Considering that around 59% of people in the world use some form of social media, it’s arguably the biggest market to target products and services through. Most people likely use social media in whatever part of the world you’re in. More brands are utilizing social media to market their products and services. To sweeten the deal, the use of social media for marketing and research has been fairly fruitful, and various platforms have given their users more incentives to use them for the job. But it’s not an easy undertaking, regardless of the resources available.
The Essentials
Before you start making any posts, there are some essentials that you need to figure out. Not only will they make it easier for you to have a consistent style guide, but you’ll develop better content in the long run:
Brand Identity
A brand identity is how others view you as an entity. It’s necessary to be aware of this as much of your content follows it through, and your loyal followers will come to expect it from you. Think of what your brand would be like if they were a person, what they would say, and what their tone will be like.
If you haven’t figured out your brand identity yet, it’s recommended that you work with a brand identity design service to channel it.
Choose The Right Platforms
What platform will you post your content on? It was a much easier question to answer previously. But recently, companies have been using all the options at their disposal. While you’d expect a professional tech-focused brand to find its audience mainly on GitHub and LinkedIn, these companies tend to market towards YouTube and TikTok.
Not only will your tone on each platform vary to a certain degree, but the kind of posts you can make will also differ as certain forms of content work better on certain websites. Professional design services will take care of this aspect for you.
Using Images
It’s common for companies to use images across their social media posts. Most people use social media for short-form content, so they likely won’t go through a wall of text. Essentially, you want to keep the text to a minimum of around 100 words. If you think that you can’t express your point without getting verbose, try to add images instead.
Companies also heavily use images across the content to give breathing space to the reader, creating a convenient division between paragraphs. They’re also great for elaborating on difficult concepts easily.
Availing Illustrations
In many cases, you won’t be able to find the right images from a royalty-free website. It is common when the post is about something fairly new, niche, or specific. In such cases, you’ll need an illustration. They’re graphic design images that help to clarify various ideas. Because they rely on imagery, they’re great for many social media platforms.
You can add them to anything from a blog to a video to clarify an idea to the reader. They’re excellent as they can be customized by working with a professional team to create something that meets your ideas.
Being Aware of Formats
Most social media platforms are geared towards a specific kind of content. For example, Instagram is focused on images and has started to get into videos with reels. The platform also has a specific set of dimensions for the images you post on it, so your designers need to know that it meets the appropriate dimensions.
While LinkedIn also allows various images, they have a few specific options, like carousel posts that other social media platforms do not. In such cases, you’ll need custom social media posts to fully avail yourself of a particular platform’s capability.
Consistent Content
When companies develop their brand identity, they also have their logo finalized, which they intend to use for a long time. Similarly, they also set their mind on some colors that they will use for their future content. For example, professional brands will often stick to monochrome colors, while younger, trend-focused brands may use some flashier colors.
It allows them to have consistent posts across their social media and marketing material in general. Not only does the audience get an idea of what this post could be about, but it also develops an impression that it’s particularly from your brand, thanks to the consistent use of logos and colors.
Learning From Competitors
Considering the potential of social media, it’s highly likely that your competitors are also using it to their advantage. It would be helpful to focus on the kind of content that they produce, especially if it’s getting ample engagement. While you don’t have to copy them blatantly, especially if you have a different brand identity, it’s smart to take inspiration where possible.
It’s smart to take a working formula and tweak it to your advantage; the same concept applies to your social media content.
Working With Professionals
Because of the outreach that social media provides businesses, it’s common for companies to hire graphic design services and industry professionals to handle social media content for them. Companies have access to professionals with several years of industry experience, allowing them to focus their resources on other aspects. At the same time, they take care of the majority of the design work.
They’re heavily aware of the kind of content that fares well online and offer in-depth guidance, along with their own experience in delivering the final product.