THE POWER OF THE PLATFORM: VISUAL STORYTELLING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS 77 made-for-TV commercials. The best brand YouTube channels use a variety of formats to engage with their followers, from the more traditional adver- tising videos to behind-the-scenes footage, meetings with team members, videos shot by fans, how-to or troubleshooting guides, or minidocumenta- ries about issues surrounding the products. As smartphone and tablet usage increases and becomes more a part of the everyday lives of people around the world, YouTube will become part of a forward-thinking brand’s strat- egy to connect with audiences in ways unimaginable only a few years ago. Facebook One social networking platform has become significant in the lives of so many people that it has spawned a major Hollywood film, and its name has even become a verb. Have you Facebooked lately? Since its creation nine years ago, Facebook has become a habit of life for many of its 1 billion users. It isn’t “just” a social network: it has revo- lutionized the way we connect online. Facebook has opened up a global world to us from the comfort of our own armchairs, bringing people and organizations together in a way that has quickly become second nature but was unthinkable only a few years ago. Facebook allowed brands and organizations to set up their own public pages in 2007, and ever since forward-thinking marketers have been using them—and the many improvements introduced over the years—to con- nect with their customers in ever more inventive ways. One of the greatest assets of a company Facebook page is that text, image, and video posts can all be seamlessly integrated in a user-friendly design that encourages comments, likes, and shares from followers. Promotions and campaigns can go viral very quickly, and feedback from fans can allow you to generate two-way conversations with followers. Visual posts really stand out on a company page and generate more engagement than text posts alone. Facebook is even starting to replace brand websites as a fan’s go-to place to find out more about the company: