Great Graphics get Great Results (on Social Media)
Most of us are very visual creatures, which is why images and videos perform so well on social media. As purveyors of social media channels, we want to see something interesting – not just read something. Overwhelmingly, statistics continue to show that images and videos rule social media platforms. At the start of 2015, over 70 million photos and videos were shared daily on Instagram. The end of 2013/beginning of 2014 saw Pinterest increase their number of pins by 50%. These statistics cannot be ignored if you want to be successful with your social media efforts.
As with all marketing activities, it is important to be strategic with your social media channels, including what graphics you post. As you plan out your monthly editorial calendar, make sure to include a plan for accompanying graphics. Beyond planning strategically for which type of images to use when, what can you do to get the most mileage out of your graphics?
Use the correct format.
Files and graphics can be saved in several different formats, and it is important to make sure you’re using the correct one. (Need a refresher? Check out this SageAdvice blog about file formats.) Facebook, in particular, is very picky. Make sure that you save graphics for Facebook (especially your cover photo and profile pictures) as .png.
Repurpose images like you do content.
Time and money are valuable commodities, so this advice works if you’re paying someone to design graphics for you or doing them yourself: repurpose them just like you would content, like a blog post. For instance, we design an ad for Lawrence Medical Center every year for the Moulton Advertiser’s “PRIDE” edition. Since the ad is always focused specifically on the theme of the PRIDE edition of the year, we also convert their full-page ad into separate Facebook graphics to be used again. We can also resize the ad for use on other social media platforms.
Size matters.
Remember how I said that Facebook is picky about image formats? Well, all of the social media channels are picky about size. If you have been using the same size graphic for Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and others, you may have noticed it looks better on some than on others. That’s because each channel requires specific sizes – and sometimes, it even varies on each channel!
Use this handy infographic to help you use size your social media graphics properly. Because size matters.
If you felt like I was speaking gibberish in this blog post, we can help! Our staff understands pixels, pngs, timeline images versus cover photos, and everything else that may have you stumped for social media graphics! Give us a call for all of your social media graphic design needs today! 256-560-0098
Revised 1/20/16.