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Social Media Tips

How to create and share engaging social media posts using Pauwow

Asking questions on social media is one of the most effective ways to get people to interact with your posts.  Not only does asking a question make your content more personal, but it also demonstrates that you care and are interested in the opinions of others. For these reasons and many others, you will always find this simple technique listed as one of the top recommended strategies for increasing user engagement as referenced in these two links here:

8 Surefire Ways To Increase Engagement On Facebook

6 Ways To Improve Social Media Content With Social Media Content

Aside from asking a question, we all know that sharing pictures is another strategy for increasing engagement.  Using Pauwow, we can combine these methods to make the ultimate social media post.  

With that said, why don’t we walk through how to best create a great image based “pauwow” and also how to post it to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  

If you haven’t yet asked a question on Pauwow, check out a few posts before you go forward to create your own.  Although the post builder is straightforward, being familiar with the layout can help you up your game on pauwow creation.

Pauwow’s Voting Page Layout

Pauwow’s voting page is the end result - after you have created your question in the builder. Pauwows give the creator the ability to add images in two areas of the page: the Header Image and answer options. The Header Image is the first section that you will need to add to your post.  This image is the main picture associated with your post and will be used when sharing to the social media site(s) of your choosing.   Second, you have the ability to add images to your answer options. Text is required for your answers (with a minimum of two required), but adding images takes the post up a notch.  

If you elect to not add images to your post, either for the Header Image or answers, a default image will be added in its place that looks like this:

Pauwow Header Image Size

The Pauwow Header Image can be any variation of dimensions as long as it meets the minimum requirements of 600 pixels wide by 315 pixels high and is under 2 MB.  If you are planning on sharing your post to Facebook, keep in mind that this scale is the same as a Facebook Shared Link and so should be considered when choosing your image.

A secondary consideration is how your post will appear in Pauwow’s tiles.  Seen on the homepage and when you search for a pauwow by keyword, tiles are squares that display your Header Image and question. If your Header Image is rectangular, you’ll want to make sure that the main content will be visible in a square as this is how it will be displayed in the tile.  The snapshot of the homepage below illustrates how the tiles appear.

Pauwow Answer Options

Answer options also get the square look, but don’t have a minimum dimensions requirement. You will however need to keep your images under 2 MB.  As you can see below, the bottom of your image is faded to white to make the answer’s text clearer, so shy away from any critical information being in the bottom of your picture.

Pauwow Builder

Now that we have seen the end result, let’s quickly take a look at the builder. The builder button can be found on the top of any page of the Pauwow site – usually marked with the text “Create New Pauwow” and always including a plus sign.  The exact button changes depending on the device you are on: mobile, tablet or desktop.

After clicking on the button, a popup will display the builder.  Here you will be guided through adding your question, Header Image and answer options.

In addition to the question and answers, you can add a description that will appear below the question on the post.  This description can be any extra text you feel is necessary to enhance your pauwow.

Also, when choosing your images, you have the ability to add png, gif, jpg and jpeg file formats as well as animated gif files if you are looking to spice up the post even more.

Sharing To Facebook

Once your post is created and you click “Create New Pauwow”, you will be taken to your voting page – which we showed you earlier.  From there, it is now up to you to share your page and spread the word. Sharing to Facebook is pretty straight forward from this page.  Under the answers, you will find a “Share with Facebook” button that when clicked will bring up the below popup.

Here you are given the opportunity to say something about this post, add hashtags, tag people, check in, add what you are doing or feeling and also select with whom you want to share this post.

Sharing To Twitter

Twitter sharing is also initiated by clicking a button located under the answers. The “Share with Twitter” button can be found next to the Facebook button. Once pressed, the below popup will appear for you to edit your Tweet.

As you can see from the image, the popup automatically adds the link to your Tweet and allows you to add tagging and additional text if necessary.  What you don’t see until you actually Tweet the message is how the post will be displayed on Twitter. 

The above image shows you how the Tweet will look once the post has been made.  In this example, both hashtags and additional text were added to the message.

Sharing To Pinterest

If you have the Pinterest button added to your browser, sharing to the site is extremely easy. Once your pauwow has been created and you are on the voting page, hover your mouse over the Header Image and the “Pin it” button will appear in the upper left corner of the image.  Click the button and a popup will appear that looks like the below image:

From here, all you have to do is select the board you want to share the post to and click the corresponding “Pin it” button.

Hope that’s helpful!  If you have any other questions, or need any more tips, feel free to let us know.

-The Pauwow Team