How to Create More Effective Images for Your Social Media Campaigns

In early 2020, there are about 3.80 billion social media users worldwide, and since the outbreak of coronavirus, the number of users might have grown. Therefore, for businesses, the increase in users means more customers. Furthermore, it gives them a better chance of promoting their brand online and even free.

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are beginning to transition into a place where people look for items they want to buy. So, if you run a business and haven’t started your social media campaign, it’s never too late to begin.

However, not all content we see online works. Some posts cannot grasp the attention of people, while others get a lot of likes and even sales. So, don’t simply snap a photo and call it a day. You need to think through each image, video, or any form of media you post that will be effective for your campaign and bring you more sales.

In this article, we will be sharing with you tips on how you can create images for your social media campaign that are highly effective.

How to Create Highly Effective Images for Your Social Media Platforms

Determine Your Goal First

Before you can share your content online, thorough planning is vital. You have to determine the goal of your campaign. Are you posting an image to drive more traffic to your website, increase engagement, get followers, or increase your sales? By simply knowing your goal, you’ll find it easy to create the content you need.

With a single goal, you can focus your time on creating images that can help you achieve it. If you don’t have a goal, you might try the wrong content, and it would deliver poor results.

Always Think About Your Audience

Your content will only matter when it resonates with your audience. It would only generate likes, shares, and conversions when people can connect with your images or content. Therefore, when creating a post on social media, think about what your audience would engage in.

There are various ways to know what your audiences want. You could look at your previous post where people engage in and determine which content has high engagement. Another way is to conduct polls and surveys or check out your competitors and what’s working.

Once you have done any of the mentioned strategies, apply the content that works well when creating images for your social media.

Include Text

When adding text, keep in mind to choose a font that should be bold, straightforward, and legible. Make sure that the text should have a contrast with the background. You should also consider the image-to-text ratio. The ratio depends on the social media platform you are posting in. Such as in Facebook, they have found out that images with less than 20% text perform better.

Other things to remember when adding text to your work:

• Double-check spelling and grammar.
• Use fonts that are professional and legible. You can mix fonts (serif and sans serif)
• Do not combine the colors green, red, blue, and yellow as they are difficult to read.
• Keep it short.
• Avoid orphan words.
• Animate your text to keep it interesting.

Create Different Images for Different Social Platforms

Each social media platform is different, and so is the content to gain engagement and traffic. So, you cannot create a single image and post them to all your account.

Some elements of an image might work on one platform while others won’t, so you must carefully research and learn what they are. Avoid the habit of sharing the same image on each of your accounts.

Here are some tips on what images works best on social accounts:

Instagram and Pinterest

• Brighter images work well
• Add white space or background to your image
• Lean towards the blue end spectrum
• Don’t use a lot of colors. Always have a single dominant color
• Add texture
• Low saturated image with gray, faded, and soft pastel colors work

Facebook

• Share images with body parts such as hands or ankles: Showing only a part of a person has 29% chances of performing better than showing an image of a full person. Also, an image of a person’s face could take the viewer’s attention off the product or the picture’s intention.
• Images that are bright, clear, original, playful, and creative work well on Facebook.

Take Size into Consideration

For each social media account, there are specific sizes made for the image you need to post. You cannot post an image on Facebook with a similar size as that of Instagram. The size of an image can affect the ratio and the resolution of your image.

Falcon.io has created a guide on the proper social image sizes you need to get the best out of your images.

Brand Your Images with Consistency

Having different ways to be creative is excellent. But consistency will bring you more sales than using random photos with inconsistent themes and tone.

So, whether it’s a Twitter account or Instagram, make sure that it has to be consistent with what’s in your feed.

It doesn’t mean you have to post the same content all the time. It’s only crucial to keeping your style consistent. If you use bright images all the time, then it means you have to keep creating images in such a way. If you like writing funny captions, then you should focus on that.

Having a specific style will attract more people, and they would instantly recognize your brand no matter what.

Learn When You Don’t Have to Center Your Image

Some images work well when the subject is off the center of the image. It seems to be pleasing to the eye but depends on the subject and the goal of your image.

You can use the Rule of Thirds. It is an effective way to draw your viewers’ attention to the part of the image you want them to focus on. So, when taking photos for your campaign, make sure to apply the rule, so you’ll create images that are effective and engaging.

However, it doesn’t mean that you have to put your image of the subject way too far on the side of the photo. Keep it only away from the center but not on the far end.

Caption Also Matters

It’s not only about the image. A great campaign also should be accompanied by a powerful caption. The length of your caption depends on the social accounts you are posting.

For Instagram, although it is a platform made for images, you can create a lengthy caption to tell a story. It adds more to the character of your image. Since you cannot put everything on your image, use the caption area to share your ideas and thought related to your post.

Facebook, on the other hand, requires fewer words. So, you should limit your text or caption.

Use Image Editing Software

You cannot create appealing campaign images without the aid of photo editing software. They are tools that are simple to use. Some are free but with limited features. Meanwhile, others require payment but are affordable, so you don’t have to break your bank.

Here are free and paid software applications to edit your social media images.

• Canva: It is the most commonly used tool by beginners and professionals. Canva covers almost every marketing image or template you need to start creating your project. They have pre-made templates from Facebook cover to brochures. There are also hundreds of images, clipart, and GIFs you can add to your design.
• PicMonkey: It is similar to Canva but has more features that give you options to touch up your images so it can look professional. You can add filters, sharpen your photos, add effects like that of Photoshop but in a more affordable alternative.
• Adobe Photoshop Elements: Another alternative to the expensive and professional tool Photoshop is Photoshop Elements. It comes at an affordable price with features equipped with AI technology to easily edit images instantly. You can add text, filters, and effects too. The Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 version has a new and improved edition, 2021, allowing users to add motion on images or create moving or animated GIFs, and more.
• Pixlr: A photo editing tool that lets users edit images online on your browser for free. Like Photoshop Elements, it is also equipped with AI-powered technology to help create professional edits. Now, you don’t have to take time editing images and repeat tasks. In addition, you’ll get creative graphics such as stickers, overlays, borders, icons, text, and more.
• Lightroom: Although it is considered to have professional features, in time, you’ll get the hang of it. Unlike Photoshop that’s far more complicated, Lightroom is easier. You can edit images in batch, use top-tier editing tools for adjustment, lens and camera-based correction, and more. Get the subscription plan for as low as $9.99/ month.

Sample Content to Post on Social Media

Coming up with content for your social media account is not easy. For professionals, it is not only about the quantity but the quality of content that matters. Aside from practicing the tips mentioned above, here are some samples of content you can try to post on your social media platforms for your campaign.

User-generated Content

Marketing professionals use User-Generated Content (UGC) to create a more authentic and effective marketing strategy.

A UGC could be an image or video created by users of your product. With such content, people will trust your brand as they believe it to be more real. Engagement to such a post is 28% higher than a standard post.

In addition, since it is created by your customers, it requires only a little effort on your part.

Person Behind the Business or Employees

People like to see the human side of a business, and so sharing images of the people behind the business and their story will make a difference. It brings a more human connection.

Furthermore, similar to UGC, you don’t require a lot of effort to create such content. And, remember to keep it simple.

Behind-the-scene

Similar to showing the people behind the business, behind-the-scene photos are focused more on the process of assembling products or how it is done.

You can show images of how you create your products, how it is packaged, and so on. Don’t forget to add caption or overlay text explaining what it is.

Announcement

It’s a simple image with an eye-catching background and some text. You can use your social media account to post announcements like sales, upcoming events, and more.

By following some of the steps mentioned at the beginning of this article, you’ll create images that can grab your viewers’ attention.

Images with Quotes

Add a little nugget of wisdom to your content, but make sure that it is relevant to your industry. You can use simple software like Canva with premade templates to create designs for your content.

Conclusion

Social Media is not only about taking great photos and then sharing them instantly. It requires strategic planning and research to see if the content can drive more traffic and business sales.

Knowing the basics of social media marketing will bring you more benefits and take your business or client’s business a long way. Even though trends come up for different social platforms, these practices can be implemented with a little bit of tweaking to make it work.