Ask anyone: well-designed social media graphics are key to building your professional business brand.
The beauty of social media is that it gives you immediate customer feedback.
Social media graphics help your audience see, process and engage with your messaging.
The great news? You don’t have to be a marketing professional or graphic designer to create amazing graphics. We will show you how.
Look professional in minutes
Many business owners say finding the right images for social posts is very time-consuming. Some people spend hours going through the rabbit hole of finding the right picture to carry their campaign.
For those looking for an easy solution, GoDaddy has an impressive graphic creation tool called GoDaddy Studio. This online tool is designed to create beautiful images from your phone or desktop — in less than half the time it would take to scour the internet on your own.
The best bit?
It's free to sign up and you can easily post any image you create on your desktop right to your social media channels.
Too easy! The free version grants you select access to professionally-designed templates and layouts, ready for quick customisation. The premium version of GoDaddy Studio comes bundled with GoDaddy’s Website Builder — this version gives you a website PLUS unlimited access to premium templates and picture-editing tools.
Stand out in an crowded world
There are many perks when you sign up with GoDaddy Studio. For instance, you can:
- Tailor the provided content to make it your own: The premium version stores your logos, fonts, colour palettes and more for quick and easy access. Using the same logo, colors and fonts in all your posts is vital to establishing a recognizable brand (learn more about branding here).
- Choose from an array of professional videos, images and fonts: GoDaddy Studio constantly updates its library of on-trend videos, graphics, and font collections. Search through a library of free stock photos and save your budget for something else.
- Edit designs on the spot to give it that wow factor: You can create eye-catching designs and make them your own with the blending and masking tools — even from your mobile phone.
- Layer up: Add layers to your design and edit like a pro – add/change effects without affecting the rest of your image.
- Mask the stuff you want to hide: Hide areas of a layer, revealing the image layer underneath. Great for hiding ugly background items or making text stand out.
Each of these features are quick and easy to use, with no design skills needed!
Other pro tips to make your social media graphics pop
There are also other tricks of the trade to make your social media graphics spectacular. Let’s review some additional ways to elevate your social media graphics even further.
Be selective with your colours
When you design for social media, you need to think about what will capture the heart of your audience.
Colour is your secret weapon to stand out in a cluttered social feed.
Marketer and blogger Neil Patel tells us that 85% of shoppers say colour is a primary reason why they buy a particular product.
Why? Colour can quickly communicate different moods or personalities, so you’ll want to be deliberate — especially when choosing the one to three colours you use in all business communications.
For example blue is for calm, trust and intelligence, which is why so many banks and financial institutions use this as their primary colour. Red stands for energy, passion and danger — so not a good choice for a bank, but terrific for a tattoo artist or band.
Colour and readability
You’ll also want to include some colour contrast. Otherwise, the text might appear to bleed into the background and people with a visual impairment may not be able to see the image or text.
It’s worth noting that, while a black background can work in certain situations, the easiest text to read is black on a white background. You can read more about colour selection through the link above.
Limit your typefaces
A typeface is the design of lettering, which can include variations in:
- Size
- Weight (e.g. bold)
- Slope (e.g. italic)
- Width (e.g. condensed) and so on
The rule when selecting a typeface for your social media graphics is to keep it simple.
People find it difficult to read text that is set in multiple typefaces. It's in your best interest to make sure everything is clear.
Given that more than 80% of social media browsing is on a mobile device, you need to make sure that your typeface is mobile-friendly.
Keep it simple
You want your social media graphics to invite Likes and clicks, not overwhelm your audience. Make sure you keep the graphic as clean, crisp, and straightforward as possible.
Don't be afraid of negative space because it is actually a good thing.
Use hierarchy to tell your story
Visual hierarchy allows you to convey the relative importance of information in your images quickly. People have a tendency to skim-read when they view social media graphics.
This means you want to be sure that the most important feature is front and centre in your visual design.
Humans prefer visual information
Have you ever noticed you remember images more than the words on a page?
We tend to retain 10% of what we read or hear after a couple of days, but remember 65% of it if there’s a picture to reinforce the concept.
In psychology, this is known as the Picture Superiority Effect. It sounds very fancy, but it is quite a simple concept.
It refers to the idea that things are learned more easily and frequently recalled when presented in a pictorial fashion. This is compared to reading written word counterparts. It’s important to know this because your choice of imagery matters.
Not all images are created equal
Pictures play a significant role in human psychology when remembering things. But poor-quality images will also be remembered or, worse, converted into a meme that may haunt you forever.
Don't be that business owner.
Instead, think about the types of content and people you follow and engage with on a daily basis. What makes them so great?
It’s likely their images have:
- Good photography with proper lighting and framing
- The right personalities or objects in the picture
- A consistent presence from the person or business
Noting what makes successful brands or influencers stand out online will help give you a sense of how to tailor your own images for your specific branding.
Related: The DIY guide to photography that gets clicked
Start creating today
There is no right or wrong way to create social media graphics. Your design will depend on your audience and the personality of your business. The convenience of GoDaddy Studio can make any novice look like a pro, combined with the additional tips in this blog.
Don’t underestimate the importance of your graphics.
You have the power to move your customers and it starts with good design. After all, your customers are using social media to ask questions about your products or services — don’t be afraid to show up and be brilliant.
