A Winter Awed Filled Break

My husband and I enjoyed our date night together at Starved Rock National Park in Illinois. We got a later start than we wanted. It was dark by the time we arrived, but the lodge was full of laughter…

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Guide to Designing High Converting Graphics for Social Media

This is a step-by-step guide to creating eye-catching images for social media that drive engagement and leads — all without a designer.

You are aware of the power of visual content. Yes, social media posts with images are proven to convert better than posts with no images.

In a survey, 37% of marketers said visual marketing was the most important form of content for their business, second only to blogging (38%).

If you embrace visual content in 2018, you will reap the rewards of higher returns — in terms of more fans, followers, readers, leads, clients and, of course, revenue.

But there’s so much more than an image when creating graphics for your marketing promotions. You should consider things like copy, color, placement, size, call to action, etc.

To stand out in your industry and to catch the attention of fans, consider creating attention grabbing, original visual content on a consistent basis.

If you’re not a designer and you don’t know where to start, then you are in the right place, as this guide will help you!

This might sound like no-brainer but it’s important you spend enough time planning what you are going to share with your fans and followers.

Start thinking about the “type” of image you want to create. It should do one of the following things:

Types of original content that share well on social media are:

Honestly, you do not have to be familiar with all image sizes and variations for the different social networks. There are two key things you need to know that will help you create visuals without being overwhelmed by options:

For instance, if you are focusing mainly on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, you would start with square images.

If you are focusing mainly on Twitter and LinkedIn, you would like to create landscape images first.

So you have a general idea on the type of content you will create, you’ve decided on the size of image, now it’s time to start putting it all together.

And of course the quickest and simplest way to start off is with a template. Whether you are a non-designer who needs some help, or you are a design pro who wants to create images fast, templates are an excellent choice.

Once you selected the template you can change pretty much everything — text, background image, colors, graphic elements, or use it exactly as it is.

When it comes to choosing an image for your design, you can use your own photograph, a stock photograph or an icon (graphic element). Wherever possible use your own photos as they tell your brand story like nobody else can.

Avoid the mistake that most brands make and stay away from banality or cheesy stock photography. Some people look only at the image, so make sure that your image help to tell the story and don’t distract your audience from your main message.

When selecting an image, you need to:

When it comes to the text you will put on your image, there is a simple rule you need to follow: from largest to smallest in a naturally progressive order.

This means that your title as the first thing that people will notice should stand out. This can be done by making it dominant in size, and using a strong eye-catching font. The subtitle should support your title at a relatively smaller type size.

Body copy (if you have any) should be the smallest in size but make sure it’s clear and easy to read.

You can go with only a title and put the focus on the most important word in it. This is another way to catch user’s attention and then naturally let them read the whole copy.

Remember to keep the most important objects the largest. When the size of elements is increased it will reflect visual importance.

For instance, if you want to create some sense of urgency, you can use a clock icon that forces users to act quick.

Here is how choosing the right icons and increasing their size can behave as a ‘call to action’. The more relevant the icon, the better it will function.

Use the power of colors to your advantage. Colors have the ability to evoke feelings and also act as an eye magnet. With its help you can make a distinction between what is important and what is not.

Applying a bright, bold color to a particular text will highlight its significance and naturally draw the eye to it, making it a focal component within your graphic.

In the example above, a color picker tool has been used to match the text color of the word “Flourish” with the color of the flower in the background image. Notice how this makes it a dominant feature of the design.

It’s useful to think about what your intention is for each piece of visual content you create. You should be careful when you choose your call to action. You need to know what the purpose of your graphic is — get more traffic, leads, sign ups, etc. Once you decided, follow the tips below:

Make it actionable.

Some call to actions are more action-oriented than others. For example “Get Started Now” is telling the reader to take action immediately, compared to “Learn more” — which gives less sense of urgency and respectively is much less action-oriented.

Create urgency.

In the example above, “Offer Expires in 2 hours,” and “Flash Sale” are conveying the importance of urgency to the users and give them a reason to take action immediately as to not “miss it out.”

Include numbers

Numbers act as social proof. Other people love this product/service, it gives them something of value, which means it’s worth it. Taking an action is justified and includes you in a community of other people who are taking that same action. Works well for subscriptions, webinars, events or downloading an ebook.

Sometimes visual content is posted to social media to help build engagement. The goal is get people react to the post and not click on a link. In this case, your call to action can take the form of:

TIP: There are two places you can add a call to action:

Or on both! Often including call to action to the image and description triples the chance an action to be taken. So go crazy and test what works best for your audience.

When it comes to graphics, proving what works comes down to testing, redesigning, tweaking, and trying new things constantly.

It’s important to note that what works for some businesses or industries may not work for others. Research your competitors, try to figure what works for them and then see if you will receive the same level of engagement and response from your users. Tweak if necessary.

It’s not only the image, you need to put on test. The copy testing caries the same weight. So you need to figure out what the winning combination is and then roll it out across multiple social media platforms.

For example if a certain colored graphic is converting highest on Facebook, repurpose it for Twitter, LinkedIn and more.

Don’t forget to post and promote your image.

You may not be a firm believer in reposting the same content on social media, but we found this work surprisingly well and we strongly advocate that you should try this approach to promote your visuals and reach larger audience.

All you need to remember is to be consistent with your visual content. Post regularly and always come back to engage. If you do that on any platform you will see your following and engagement growing.

Use graphics wisely to your advantage: place them wherever you can. They enhance the reach adn impact of your content and products, so get out there and have fun designing and testing!

A Winter Awed Filled Break

Guide to Designing High Converting Graphics for Social Media

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