How To Create Social Media Graphics From Start To Finish
- By Frank Morrison
- April 27, 2021
- 12:51 pm
- No Comments
Since its inception, social media has been growing exponentially and continues to get even more popular. These platforms today are the main source of information and news.
As of 2021, there are 3.5 billion social media users, and keeps getting higher and higher.
Social media platforms have become incredibly competitive. Standing out and gaining exposure is tough to do.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to leverage social media graphics to build your brand and increase your sales.
Let’s dive right in.
Why is social media important?
Qualified Leads
Traditional marketing campaigns might reach a few people, but the chance of interaction with your content and buying from you is quite low.
You get to market to the audience you’re looking for, and that way you’ll get more qualified leads.
Brand Awareness & Direct Communication
People buy from brands they trust.
By consistently posting and informing your followers about the latest, you will create brand authority, and connecting with your audience will be much easier.
You can show them that your products are valuable and have a lot of offers.
Tell them why your brand is different than others – why do you stand out and how can you solve their problems.
If your customers have any issues or complaints, you have the chance to respond and listen to their concerns right away. You can engage with them directly and ask for their opinions – that’s a chance to build a community and you’ll form a strong relationship with your followers.
How can you market on social media?
We talked about the importance of social media. Now you’ll see how can you market on social media and what results you’ll get.
Provide Value
If you provide content that helps to solve your customer’s problems, they’re more likely to engage with your brand and buy from you.
Before you start creating, ask yourself: how will this benefit my followers, and what can do to make my content more valuable?
Conduct Market Research
Create polls, surveys, ask your customers to leave reviews, and share their thoughts about your brand – find out what do they think about you and adjust your plans accordingly.
Additionally, study your competitors – see what tactics they use to win their customers over.
Take a look at how they react to situations and how they interact with their base – and then, create your own strategy.
Plan your social media strategy
Find out which platform does your audience use
Each platform is different and all of them have unique demographics.
Before you start posting, do some research. Determine where they are the most likely to be found.
Analyze their habits, look for patterns: find out what type of content do they consume, which brands are they buying from, and start planning your moves.
Narrow down your base and create the content that’s best for them
You discovered where your audience hangs out and what they are doing – now, you have to create the kind of content they enjoy.
LinkedIn and Facebook are more focused on professionals, on those platforms, text-based content is preferred.
Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are trying to capture the attention of young people. They favor imagery and short videos.
Twitter wants users to stay in the know and join conversions. There, shorter messages and video clips perform the best.
Sites like Quora, Reddit provide answers and practical advice to those seeking guidance. They are a great way to communicate with others and help them.
The question is which one does your audience likes the most. Find that out and create content based on their needs.
If you’re stuck, you should check out this buyer persona guide from Startbugmedia that will help you identify your ideal customer.
Tools to check out
If you’re looking for tools that you can create social media content with, you’ve got loads of options.
We selected four of them and here’s what they have to offer.
Canva
Canva is a widely-used tool when it comes to graphic design. Founded in 2012, in Perth, Australia, Canva is now valued at 15 billion dollars and they’re employing over 1500 people.
It is a cloud-based, drag-and-drop platform. Using Canva, you’ll be able to make eye-catching graphics in a matter of minutes.
You’ll get powerful features such as brand kits, that allow you to upload your own logos, fonts, and color schemes.
The Pro plan costs 12.99 a month and there is a custom solution available for companies.
In today’s article, that’s what we’re going to be using.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is a mobile-friendly tool that gives you the ability to create social graphics, web pages, and short videos.
For mobile devices, there are 3 apps available:
Spark Post for social media design
Spark Page for web pages
Spark Video for video editing
The free version gives access to the basic features and your designs will be watermarked.
If you’re subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud, you’ll have access to every feature – if you don’t, you can upgrade to premium for $9.99 a month.
Stencil
With 310 000 satisfied customers, Stencil has become a popular option, when it comes to creating content for social media.
It offers 5+ million stock photos, 1275+ pre-built templates, 3450+ google fonts, 100 000+ quotes, 3 100 000+ graphics and more.
The free version lets you create up to 10 designs, 10 collections, and 10 Instagram SMS each month. Paid plans start from $15 a month.
PlaceIt
Envato PlaceIt is a mockup and design software built specifically for print-on-demand and e-commerce, however, it offers features you can use for social media.
The design template section offers thousands of professionally made templates such as flyers, business cards, and social media images to choose from. All you’ve got to is select one, and you can customize it for your needs.
There is a logo creator, a video maker, and a mockup customized available as well.
When it comes to pricing, there is a free plan available with limited functionalities. If you want access to all features, you have to get a subscription, which costs 14.95 a month or 89.69 a year.
Creating Social Media Graphics with Canva
We discussed why you should be present on social media platforms and how your brand will benefit from it. We touched on your social media strategy and you know which tools to use. In this segment, we’ll show you how to create social media content with Canva – free of charge.
Use Pre-Made Templates
Canva has plenty of social media templates to work with – that leaves us a lot of options. Since Instagram is becoming more and more popular, we’ll show you how to create an Instagram post.
First, open up Canva, click on templates, select Instagram Posts and pick a template.
Choose Your Elements
Decide what graphics, photos, and colors you are going to be using.
Customize the text
Make it your own
The Final Steps
Name your project, and download it – if you’re on the Pro plan, you can connect your social media accounts and schedule your posts.
And, we’re done – that’s how easy is to create content for social media.
Optimize Your Content to Different Platforms
After you created your post, chances are, you want to release it on other platforms, as well. Canva Pro has a one-click resize option – for free users, we’ve made an infographic that shows you the appropriate sizes.
Conclusion
Social media is a great opportunity to introduce your products/services to the world- and the best part is, there is no barrier to entry.
By being present on these platforms, you’ll get more traction, your can expect higher engagement, and your conversions will increase significantly.
Putting out social media content doesn’t have to be difficult – we showed how simple it is using Canva.
If you want to enhance your presence on social media, it is a must-have tool.
You’ll have access to millions of professionally designed icons, templates, stock footage, videos, and more right at your fingertips – Canva is the way to go!
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