We previously talked about 3 Quick Fix Design Mistakes and focused on websites. This week, we’ll turn to designing social media posts. Indeed, if there is one place where design matters to your brand, it’s on your social media posts.
Social media is where people can discover your brand and establish communication with you. New customers expect a brand to have a social media presence on several different platforms. In this article, Smart Insights lets us know how serious a social media presence is: 90% of people on social media have used it to communicate with brands or businesses.
Social media, especially Instagram, is built around images. You have to have well-designed posts in order for you to gain a following. If your pictures or graphics are anything but eye-catching, social media users will not give you the attention that your company deserves.
Here are four things to keep in mind when designing social media posts.
1. Consistency
When people see your brand’s photos, they should know that they are from your brand — even if there is no writing on them. Every picture you post sends a message, and if some of them are in black in white, others sepia, others neon, and others pixelated, the mixed message will lead to confusion. The inconsistency will make it seem like your brand doesn’t know how it is.
However, having something like a defined color scheme helps viewers draw a connection to your brand. It builds an identity that is recognizable. You could choose a few colors that complement each other well (it’s a good idea to use two main colors and two accent colors) and try to incorporate some of them in all of your posts. This might mean creating or purchasing a customized filter for your images or including your logo.
What’s important is that if you laid out all of your images next to each other (as Instagram does you when you look at someone’s profile), your images seem to be a part of something bigger: your brand.
2. Not too Much Writing
Don’t get me wrong: words are powerful. A tasteful quote can be a great image to post by itself. However, words can be very easy to overdo. Lots of words on an image usually isn’t visually satisfying – and the level of engagement they require often make viewers keep scrolling.
When people go to your page, they will read captions if they want to read what you have to say. The images, however, are exactly that: images. Don’t weigh down your photos with too much text. If people are intrigued by an image, they’ll read the caption. Instead of putting the text in the picture, focus on creating a captivating picture that begs an explanation from the captions.
© Joshua Brown 2019, all rights reserved
