Social Media Post Design Tips

Designing custom graphics for social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn is becoming increasingly popular as companies use these outlets to sell services and reinforce their brand. We've provided a few tips below as to how to make your social media posts stand out and have an effective impact on users.

Engaging Pics/Graphics

Your photography should be unique and engaging to where a person wants to stop scrolling and read the description underneath the post or interact with the post somehow. Custom photography is always better than stock since stock photography can be overused and less personal. Strive to create photos with a candid feel, good lighting and engaging subject matter that relates to the text well.

Limit Text on Image

Less is more, or none at all is okay, when it comes to text being on top of a social post. If you have to use text, keep it to a few lines or just a few important details. Instead of using a ton of text on a graphic, you can include text in the description listing out the rest of the information.

Uniform Look/Branding

Be sure to look at your social media feed as a whole to make sure the designs look put together rather than random. Use specific colors, fonts and imagery from your brand to create a cohesive feel. This will help to make your business look professional and reinforce your brand style digitally.

Evaluate Competitor's Feed

There is nothing wrong with checking out what your competition is doing on social media to gain ideas, see trends or stay ahead. You can use the SWOT analysis to build out ideas and a plan for your company after comparing what you are doing to others in your industry. It's also not a bad idea to look outside of your industry for ideas and trends that you could benefit drawing inspiration from.

• Tip: Along with your competition, check out big box brands, for example Nike or Target, to see what they are doing to engage users. 

Post at the Right Time

Depending on your core audience, there will be right times to post on social media vs. not. It is best to find these out and use them to your advantage so your posts don't get overlooked by the algorithm. As general rule, it is great to post early in the morning, during lunch hours or evening hours during the week.

• Tip: Avoid posting at night while most people are at home or asleep and limit the weekends since many folks simply don't browse the internet as much on days off.

Call-to-Action or Link

Including a call-to-action or link for more information about your post can build traffic towards your website or help with lead generation. Platforms like Instagram don't allow a link directly from the post so linking in the bio page can suffice.

Video When Applicable

Videos, or reels, are now promoted more than flat graphics on social media making users more likely to see them in their feed. The best videos make the first few seconds really stand out to grab attention and keep the content under 2 minutes to keep the viewer's engagement.

• Tip: Add subtitles to your videos for accessibility for users with hearing impairments.
  

Use Logo in Posts

Find a subtle spot to add your logo in each post to reinforce your brand. Be sure to make the logo large enough to be legible and easy to find yet small enough to where it doesn't take over the post/image.

Apply Accessibility Principles

Applying basic accessibility principles to your social media designs will ensure everyone finds them legible and and will help avoid misunderstanding. One of the best ways to do so is by using contrasting colors for any text/backgrounds. You'll also want to make sure the description of your post is well-written and descriptive for a person with visual impairments. If you use video, be sure to allow subtitles for those with hearing impairments. Check out W3.org Accessibility Initiative for more information.

Keep Up with Changing Sizes/Dimensions

Social media post designs change frequently depending on screen sizes so be sure to stay up to date with the latest in sizing and best practices. What will work on one platform may not work on another so you might have to create more than one format.

Use Humor to Your Advantage

The internet loves humor. Humor will help you gain likes, followers and shares. You'll just need to find out the best scenarios to use humor to your advantage depending on your audience. Avoid any humor that can be misconstrued as offensive by keeping it lighthearted.

• Use incorporating pop-culture to your advantage when creating something funny online.