also a vital aspect of running a successful business. This cheat sheet tells you about some Instagram restrictions, helps you understand what image and video sizes to use, and how to add photos to Facebook from your phone. We also offer some valuable tips for businesses to maximize customer engagement.

Knowing your limits on Instagram  

For all the fun you can have on Instagram, you need to be aware of a number of restrictions. Instagram doesn’t approve of accounts that act spammy or that over engage in certain behaviors that appear to have motives other than natural interactions. Although you have good intentions and you, or someone in your business, will personally interact with others on Instagram, believe it or not, there are many people out there who don’t. People who use automated software to rapidly follow other accounts, comment on posts, or like other account posts are violating Instagram’s terms of use. The following limits are meant to help reduce that automated activity and ensure more authentic engagement from users on Instagram.  

Common and current restrictions on Instagram  

Following is a list of the most common and current restrictions on Instagram:

• Number of characters you can use in a username: 30
• Number of characters you can use in your bio: 150
• Number of characters you can use in a caption: 2,200
• Number of accounts you can follow: 7,500
• Number of accounts that can follow you: unlimited
• Number of posts you can like per hour: 20
• Number of posts you can share: unlimited
• Number of hashtags you can include per post: 5
• Number of people you can tag in a post: 20

Image and video sizes on Instagram

When using Instagram for business, it's important that you use the appropriate image or video size to showcase your products and services. Nothing looks worse than a photo cut off on one side or pixelated. Read on for the current recommended image sizes for Instagram.

Instagram Profile Picture

Remember that your profile picture will be placed in a circle when displayed. You may need to adjust the image if it is square or rectangular.

• Recommended size: 110 x 110 pixels
• Maximum size: 320 x 320 pixels
• Image format: .jpg or .png

Instagram Newsfeed

Single image or carousel

• Recommended size: 1080 x 1080 pixels (square), 1080 x 566 pixels (landscape), or 1080 x 1440 pixels (portrait)
• Image format: .jpg or .png
• Maximum file size: 30MB

Video

• Recommended size: 600 x 600 pixels (square), 600 x 315 pixels (landscape), or 1020 x 1920 pixels (Reels portrait video)  
• Aspect ratio: 1:1 (square) or 1.91:1 (rectangle)
• Minimum resolution: 720 x 720 pixels
• Maximum resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Minimum length: 3 seconds
• Maximum length: 60 minutes
• File type: .MP4 or .mov
• Maximum file size: 4GB

Instagram Stories  

Single image

• Recommended size: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Image format: .jpg or .png

Video

• Recommended size: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Minimum resolution: 720 x 1280 pixels
• Minimum length: 1 second
• Maximum length: 60 seconds
• File type: .MP4 or .mov
• Maximum file size: 4GB

Instagram Reels  

• Recommended size: 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Maximum length: 3 minutes
• File type: .MP4 or .mov
• Maximum file size: 4GB  

How to add photos to Facebook from your iPhone

Many photos you see on Facebook are added when people are nowhere near a computer. Instead, they’re photos of things that happen while out and about. Things that are beautiful (spring blossoms!), or strange (how did this person lose only one high heel?), or emblematic of your day (another cute photo of the dog).

If you add the Facebook app to most smartphones, you can send photos from your phone right to Facebook. You can add a photo from your iPhone’s camera roll by following these steps:

How to create a rich, customer-centric experience on Meta platforms

The constant changes to Facebook’s algorithm means that you need to work even harder to engage your audience. As you work on your business marketing plan, keep in mind the following tactics to help you achieve your goals and revisit your content strategy often.  

The fierce competition to get your audience’s attention requires you to offer an outstanding customer experience. If it’s mediocre, you’ll lose out to your competition. Here are some ways you can stand out on Facebook:

• Customer support: Responsive support is the key to developing a loyal customer. Many businesses on Facebook do a mediocre job of helping their customers find information they want and build a relationship. You can set up interactive tools that let you have private one-on-one conversations with users to satisfy their needs. Suggested tools are the following:
• Facebook Messenger: Messenger allows you to send/receive private messages directly from Facebook. In addition, you can offer mobile support to show customers that you want to communicate with them in the way they find most convenient.
• Messenger chatbots: Setting up Messenger automations or using third party chatbots like ManyChat can help customers serve themselves to get the answers they are looking for. Meta Business Suite’s Inbox feature allows you to set up messenger automations for your Page.
• Community development: Setting up a Facebook Group for your community allows you to see what your customers are talking about and how you can serve them better. Even though Facebook Groups can take some work to maintain, they help you and your members connect with others to build relationships and share information.
• Live streaming: One of the creative ways to interact with followers is to go live on Facebook with a live video broadcast that teaches, entertains, or provides value and lets your viewers get to know you better. Ask for their opinions and get them actively engaged. The benefit of going Live on Facebook is your ability to interact with people in real time, which fosters a greater sense of trust and authenticity with your brand. You can broadcast as your Page directly from your desktop or mobile device. Speak directly to your followers and show them interviews, events, daily activities, and so on.  
• Quality content: If your content is subpar, you won’t get users to give you a second look. You need to create great content that will capture a user’s’ attention, causing them to stop scrolling and engage with likes, reactions, comments, shares, or messages.  

Facebook also has a Stories section that is displayed prominently in users’ Facebook feeds. Posting regularly to Stories can capture additional attention and user engagement.