Are you using social media to grow your brand? If so, you’re not alone. The challenge is getting noticed. The solution? Social media graphics.
Do you want your social media content to stop thumbs and get people talking? You need eye-catching social media graphics!
In this guide, you’ll learn how to design social media graphics that capture attention and build your brand online. Plus, you’ll find a list of the best free and paid tools to help you create awesome social media graphics.
Ready to get started?
1. Use a Social Media Graphic Design Tool
Not everyone is a graphic designer. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t create professional-quality social media graphics.
There are many design tools available that make it easy to create stunning social media graphics, even if you have no design experience.
Canva is a popular choice for social media graphic design. It offers a wide range of templates and design elements that you can use to create graphics for any social media platform.
Adobe Spark is another great option. It’s easy to use and offers a variety of design elements to help you create professional-quality graphics.
PicMonkey is a good choice for those who want a more advanced design tool, but don’t want to spend the money on Adobe Creative Cloud.
2. Create a Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is a design principle that helps guide the viewer’s eye through a design in a way that makes the most sense. When you use visual hierarchy in your designs, you control which elements are seen first, second, third, and so on.
There are a few different ways you can create a visual hierarchy in your designs. The easiest way is to use size to your advantage. Make your most important element the biggest, your second most important element a little smaller, and so on.
You can also use color, contrast, and layout to help create a visual hierarchy in your designs. The most important thing to remember is to keep it simple. You don’t want to have too many competing elements in your design.
3. Choose the Right Color Scheme
When it comes to color schemes, you have a lot of options. You can choose a color scheme that matches your brand identity, the colors in your photo, or the colors that are currently trending.
You can also use a color scheme generator to get ideas.
Color scheme generators are tools that help you create a cohesive color palette for your design. All you have to do is pick one color and the tool will generate other colors that go well with it.
When choosing your color scheme, it’s important to consider the emotions that colors evoke. For example, red is often associated with passion, love, and anger, while blue is associated with calm, trust, and sadness.
4. Add Text to Your Images
In addition to the caption, you can use the text on your image to provide context.
This is especially helpful if you’re sharing a quote or testimonial.
You can also use the text on your image to ask a question or add a call-to-action, or even highlight key points from your lead generation marketing efforts
If you’re sharing a blog post, you could add the title of the post to the image and then link to the full article in your caption.
Adding text to your images is a great way to make your images more engaging.
5. Create a Consistent Brand Image
Consistency in design is key to creating a cohesive look for your social media graphics. This is what will help you build brand recognition.
Use the same colors, fonts and filters in all of your designs. This will help you create a consistent brand image.
You can also use your logo or other brand elements in your designs. Just be sure not to overdo it. You want to create a visual connection between your designs and your brand, but you don’t want to overwhelm your audience with branding. It’s also important to consider social media accessibility in your designs to ensure all users can engage with your content.
6. Know the Best Social Media Graphic Sizes
The size of your social media graphics is crucial. If your image is too large, it may take too long to load, and if it’s too small, it may appear blurry.
Additionally, different social media platforms have different image size requirements. This means that you need to create multiple versions of your image to fit each platform.
To make things easier, we’ve created a list of the best social media graphic sizes for 2021:
• Facebook: 1200px x 628px
• Instagram: 1080px x 1080px
• LinkedIn: 1200px x 627px
• Twitter: 1200px x 675px
• Pinterest: 1000px x 1500px
By knowing the best social media graphic sizes, you can ensure that your images look great on every platform.
7. Use High-Quality Images
While it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, not all pictures are created equal.
Using high-quality images in modern image formats is a must if you want to create captivating social media graphics.
Low-quality images can make your designs look unprofessional and can even turn potential customers acquired through your lead generation tools away.
If you don’t have access to high-quality photos, you can use stock images. There are tons of websites where you can find free stock images, like Unsplash and Pexels.
You can also use a tool like Snappa, which has a library of over 3 million stock photos and illustrations that you can use in your designs.
Alternatively, you can consider generating images using AI image prompts.
8. Use Filters to Make Your Images Stand Out
Filters can be a great way to make your images stand out and add a little extra flair to your social media graphics.
Filters can be used to enhance colors, add texture, or even make your images look like they were taken with a vintage camera.
There are lots of apps available that make it easy to add filters to your images. Some of our favorites are VSCO, A Color Story, and Adobe Lightroom.
9. Make Your Graphics Shareable
If you want your social media graphics to get shared, you have to make it easy for your followers to do so. And that means you need to add a share button to your designs.
Most design tools make it easy to add a share button to your graphics. You can also create your own share buttons and add them to your designs manually.
Once you’ve added a share button to your graphic, make sure you include a call to action that encourages your followers to share it. In addition to a share button, consider adding a “Book Now” button to your graphics, especially if you’re promoting an event or service. You can also add a share button to your graphic and use it to link to your social media profile.
10. Test
Finally, it’s important to test your social media graphics.
Start checking your images to see which ones get the most engagement. You can also test different image sizes and aspect ratios to see which ones perform best on different social media platforms.
In addition, you should also test different design elements, such as colors, fonts, and textures, to see which ones resonate best with your audience.
By testing your social media graphics, you can learn what works and what doesn’t, and use that information to improve your designs and get better results.
The best way to see what works and what doesn’t is to test out different designs and styles of graphics. You can do this by creating multiple versions of a graphic and using them in different posts.
You can also create A/B tests in your social media management tool to see which graphic gets the most engagement. This can help you refine your designs and create even more captivating graphics in the future.
Last but not least, test your social media graphics. This is especially important when you’re creating a new design or trying something different.
You can test your social media graphics by creating a few different versions and then seeing which one gets the most engagement. Or, you can use A/B testing tools to show different versions of your graphics to different users.
Once you know which graphics perform best, you can use that information to inform your future designs.
Conclusion
Remember, the first step is to decide which type of content you want to share on your social media and then create an eye-catching graphic.
