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Humans are, by nature, visual creatures. Statistics show that 68% of consumers are more likely to engage with images, 50% for videos, and 30% for text-based posts. The stats have proven that visuals tend to capture the audience’s attention quickly and deliver a message more easily. If you want to gain more views, shares, comments, and click-through rates on your social media post in Malaysia, visual content marketing is what you should be focusing on. Since the audience engages in Meta posts with visuals 12% more than those without images.
70% of companies include visual marketing strategies in their content marketing. Because they too, see a huge difference between the engagement of content with and without images. Thus, it does not matter how powerful your text is, no one is going to notice it unless it is combined with an attractive, well-designed graphic.
To create appealing visual content, we will be sharing with you some simple social media design tips to create an effective social media marketing campaign. But first, let us understand briefly why you should implement visual content creation.
The Importance Of Social Media Visual Content Creation
You may be wondering why you should invest time and money in creating great visual content. As mentioned at the beginning, when you combine visuals and content, it tells a more complete story. It helps the audience to better understand what you are trying to interpret.
It is like reading a book about the Avengers, you may not feel the impact by just reading the text. But watching the movie makes it more easily consumable and memorable because of the visual graphics. Words are not enough; you need to think outside of the box when it comes to attracting people’s attention. The problem now is, How? Let us take you there.
If you are having difficulties in creating engaging social media graphics, no worries. In this article, we will help you to explore more about how you can easily design engaging visual content for your social media pages.
How To Create Visually Attractive Social Media Graphics?
- It should be created with consistency across all channels to ensure that your brand is offering audiences an identical message. Imagine if you applied black, eerie graphics on a single platform, and bright, cheerful graphics on another? It will surely cause a lot of confusion to the audience.
- It should be developed upon your existing brand image that goes along with your business’ identity. So, if you are creating something new and exciting for your audience, it should be kept consistent with your existing brand image.
- It should be something that can blend into any platform. Since some people prefer viewing content on social media, while others might search for information on the company website. So, by creating a great image, it should be one that can easily be changed to match different online platforms’ visual requirements.
Tips on Creating a Great Social Media Visual Content
1. Be Consistent In Your Brand Identity
As we mentioned earlier, keeping consistency by using the same branding across your social media channels is important. You want people to look at your brand and recognize it instantly.
A great visual is something that people can remember instantly. You need to first research your target audience’s interest by looking at how your competitor engages with the audience. Once you get the idea of the type of visual content that your audience would be attracted to, start creating a mood board to help with your branding.
A mood board should include:
- Colour palette
- Font styles
- Image example
- Logo
When your mood board is complete, it will give you direction on your visual content. Remember to always maintain the same elements across all your visual creations. It is not all about creating pretty graphics, but it is about increasing your brand recognition and brand awareness.
2. Determine Your Design Resources
If you are a digital marketing agency in Malaysia like us, you would probably have a skilled designer on your team. They are most likely an individual who has experience in helping a variety of brands to convey a message to the right audience.
But what if you do not have a designer or a digital marketing agency to handle your social media visual content creation? Well, the best thing about social media marketing is there is always something for everybody. Tools like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign require a certain level of knowledge to create high-quality visuals. But there is also an easier way to produce a visual that still looks professional.
Here is a list of basic design tools you can use:
However, the tools may not be completely free to use. Some of the features may need pay to use or removed the watermark. So, if you are not a dedicated user who needs designs most of the time, it may be a disadvantage for you.
3. Get The Social Media Sizes Right
Different social media channels have their own specific image size requirements. You should make sure the sizes are right to avoid pixelated and blurry images. Wrong sizing could also cut off some of your content on the visual and reduce the post engagement.
Below is the image dimension for the most popular social media platforms.
When you follow these image requirements, your visual content will be able to be viewed across different devices. Make sure you follow these guidelines to increase post engagement and viewability.
4. Be Aware Of The Image Copyright
Sourcing for royalty-free images can be hard. You need to ensure that the images you use are not against copyright law, since there will be penalties for those who misused the images.
Here are some ways to determine if the images are copyrighted:
- Watermark
- Copyright symbol or statement
- A note indicating ownership
If there is any uncertainty, you may contact the owner to request to use their image by purchasing a license or coming to an agreement on the terms of use.
Finding images through Google search may be risky, instead, you could find high-quality stock photos on site such as:
But, of course, it is best to use your images for your visual content because consumers like authenticity. The audience is more likely to connect and engage on content that shows original images instead of stock images.
5. Make Use Of User Generated Content (UGC)
Visual content creation can sometimes be hard and time-consuming, that is where user-generated content gives an advantage to brands.
Consumers trust other people’s opinions since it is an authentic review from your existing customer. Sharing their valuable content is a form of digital marketing, and helps to gain more credibility and increase conversion.
One of the best ways to encourage your customer to share photos of your product or services is by executing a user-generated content campaign. Produce a hashtag that is dedicated for your customer to share their photos and always ask for permission before you repost their content on your feed or stories.
6. Avoid Using Too Much Text
Visuals speak louder than words. Our human brain processes image up to 60,000 times faster than words. If your image is too wordy, there is a high potential that your readers would just scroll past your post without even really viewing it.
Your visual content should be clean and simple that people can understand at a glance. Be brief and clear, allowing your image to speak for you. If you have a lot to say, you can make it into a video or direct them to your website for more information.
Based on our experience, videos get the most engagement and reach compared to images. Statistics have proven that 90% of marketers perform video marketing and receive positive ROI.
The Types Of Engaging Social Media Visual Content
1. Meta Stories / Instagram Stories
Take advantage of the Stories features on Instagram and Meta. Although the stories are images or short videos that last within 24 hours only, you can still create a highlight on Instagram to show what your brand is all about.
Stories keep your user updated about your latest offers, events, new launches, or any other announcements. You can even make a Q&A or a poll to interact with your audience. It will increase more engagement as it gives a more authentic feel to the audience.
Do not be afraid to show your human side. Just keep it casual, spontaneous and personal to create authenticity. Remember to keep your images or videos on your stories to be consistent with your brand identity as well.
2. GIFs
Continuously using a static image can be boring. GIFs can be a great way to help your content to stand out among your competitors. GIFs are shorter than videos, but it has a better engagement rate. Because people may not have the patience to watch a 2-minute video.
A little animation does not hurt. Always try something new and see what kind of content has the best reaction.
3. Videos
Meta is one of the most important marketing tools for businesses to get noticed. Meta’s algorithms prioritize videos because it drives more engagement and interactions.
Meta’s algorithm ranks videos according to how long people watch your video. There are many ways to take full advantage of it by making a quick video such as a how-to-use guide, video tour, product demonstration, and new announcement to drive traffic to your website and increase conversions.
Try not to make a video that is more than two minutes since no one has the patience to watch a long video. If you do have not enough time and resources to make great video content, live streaming will be the perfect substitute for it.
Live video is a great way to promote products or services even if you are not physically there. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are now taking advantage of live video to avoid any close contact. You can directly answer questions and interact with your audience. Even if your audience has missed your live streaming, they can still watch it on your feed later.
But make sure to stream under a high-speed internet connection, or else the video may keep buffering and blurry.
4. Memes
Keep telling your audience the general information or benefits of your brand may decrease engagement. Because you keep on reminding your audience of the information which they may already know. You should spice up your feed by adding something creative, even if you are in some formal business.
Memes are one of the best ways to set yourself apart from your competitor. The audience likes to share them because they are funny, and they can relate to them. So, always make sure your memes are timely and relevant to your audience. You can share relevant memes to your page that others have created, but it is best to create your memes to be original.
Remember to add your logo in the corner of your image to take full advantage of the shares you will be getting.
Here is an example from Jobbie Nut Butter, in which they use memes to engage with their audience, but in return promote their brand as well.
Our Final Thoughts on Social Media Visual Content
Visual content creation should be your key social media marketing strategy in Malaysia. You should always take into account your brand’s message and identity when producing your designs. Do not be afraid to experiment with your content to discover what performs best.
So, do your images fulfil the above social media visual creation tips? If not, then consult with us!
Kode Digital is more than just a creative digital agency, we are also a Meta Business Partner. As a Meta Business Partner, Kode Digital has access to exclusive tools and resources that can help our clients get the most out of Meta’s platforms. Our team stays up-to-date on the latest marketing trends and best practices, including popular marketing formats like Blog Content. Our goal is to elevate your brand and help to grow your business.
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