The complete guide to social media design(2)
The complete guide to social media design
Fifteen years ago, I might have gotten away with calling
social media a fad. But these days, a social media presence is as essential as
a phone number, and a strategic approach to social media design is how to ensure
your followers answer the call.
Flat design illustration showing people being attracted to
social media with a magnet
A strategic approach to social media design can make the
difference between getting viewers to follow you back or keep scrolling by
Orange Crush.
For businesses, social media platforms like Twitter,
Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest are great spaces to interact directly with
the real people who support them. It's where you create connections with
content that entertains your followers while building brand awareness.
As helpful as social media is, it is also very competitive.
Once you publish content, you will instantly join an endless stream of content,
where you will compete not only with content produced by other brands but also
with the platform's ranking algorithm. On social media, only the strong
survive, but the good news is that social media highlight graphics are the best
tools in your arsenal for creating engaging and memorable content.
This ultimate guide to social media design will walk you
through the different types of social media graphics, how to use them, and,
most importantly, how to make them count. @smarttechpros
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An overview of social media design
Before you start designing your social media
Plan your social media design strategy
List, report and schedule your design assets
Keep a reference of content sizes and dimensions for each platform
Tips for designing your social media page
Profile picture layout
Cover photo design
Profile page layout design
The profile name of the platform
Five guidelines for creating content in social networks
Design content in a way that benefits your followers.
Incorporate different types of design into your content
Balance individual content with your public profile
Theme content design and templates
Adjust your plan based on the analytics
Before you start designing your social media
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Plan your social media design strategy
The first step in designing social media is creating your
strategy (or revising your existing system). Your design should act as a
reinforcement of your content, facilitating the messages you want to convey, so
it is essential first to create a solid messaging strategy to perform well.
1. Evaluate the audiences of your existing channels. You may
have already done some target audience research for your overall branding
strategy. Still, the audience for each social media channel will represent a
specific segment or cross-section of your broader audience. To create the most
effective social media design, understand who is currently following your
content and what they are looking for. Make sure this is backed up by your
target market research - conduct interviews and surveys or use platform
analytics to find demographics, feedback notes or comments left by your
followers. Next, create user personas for your existing audiences as well as
the new audiences you want to reach. People matter because it is much easier to
tailor content to a person than to facts and figures.
2. Choose the best platforms to reach your audience. Social
networks are essential for businesses, but that does not mean that all social
media platforms are critical for all businesses. For example, recipes do well
on Pinterest, so while it makes sense for a food brand to invest heavily in
that platform, it won't be as crucial for a home security brand. Research your
many options for social media platforms and select some based on what is
popular in your industry and with your audience. Assuming you should only use
the most popular platforms, it may leave you missing out on social media apps
with specific audiences that may be a perfect fit for your brand.
3. Evaluate what types of content work best on those platforms.
Narrowing the reach of your audience and social media channels will allow you
to focus on the types of content you should be creating and, ultimately, how to
design that content. The platform will limit some types of content you can make
(Instagram prefers photos and videos, and Twitter prefers SMS and clips). Every
venue should have a how it works page. @techgeeksblogger