13 Free Essential Tutorials for Mastering Social Media

Take your social media profiles to the next level with these expert tips and resources

Social Media platforms have become such a big part of our lives. Since social media emerged, it has changed the way we communicate and consume content, giving us the power to impact trends and broadcast information.

New features are constantly being launched to enrich our experiences as users. The growth of social media is unstoppable. However, if social networks are continuing to expand, are users finding it easier to face new challenges: Is it easy to get increased engagement? Gain more followers? Can I improve my photos? Should I explore what options TikTok has to offer?

If you are a professional social media manager in charge of a brand’s profile, you will encounter even bigger challenges. In this case, you will have to coordinate the visual aspects and content as well as respond to comments and build a quality relationship with the audience.

Even so, no matter how quickly social media platforms are evolving, there is always time to catch up. We’ve compiled a list of 15 tutorials by photographers, content creators, and marketing experts with extensive experience using Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok, to help you do just that.

You can watch the videos or click on the titles in red to access each tutorial and become a social media expert. Enjoy!

Illustration Tutorial: How to Launch Your Instagram Profile

A social media profile has become the new cover letter for creatives across all fields, especially illustrators. It serves as an intuitive, free, and attractive way to present your portfolio of work. Instagram, being so easy to use and having such a wide reach, is among the best options you have available. It is a great way for people to discover your illustration work.

To help you make the most of your illustrator profile on Instagram, Sandra López–from the illustration agency Pencil (@Pencil)–is sharingtoips to help you make wise decisions and reach as many people as possible. Discover Sandra’s tips in the following video:

Instagram Tutorial: How to Create A Content Strategy

The first step when it comes to creating an effective social media strategy is to define your brand values. When it comes to Instagram, you also need to pay attention to other aspects. While trends have a big influence, according to Dot Lung (@dotlung), the most important thing to remember is to make each post valuable and focus on the content that only you can offer your audience.

In this tutorial, Dot Lung (@dotlung), social media expert, teaches you how to create content strategies for all five Instagram channels (IG Feed, IG Stories, Featured, IGTV, and IG Live).

Instagram Tutorial: Photographic Composition for Beginners

A good photo op could come up at any time, so you need to always have your phone on you in order to capture the moment instantly. To do this, you will also need to know some basic photography rules and concepts.

Mina Barrio (@minabarrio), a product photographer specializing in creating content for Instagram, is an expert in capturing the best moments and creating compositions that make products stand out. In this tutorial, Mina will introduce you to concepts such as the rule of thirds, symmetry, and format so you can create beautiful compositions.

Instagram Tutorial: How to Create Attention-Grabbing Photo Captions

As the world’s leading visual social media platform, Instagram can also be used to present a photographic portfolio. However, sometimes we forget the importance of captions and that each photo should be accompanied by an interesting and witty text that is full of personality. This important detail will make your profile stand out and attract new followers.

To help you write captions that make an impact, below Pati Gagarin (@patigagarin) shares expert tips on giving your publications meaning. The photographer has worked with clients such as Adidas, Google, Vogue Spain, and Reebok.

Instagram Tutorial: 5 Tips to Create Your Own Style

What is the secret to success as an artist or photographer on Instagram? It would be too optimistic to believe that there is only one magic solution, but what is clear is that looking at the advice of those who have managed to make their profiles a success can greatly help us improve our fan base and the quality of our posts.

That's why commercial photographer Derio Ilari (@derioi) is sharing five fundamental tips for creating your own style on your Instagram profile, working on concepts ranging from your personality as a creator to the style of your photographs or images.

Instagram Tutorial: The Secret to Engagement

An active and engaged Instagram following is considerably more valuable than a large and inactive following so knowing how to maximize engagement is key to any successful Instagram account.

With countless contradictory messages, It can be difficult to understand what strategy to adopt when interacting with people on social media. That is why social media expert and Mother of Social Media Dragons Dot Lung (@dotlung) is sharing this tutorial to explain the best ways to up your engagement.

Freelance Tutorial: How to Grow Your Audience on Instagram

A large part of any creative career isn’t just producing work, but also sharing it. Because of that, social media has become a powerful way for creatives to reach a global audience, collaborate with the larger artistic community, and even find new clients.

In this video, lettering artist James Lewis (@jamesllewis) explains how he uses Instagram to promote his work and shares tips about how you can better document and showcase your projects to build a digital audience.

Illustration Tutorial: Tips to Succeed on Instagram

Social networks like Instagram have become a global showcase for artists from all over the planet: through our feed, we can access the talent of literally thousands of illustrators, designers, craft experts, and more. So, for a creative who wants to get noticed, mastering Instagram's tools to reach as many people as possible offers extraordinary opportunities.

Alex de Marcos (@alex_de_marcos) works can be found in all areas of illustration, including children's books, a Kurt Cobain biography, Instagram stickers, and advertising for Coca-Cola, Nike, and Bombay. In the following video tutorial, the illustrator gives practical advice to make your Instagram profile attractive and improve your professional presence.

TikTok Tutorial: Foolproof Tips for Great Content

In recent years, TikTok has rapidly become one of the world’s most popular social networks. With over a billion active users around the world, the platform has become an essential part of brand building, especially for personal brands. Arnulfur’s profile has achieved over 600,000 followers and almost 6 million ‘likes’.

In this tutorial, Arnulfur Hakonarson, better known as That Icelandic Guy, gives advice on how to create quality content for TikTok and how to make your profile stand out.

LinkedIn Stories Tutorial: How to Use it and Create Content

Communications consultant and content producer Rodrigo Focaccio (@rodrigofocaccio) was a 2019 LinkedInTopVoice. He has worked for major PR and digital marketing agencies, where he learned how to solve problems quickly, how to take risks, and how to produce content in the least possible time and with the lowest possible budget.

In this tutorial, Rodrigo explains how to use a very useful LinkedIn tool to highlight your profile and improve your business.

YouTube Tutorial: How to Upload Videos, Step by Step

Every month, over 2 billion users consume over a billion hours of video content per day while logged into their YouTube accounts. One of the most popular video-sharing platforms available, it is also a great gateway for others to learn about your work.

Juan Bermudez, also known as Kaos (@estudioKatastrofico), is an illustrator, writer, and–since 2011–YouTuber. Over the years, he has explored different ways to tell stories through drawing and video. Through his channel, he has worked with different brands and created an impressive portfolio. In this tutorial, he will show you how to upload videos to YouTube Studio, step by step. Discover more in the video below:

YouTube Tutorial: Tips to Give Your Videos Visibility Online

In the era of self-production, self-publishing, and self-promotion, everything seems easier for music video directors. Seems, being the operative word. Experienced music video director Lyona Ivanova has worked with artists as big as Aitana, Love of Lesbian, Carlos Sadness, and Amaral. She teaches you that publishing videos on YouTube is an art form akin to production and directing.

This tutorial gives you valuable tips on how to enhance the visibility of content uploaded to your channel on the world’s biggest video platform:

Social Media Tutorial: How to Make a Video Selfie

Marcelo Tas (@marcelo_tas) is a communication expert. A television presenter with experience working on various Brazilian networks, a scriptwriter, a journalist, and an influencer with more than 12 million followers on social networks, he is a master when it comes to onscreen communication, whether it be TV or a mobile phone. Thus, there's no one more qualified than him to teach us how to take a good "selfie video" for social media.

Resources for becoming a social media expert

To further expand your knowledge, below you'll find more resources for designing your own memes and advice on how to respond to all comments. And, if you still don't have a TikTok profile, you might want to set one up as soon as you finish reading this.

Improve your Instagram Stories

Some of the tutorials above aim to help you to improve your Instagram Stories. This agile and immediate format has a unique charm, entertaining people and informing them of the latest news from the accounts they follow.

To make the most of this feature, it is important to define a clear visual identity that effectively conveys what we want to say and stands out among the thousands of posts uploaded every day. One of our favorite apps is Prequel, an image editor with the most aesthetic presets. It offers a handpicked selection of filters: VHS, Disco, Retro, Glitch, Instant, and many more. One of its strong points is that the effects can be used on videos yet the app does not consume too much memory.

5 free apps and websites for creating your own memes

Memes are another format that triumphs on social media. In recent years, they have become so popular that some people end up thinking in meme format almost spontaneously. In other words, they come up with creative ideas using expressions, phrases, and scenes from the meme universe to share on their platforms. But how can we turn an idea into a meme? What tools provide us with the resources? These are five free apps and websites that we recommend:

• Imgur

• Memedroid

• Comic Page Creator

• Ezgif.com

• Gifmaker

5 tips for dealing with social media comments

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to social media management is knowing how to respond to feedback, both positive and negative. While practice will help you see results and gain more confidence, Hana Klokner (@hanajayklokner) has decided to share some key points to bear in mind daily:

1. Always respond (to both the good and the bad)
2. Write a full and personal response
3. Don’t delete negative feedback
4. Move the conversation to DMs
5. Delete SPAM and ignore trolls

Hana, who is an expert in social media marketing and a children’s book author from Slovakia, expands on each point in this article. Hana started out in digital marketing in 2007 when she got a job at the age of 16 working for MacBlog.sk, an online Apple magazine based in Slovakia. Later, she launched her own “fashion blogazine,” through which she learned all about planning, producing, editing, and promoting content. In addition, Hana has been responsible for training the marketing teams of clients such as Amazon, GLH Hotels, and the United Nations.

Before reading this article, perhaps you were having doubts about whether to open a TikTok account. Arnulfur Hakonarson, also known as That Icelandic Guy (@arnulfur), explains some reasons why you should use TikTok if you are a creative. Are you ready to take the leap and make your debut on one of the most popular platforms in the world?

Arnalfur will show you that growing your following on TikTok is easier than on any other network and it doesn’t have to involve dancing. Despite having hundreds of thousands of followers, he has never shown his followers his moves. There is room for everyone on TikTok.

Did you find these tutorials and resources useful? Let us know in the comments and never stop learning. And if you want to perfect your skills and discover more digital techniques, you can explore our online courses in social media and digital marketing.

English version by @eloiseedgington.

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