Community Building on Facebook and Instagram

A unique combination of storytelling tools — from multimedia Feed posts and Stories to longer-form video with IGTV and Watch — makes Facebook and Instagram ideal for expressing yourself and growing your podcast community.

Each feature can be used individually, but together they create a more engaging and holistic storytelling experience.

Stories

Stories help you build a deeper connection with your listeners through frequent, authentic and casual updates. They appear at the top of your followers’ feed and disappear after 24 hours. It’s a quicker, easier and lower-pressure way to share authentic, everyday moments.

Creative Ideas for Stories

• Re-share positive feedback from listeners. Try asking them what they liked most about a recent episode, or to name their favorite moment from this season. Remind them to tag you in their stories for easy re-sharing.
• Use interactive stickers, like the questions sticker, to source ideas and polls to get feedback on new topics and guests.
• Using the countdown sticker before a podcast episode drops or before a Live event is a great way to remind listeners and build excitement.
• Curate and categorize Stories using Story Highlights, which appear below your profile photo and remain visible until you remove them. Try using highlights for shorter teasers of your full-length episodes, and organize them by topic or guest for easy search.

Reels

Reels are a new way to create and discover short, entertaining videos on Instagram. You can record and edit 30-second multi-clip videos with audio, AR effects, and new creative tools. This is a strong tool for discovery as well as a way to repurpose your back catalog and archives.

• To reach new audiences, share to a new section in Explore that highlights creative Reels
• Create videos up to 30 seconds in length with popular songs, trends, or challenges, and get involved on Instagram by using specific hashtags
• Reels will appear on your profile grid. You can also choose to share them to your Feed and re-share them to your Stories to increase distribution

How to create a reel:

Reels in Instagram camera

Swipe to the Instagram camera. You’ll see “Reels” where you can begin creating your video.

Creative tools

• Audio: Select a song from the Instagram music library to be featured in your Reel.
• Speed: Speed up or slow down your video. Change the speed for the whole video, or only for certain clips.
• Effects: Record a clip using any Instagram effects. You can also record multiple clips with different effects.
• Timer: Use the timer to help you record hands-free.

Multiple clips & effects

• Record multiple clips up to 30 seconds or all at once.
• Upload video directly from your phone
• If you like your clip, start recording your next one, or go back to edit or trim any clip

How do comments help with engagement?

Joining the conversation in the comments section of your own posts can delight your audience and maximize your reach. As a creator, answering questions (or asking them!) can spark even more engagement. 

When you engage in the comments section on your own posts, they may be shown again in your followers’ Feeds.

Avoid Engagement Bait

Nobody likes clickbait, especially in the podcasting space. Facebook and Instagram have ways to detect and demote artificial attempts to boost video distribution. Avoid baiting your community to vote, react, share, tag someone, or comment in inauthentic ways.

Content Moderation Tools

Who interacts with your content and what they say can impact your podcast’s brand and fan experience. In some cases, you’ll want to use moderation tools in your account settings.

Tools on Facebook

• Block Words: Block certain words and turn on a profanity filter.
• Manage Comments: Hide or delete individual comments.
• Block Messages: You can block messages from someone without blocking their profile.
• Moderate Live Comments: Moderate comments using Live Producer.
• Control Friend Requests: You can control who can friend and follow you on Facebook.
• Ban People From Your Page: They will no longer be able to post or publish to your Page, like comments, comment or send you a message.
• Choose Who Can See Your Stories: Control who you share your Story with and change these settings anytime.

Tools on Instagram

• Block accounts: You can block any account on Instagram. When you block an account, the person will no longer be able to see your profile, posts, or stories.
• Block certain words or emojis: Control which words or emojis are allowed in the comments section of your posts.
• Control Who Can Comment: Use the Comment Controls section to control who can comment on your photos and videos.
• Delete Comments: Delete comments you don’t want to appear on your posts.
• Turn Off Comments: Turn off comments completely on individual posts or on live videos.
• Restrict Accounts: Restrict certain people and protect your account from unwanted interactions.
• Mute Accounts: Mute an account to hide posts from certain accounts and keep them from showing up in your feed.