So you want to create a social media presence for your brand. How hard can it be, right? After all, it takes just a few minutes to set up a page on Facebook or Instagram or create a channel for your brand on YouTube. But then once you open one of these social media platforms you then have a blank screen staring at you.
What should you name your page? What should you use as the profile picture? Well, if your brand name and logo take care of these, you then have to worry about the Cover Image and the rest of the aesthetic. Sounds relatable? You are not alone. This blog will talk all about graphic designs for a brand’s social media page. Everything from the types of designs you need to design tips that can help you carve a niche for your brand on social media.
But before we get to the what and how of graphic designs for social media let’s first talk about the why.
That’s just a handful of perks, to begin with. The more you work on your graphic designs for social media, the better will your branding be. So, what kind of designs do you need?
First things first. You need a solid profile picture. And this case, it will be your brand’s logo. And then comes a cover image for Facebook and YouTube. These give a virtual experience of your brand before customers scroll through your page. Other than these foundational designs, your brand needs the below graphic designs for social media.
When you have to add your blog post link to your LinkedIn Feed or Facebook Feed, what do you do? Add an image as a visual hook. If you have original graphics created for your blog, that would be great. But if you don’t you should use a stock image that is relevant and possibly not overused in your segment.
Original graphics for a brand’s social media page can be useful in so many ways. Here are a few:
These work well both in regular page posts and Story posts as well as promoted posts or ads.
Most brands stick with regular photos and images but illustrations have a charm of their own. You can use them to effectively your message and also to bring your social media page to life.
When you have a unique idea to present to your audience, custom illustrations will do the job perfectly. What’s more? You can create your brand’s signature style with illustrations and use the same style across different social media platforms.
Posts that give customers something new to learn are big hits on social media. Infographics do just that. And they are easily shareable too. Infographics, therefore, improve the reach of your brand.
Videos are everywhere on social media. Reels and video posts on Facebook and Instagram, Shorts and regular videos on YouTube, to name a few. And videos can add more depth to your Stories as well. In short, you need short-form videos to grab attention and long-form videos to provide information or for promotion.
Regularly posting videos can improve your brand’s social media engagement rate measurably. That’s why almost 54% of marketers prioritize video content on social media.
Now that you have a small list of graphic designs to get your social media page up and running, we will also give you a few handy design tips. After all, every social media page has images and videos. But not all of them are received well by the audience. It takes good designs and a strong niche to evoke a strong response from the intended audience.
You might already have a brand style guide or a brand book as some call it. This outlines your brand’s basic color palettes font preferences, and overall visual style attributes. But do you have a social media style guide? This will be a rulebook specific to your social media designs. Similar to the brand book this one outlines all the design elements for your brand but specifically for social media.
This one talks about the rules to create an aesthetic for your brand’s social media pages. It also defines the tone of messaging and any specific formats in design that you would like for specific social media platforms. This way, your designs will remain consistent and on-brand.
There are two main components to consider with respect to visual style in graphic designs for social media:
If you have a very rigid font style or some traditional typefaces associated with your brand, evaluate whether the style will work in a more casual setting like Instagram. If not, you can always have a semi-formal yet unique font style for your brand’s social media pages. These will make your brand appear more approachable.
Ideally, using your brand colors as the primary colors will make your social media aesthetic work. But if you wish to deviate a little, you should choose colors based on the mood of the post or the theme or at least colors that somehow feel relevant to your brand. All of this will boost the aesthetic value of your page.
Aesthetically elegant pages have your social media followers coming back for more. And when the content creates value or entertains them, you get better engagement too.
When it comes to visual consistency on social media there are two things to remember.
When you have a template your posts will all look coherent, no matter the content. So, when your followers scroll through their Feed, they will immediately recognize your post even as they quickly scroll through several other images and videos.
To create templates for your social media pages, here are a few questions to consider:
Will your brand logo appear as a watermark on all your posts?
Do you want the text to appear in a particular position on all your posts?
Will there be particular frames or accents in a particular color appearing on all your images or videos?
If you look at Chanel’s Instagram page, you will notice how the brand creates visually consistent images when there is a series of posts surrounding the same product or same campaign. This is the kind of effect you get when you create templates.
The tone of messaging and visual style you create for your brand’s social media page will be like the voice of your brand that your actual customers hear. So, pay attention to your designs and ensure that they stay relevant to your message. Consistently creating designs that reflect your brand’s values in your brand’s unique tone will ensure that your social media pages actually benefit your brand. That’s how you get the best returns on your social media marketing efforts.
