When social media sites, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, boomed in the 2010s, they provided outlets for users to express themselves. They were able to let their friends and followers know what and how they were doing through these platforms.
Now, social media has flourished even more. According to a study, over 3.6 billion people worldwide were on social media back in 2020. The only difference is how people use it today. See, social media platforms are becoming tools to solidify social status and, yes, to target potential customers.
Social media is now one of the many modern tools used to market businesses in different industries. Because of this, companies are getting people on board who specialize in marketing plans and collaterals solely for social media.
People have moved past posting just about anything on social media. Now, many use a theme when they curate their posts. The same thing applies to businesses. If you want to know what this is all about, keep reading and discover how to spike your online presence.
Appeal to People’s Visual Nature
Research shows that from 2019 to 2020, the average daily use of social media worldwide jumped to 145 minutes or 2.4 hours a day. That number is for the whole day, which means your target audience is mostly skimming through their social media feed and hardly reading a thing.
This is where graphic design helps. Combining the right marketing goal with the following tips allows you to have eye-catching social media posts that engage with your target audience.
Yes, Size Matters
Artwork sizes matter in social media. All social media sites have unique size requirements for their images. A cropped photo or graphics on the news feed can turn off your audience or feed incomplete information at first glance.
If you are not mindful of this, you can end up having cropped posts that can send off the wrong message about your brand. Your target audience will either think you’re too lazy to care or see that you have no idea what you’re doing.
So, here are the size requirements for different social media sites:
- Square photo: 1200 pixels x 1200 pixels
- Profile photo: 170 pixels x 170 pixels
- Landscape photo: 1200 pixels x 630 pixels
- Portrait photo: 630 pixels x 1200 pixels
- Stories: 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels
- Cover photo: 851 pixels x 315 pixels
- Square photo: 1080 pixels x 1080 pixels
- Profile photo: 320 pixels x 320 pixels
- Landscape photo: 1080 pixels 566 pixels
- Portrait Photo: 1080 pixels x 1350 pixels
- Stories: 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels
- Profile photo: 400 pixels x 400 pixels
- Landscape photo: 1024 pixels x 512 pixels
- Cover photo: 1500 pixels x 1500 pixels
Indeed
- Profile photo: 400 pixels x 400 pixels
- Landscape: 1200 pixels x 627 pixels
- Portrait: 627 pixels x 1200 pixels
- Cover photo: 1128 pixels x 191 pixels
Make it Readable
Don’t rely on text too much. Remember that your target audience quickly scrolls through news feeds, so a stunning graphic design is the only way to hook them. Even Facebook takes this matter seriously by implementing the 20 percent rule on their social media ads.
If you’re using text, make sure it’s readable. Use the minimum 16 points font size. Play with fonts, too. Don’t use standard or overused fonts like Arial, Comic Sans, or Times New Roman.
The best social media fonts you can use are Montserrat, Novecento, Helvetica, Playfair Display, and more. You can even mix and match these fonts as headers and subheads to let your copy pop.
Less Is More
Too much pizzazz offers no pizzazz. Adding many elements to your graphic design will give it a crowded look. Your audience will find it challenging to look at your post because there’s too much going on in it.
Today, minimalism is more prominent, even in social media. Your post has to be straightforward. It has to convey your message immediately and prompt action after. Instead of adding too many elements, use the negative space or the space surrounding your content, like text and other design elements, to emphasize minimalism and sophistication.
Be Consistent with Branding
Brand identity is essential to market a business, especially in a visual place like social media platforms. By following your branding consistently, you allow your posts to connect your brand to the industry you’re in and introduce your business to your audience.
You need a recall in your social media posts. Utilizing the same font style, color, design elements, and other factors helps you do that.
Utilize Free Platforms
Suppose your team’s on a budget and can’t afford professional photography. In that case, your designers can take advantage of royalty-free photos online. Adopting free stock photos for social media posts is a cost-efficient digital marketing practice that businesses of all sizes use.
Your designers need to naturally integrate the photos into your branding to maintain a consistent online image.
Keep Up with the Trends
Hopping on the bandwagon of social media trends is not a bad thing. It just means you’re following certain concepts that feel right for your target audience at the moment. So, keep up with trends that they are openly interacting with.
But this doesn’t mean copying other people’s designs. It only implies getting your hand on a concept and doing something with it, so it conveys your brand message.
Finally, remember that the digital world is fast-paced, and trends constantly change. One concept may be outdated a few months after it bloomed. So keep observing the different social media platforms and the type of content that receives significant engagements.
Play with Other Concepts
If you keep repeating the same concept, your audience will soon get bored of your posts.
There is a variety of social media content that you can play with to up your engagement with your audience.
Here are some concepts you can try:
- Infographics
- Questions or polls
- Inspirational posts
- Animated GIFs
- Competitions
As long as the concept makes sense for your brand tone and image, then you can go for it.
New Tools, New Rules
Businesses need to take advantage of the fact that social media users are now more visual than before. With excellent marketing planning mixed with eye-catching and consistent graphic design, your brand will not only reach your target audience. You will also have a better chance to engage with them. This will take you a step closer to building a better brand-to-client relationship.
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