We get it, you run a small business and you’ve recognised the importance of social media in the digital age and how beneficial it can be to your brand. But then, you’re faced with the daunting task of creating visually appealing posts that’ll stand out from the plethora of brands vying for attention online. In order to be unique and draw customers from your social media platforms, you have to cultivate a sense of ‘brand personality’.
So what is brand personality?
Brand personality is a set of characteristics a business builds upon to influence the way people perceive its products or services. A business’ personality can reflect its goals by creating psychological or physical responses in its target market. It’s important to remember that the personality should be an extension of the main values of the brand and not conflict with it.
For example, a luxury company may not find the greatest success littering their social feeds with memes, and a more fun brand may not be able to connect with its audience through stark and minimalist ads. So how do you find your brand personality and create visually engaging posts that coincide with your business’ overall theme?
All this can be… a tad bit overwhelming to say the least. But fret not, for we have compiled a list of design tips that can help you find your voice and create posts that’ll get your business booming in no time! (or some time, it depends)
1. Think about your message
Every time you find yourself staring at that empty canvas on your computer screen – your mind devoid of any ideas – ask yourself this, what is the message you’re trying to convey? What is the purpose of your post?
Having a certain motive or an end goal behind every visual article you create is the most crucial step in the content-making procedure. If you have a goal in mind, you’re basically playing the game at a lower difficulty – let me explain…
Say, for example, you want to increase sales for a fantastic blender you sell – it can do whatever a standard blender can do, and so much more! With this goal determined, it is easier for you to create your graphics accordingly and cater specifically to the message you’re trying to deliver (in this case, how great your product is) to possible customers.
2. Typography, text, and all things letters
Typography is a powerful element of visual communication. Gone are the days where we relied on Comic Sans or Arial to get our points across. Brands are now restricting themselves to using a few signature fonts – either by using existing ones, or creating new ones. Fonts communicate a range of emotions and each type group is often associated with a certain kind of brand or industry. Brands that show restraint in font usage in their communication have much more focused messaging than those who get a bit too experimental and creative with mixing type.
The text matter itself is also something worth thinking about. Now, we know that your product has many amazing features that make it more marketable – but listing all of them down in a single post is not at all optimal. The more text there is in a visual post, the more likely people are to scroll away and lose interest. No one likes to consume loads of information on social media. Keep text content bite-sized, use catchy phrases and striking colours that would really draw people in.
And you can always include pros of the product or service you’re trying to sell in the post caption!
3. Be creative!
In order to be unique and stand out from the norm, you’ve got to be creative. Loosen the reins on your imagination a bit and have fun with what you create! This is an often overlooked and underestimated aspect of content creation that can make or break those internet credit numbers.
Being creative helps you craft a better marketing strategy because it shows you what encourages customer engagement. Relying on traditional methods will only stagnate your marketing, which is why it’s important to keep innovating your posts and finding more creative ways to deliver your message. Experimentation is the key to success: fiddle around with different types of graphics, try out new fonts – the possibilities are limitless!
We get it, you run a small business and you’ve recognized the importance of social media in the digital age and how beneficial it can be to your brand. But then, you’re faced with the daunting task of creating visually appealing posts that’ll stand out from the plethora of brands vying for attention online. In order to be unique and draw customers from your social media platforms, you have to cultivate a sense of ‘brand personality’.
4. Colour schemes and the importance of contrast
As stated earlier, adhering to specific characteristics helps your brand develop an individual sense of identity (think Spencerian script and how it’s synonymous with Coca-Cola). The same can be said about choosing a colour group for your posts. The term ‘Colour Psychology’ has been around the marketing space for a while, as studies show that certain colours affect online consumer behaviour. Along the same lines, using a specific set of colours in digital marketing and communications creates retention in the customer’s mind and links the graphic back to your brand.
So how do you determine your brand’s colour scheme? Well, it might seem complicated but it all comes down to the type of brand in question. Bright colours typically wouldn’t go well with a luxury brand, would they?
Colours influence how customers view the “personality” of the brand. Who would, for example, want to buy a Harley Davidson if they didn’t get the feeling that Harleys were rugged and cool? Choosing an alluring palette and sticking to it – being consistent with it – is your way to online marketing success. Make sure that the main colours in your palette complement each other well, otherwise your post will just end up looking bland and tasteless.
In the same vein, contrast is as important. It may sound like a minor thing, almost always overlooked or forgotten, but it’s one of the most important principles of creating a visually appealing article. High contrast equals high impact, nothing will discourage a potential customer more than a post that’s hard to read. If they can’t read the content they’ll move on to the next thing, and that’s not what you want to motivate people to do.
To ensure good contrast in your graphic, pair light colours with darker shades and vice versa. The goal is to use contrasting elements to grab attention and hook the viewer. It could be a difference between a large graphic and a small graphic or it could be a rough texture combined with a smooth texture.
Our eyes like contrast. Don’t let bad design ruin your posts.
5. Motion graphics and trends
Motion graphics incite more engagement when pitted against their static counterparts. They stand out from our social media feeds and demand a second look. Brands are getting increasingly creative when it comes to using subtle motion in design. Cinemagraphs are the latest trend in this area – a post where only one aspect of an image is in motion in contrast to a static background. This gives the post an artistic depth that is attractive to our eyes.
GIFs can also be utilised in the “motion graphics marketing” department: they are quirky, clever representations of concepts that could otherwise not be depicted by a single image post. They are also easily shareable across multiple social media platforms which further encourages interaction.
6. Every mason needs their tools
Maybe all this is irrelevant to you – maybe you just want to know how exactly you can go about creating stunning graphics for your business even though you are a non-designer. Don’t worry, we won’t leave you hanging there!
Canva is one of the most versatile and beginner-friendly apps for visual content creation that you can get your hands on. It is best known for its free design templates, images, graphics, and audios. The tools allow you to create social media graphics with ease. Even if you aren’t well-versed with graphic designing Canva makes the entire process effortless and straightforward. Most of its features are also free-to-use, so that’s definitely a win-win in our book. .
Closing
There are lots of different ways you can improve your design skills for your social media posts. We hope this list has helped you, please feel free to reach out and let us know!
