Is it photosharing for TikTok? Is it an Instagram clone? Or is it more like Pinterest? With 10 million+ users and growing, you’ve probably heard that Lemon8 is the new platform for lifestyle content. 

But before you invest your time and energy into building yet another web presence, you should learn more about how to post – and build an audience – on Lemon8.

Table of Content 

• What is Lemon8 — and How Do I Get Started?
• What is the Difference Between TikTok and Lemon8?
• Setting Up Your Lemon8 Profile
• How to Post on Lemon8
• Creating Content for Lemon8
• Photo and Video Sizes on Lemon8
• Lemon8's Text Overlays (Examples)
• Lemon8's Captions (Examples)
• Should You Post Video Content on Lemon8?
• Building an Audience on Lemon8
• How to Make Money on Lemon8
• Is Lemon8 Worth Your Time?

What is Lemon8 – and How Do I Get Started?

Lemon8 bills itself as a “lifestyle community.” Top interests on Lemon8 include outfits, skincare, makeup, nails, recipes, fitness, beauty, wellness, and accessories – so you get the vibe.

To get started on Lemon8, simply follow the below three steps:

• Download the Lemon8 app.
• Sign up with Google, Facebook, phone, email, or TikTok integration.
• Fill out your profile and start browsing.

Lemon8 lets you post visual media – both still images and videos.

What is the Difference Between TikTok and Lemon8?

TikTok and Lemon8 are both owned by Bytedance. But Lemon8 is more targeted toward still images – like photos – rather than video.

Lemon8 is also more targeted toward lifestyle content (like cooking, clothing, and style), whereas TikTok has a significantly broader audience. Other than that, the app will seem fairly similar.

Setting Up Your Lemon8 Profile

Before posting, ensure your Lemon8 profile reflects your brand or personal style. Your profile is the first impression for potential followers, so make it count.

Add your profile picture. Use a clear, high-quality image that aligns with your niche.

Select your username. Your username also includes a permanent Lemon8 URL, which will be lemon8-app.com/[username]. This is a shareable URL that you can use across the web to build your presence.

Write a bio. Write a concise and engaging bio that highlights your interests or expertise. For example, if you focus on travel, mention that and include your location.

Choose your pronouns. You can select She, He, or They when you create your portfolio.

Add any links, Lemon8 allows you to add links to external sites or social media profiles. Use this feature to drive traffic to your blog, website, or other platforms: TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube, and Website.

How to Post on Lemon8

Like Instagram, Lemon8 has to be interacted with through its mobile app. Selecting “+” in the Lemon8 interface automatically launches your phone's gallery. Then, you can post either a photo or a video.

Press the "+" button at the bottom of the screen to begin your upload. This will bring up your phone's gallery – and from there you can select a photo or video.

1. Posting a Photo on Lemon8

If you select a photo, you’ll be given a list of templates, including Trendy, Self-Intro, Fashion, Diary, and Beauty. 

You can then add:

• Headline: A brief headline that describes your image.
• Description: A description, including hashtags, of your image.
• Location: A location attached to your photo (optional).

Then you post! It’s that easy.

2. Posting a Video on Lemon8

If you select a video, you’ll start with some basic options: Trim, Text, and Add Sound. These should look pretty familiar to you if you’ve ever used TikTok.

Lemon8 only provides fairly rudimentary tools in comparison to other popular social media apps – so you might want to load your content into a video editor to add subtitles.

Subtitles are traditionally known for their use to make content more accessible to individuals with hearing impairment, ensuring inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards. However, usage of captions on videos has become popular for all users on social media, with 50% of YouTube users watching all content with subtitles turned on. Here's why:

1. Engagement: Many people watch videos on mute, especially on social media. Subtitles allow viewers to understand your content even without sound, increasing the likelihood they’ll engage with your video.
2. Clarity: Subtitles can help clarify dialogue or narration, especially if the audio quality is poor or the speaker’s accent is difficult to understand.
3. SEO and Discoverability: Subtitles and captions make your video searchable when platforms index the text, helping more people discover your content.
4. Global Audience: Subtitles can be translated into different languages using Kapwing, broadening your video’s appeal to international viewers.

As with a photo, you’ll then be prompted to add a Headline, Description, and Location. You can also optionally select a Cover.

If you choose to select a cover, Lemon8 gives you the following tools: Template, Filters, Adjust, Text, and Stickers.

Creating Content for Lemon8

As you can see, Lemon8 is a sort of hybrid between Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok, with a fairly decent overlap.

Primarily, what’s unique about Lemon8 is its focus – it’s entrenched in fashion, style, cooking, and self-care.

And that creates a great argument for integrating Lemon8 with your existing digital presence, especially if you have one of these focuses.

Photo and Video Sizes on Lemon8

Lemon8 prefers the aspect ratio of 3:4, ideal for vertical photos and videos. Luckily, this is the standard aspect ratio for most visual platforms today. The maximum length of a Lemon8 video is 60 seconds. 

Requirements:

• Aspect Ratio for Images and Videos: 3:4️
• Maximum Video Length: 60 seconds

If your video isn't in a 3:4 aspect ratio, it's better to resize the video before you upload it using Kapwing's quick and easy tool.

Most social media platforms have a default aspect ratio – uploading a video that doesn't maintain this aspect ratio will likely lead to "letterboxing" or distortion.

Lemon8’s Text Overlays (Examples)

One feature of Lemon8 is the ability to quickly add text overlays to your visuals. Use this to provide context or highlight key information. For example:

• A fashion post could include "5 Ways to Style a Blazer."
• A recipe might display "30-Minute Grandma’s Pasta."

Text overlays make your content more engaging and scannable – and tell the audience exactly what to expect.

Of course, if everyone is using the default templates and headlines, it can make it harder to stand out.

Consider using Kapwing to add overlay text to videos before you upload them, instead – and selecting from other options.

Lemon8's Captions (Examples)

Captions on Lemon8 are more detailed than on other platforms. Use this space to tell a story, share tips, or provide in-depth explanations. Break up text into short paragraphs and use bullet points or emojis to make it visually appealing. 

If you’re posting a video, consider dropping in a transcription of the spoken words. Unlike TikTok and Instagram where creating shorter, punchier captions is the norm, posting on Lemon8 offers the perfect opportunity to use part of your video as a transcription to add context and detailed description to your post.

Should You Post Video Content on Lemon8?

Although Lemon8 is predominantly photo-driven, videos should still be a part of your content strategy. However, Lemon8 doesn't have the "auto-play, forever scrolling" aspect of either TikTok or Instagram. Videos don't automatically play: they have to be clicked on.

In fact, the only signifier of a video is a little “play” icon in the upper right corner – so you’ll want to make it clear that your videos are videos.

Here’s how to make the most of videos on Lemon8:

1. Stick to the 3:4 Aspect Ratio: Ensure your videos are vertical for optimal display. You may want to crop your videos to ensure that the action is within the frame.
2. Keep it Short and Sweet: Videos should be concise, under 60 seconds. Focus on delivering value quickly, whether it's a tutorial, behind-the-scenes look, or a product review. Cut longer videos into sequences or highlights.
3. Add Captions and Music: Lemon8 allows you to include subtitles and background music, but you may want to go beyond the basics if you really want to stand out on this platform. 

Building an Audience on Lemon8

Building an audience on Lemon8 is very similar to building an audience on Instagram. As an algorithm-driven platform, Lemon8's primary goal is to feed engaging content to users. And that means that Lemon8 uses your headlines, descriptions, and hashtags to target your posts.

To build an audience on Lemon8:

• Use a Mix of Hashtags: While the value of hashtags may be decreasing on Instagram, always ensure you use them on Lemon8. Use a combination of broad hashtags (such as #travel) as well as rarer hashtags (such as #digitalnomad). While broad hashtags may deliver exposure, you may get lost in a sea of content – similarly, while niche hashtags could suit your content best, they could also have a very narrow audience.
• Interact With the Community: Write comments under posts, like posts, and respond to comments on your own posts. Because Lemon8 is a "lifestyle" app, these types of one-on-one interactions are what really deliver value to the community.
• Sell Your Content: When choosing whether to interact with your posts, users will see your headline and your cover. By styling your posts and your video covers, you can increase the chances that users will interact and engage rather than scroll on.

Now, because Lemon8 is similar to Instagram and Pinterest, a lot of the strategies that you've used there will likely work on Lemon8.

How to Make Money on Lemon8

Lemon8 doesn't provide any direct paths for monetization – it isn't like TikTok or Instagram, where you can link to products on a store. When it first launched, Lemon8 did pay creators to post, but this was invitation-only and relegated to specific influencers.

So how are people making money on Lemon8? Like most social media, once you build a following you can:

• Send people to affiliate links and make a percentage.
• Send people to your own store and sell merchandise.
• Gain sponsorships and sell product placement.

Some people on Lemon8 have their own "rate card," which is a card that outlines how much they charge for a post, highlight, or video for a product. Others work with platforms like Partipost to get linked up with companies that need influencers like them.

Is Lemon8 Worth Your Time?

Lemon8 offers a unique blend of aesthetics and storytelling, making it a powerful platform for lifestyle content creators. By focusing on high-quality content, meaningful engagement, and strategic posting, you can carve out your space on Lemon8 and connect with a passionate community.

And, if you're looking to merchandise or sell any form of goods and services —or looking to get sponsorships for your influencer lifestyle – it could become a great revenue stream.

But it's also still a pretty new platform. As of October 2024, Lemon8 had 12 million downloads – a mere 10th of TikTok. It's possible that you could become a big fish in a small pond on Lemon8 (especially with the recent pushes to acquire new users), or it's also possible you might be better served remaining on Instagram.