The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Creative

Ever wonder how major brands have such amazing creative, you double tap out of habit? Have you recently launched something on social media that you thought was going to perform exceptionally well, but ending up being deleted? Well look no further – this article is going to uncover some hidden gems and hopefully add a new meaning to the word creative.

First, look at the big picture. The creative might look appealing to the eye, but is it going to perform well? I debate this everyday when it comes to promoting posts on social media.  The creative is a huge part to a successful post, not to over look copy, but for purposes of this article we are going to focus on the success of the image. Thus, it is imperative that your image is reaching your target audience and is sending the message you want received.

It is important to set yourself apart, while still leaning toward the current trends. Images and ideas get noticed more often when they’re seen in more than one area and have a larger following (thank you Pinterest and Facebook). Be original with your creative, but take advantage of the current trends to help your brand grow quickly and gain more followers!

Here are a few tips to help you get started creating your own amazing imagery:

Brainstorm

Sketch, take notes, or if you can’t read your own handwriting then I suggest trying to go completely digital. I have found http://niice.co to be an amazing resource when creating mood boards to help your brainstorming sessions.

Get Inspired

Is the common Google image search not giving you the inspiration you seek? Here are some of my favorite websites to help you speed up the process:

http://designspiration.net/

http://designrfix.com/

http://www.upworthy.com/

http://httpster.net/

http://fab.com/

https://dribbble.com/

Choosing type

Should I use comic sans or papyrus? How about neither. There are hundreds of thousands of better fonts on this planet that will help your creative stand out. Here are some resources to help you choose that perfect font:

http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/text/

http://wordmark.it

Remember to keep your image text to less than 20% when posting on social media platforms. If you want to know if you’re exceeding the 20% rule use this Facebook grid tool to keep your image inline.

Last but not least, here is a helpful social media cheat sheet from our friends at makeawebsitehub.com.