Instagram is a social media platform that focuses primarily on imagery. At first, it was a small fish in a big pond largely dominated by its big brother Facebook. However, now Instagram’s numbers and popularity is nearly surpassing the other social media giants. Why? One word: visuals.
If you are trying to find success via social media marketing, you need to get creative. Visuals are absolutely essential and while videos are rising in popularity, still pictures will always have a place on the world wide web. In addition to static images, GIFs and animations have become popular once again, and you can take advantage of this trend.
- Clarity. This rule has a double meaning: literal clarity of the image and clarity of subject. Of course when we are talking about pictures, you don’t want them to be blurry, pixelated, warped, or blown out. If your pictures–be they posts or a profile image–are blurry, then you’re sabotaging your own brand’s marketing strategy. You’ll need a high resolution image of at least 300 DPI (dots per inch) to ensure that the image will appear crisp and clean on most screens. The second aspect of clarity is subject matter. Don’t have your followers trying to guess what they’re looking at or why your brand is using it. Enigmatic social media posts were fine in 10th grade, but a business needs to clearly convey its intent if it hopes to have a successful marketing campaign. If viewers can’t figure out what’s going on in a picture, they’re going to give up and scroll away quickly.
- Color. Did you know that every single piece of Coca-Cola merchandising has the exact same CMYK swatch of red? Now that’s good branding. Follow their lead and strive for consistency and quality. There are many ways to make an image jump off the screen. If you have very specific rules with your company’s colors, always strictly adhere to them. You may want to consider some basic laws of design. Choose colors that complement each other, for example. Consider the Rule of Thirds when choosing your images.
- Consistency. On Tuesday, your company posted an amazing picture. The branding was on point. The graphic designers made an amazing layout, the logo was positioned in an ideal spot, and the clarity was perfect. On Friday, your company posted a picture that… wasn’t good. If your quality isn’t consistent, then you won’t be able to make a solid impression on your base. Every other department in your company follows according to specific guideline or best practices, your graphic design team should be no different.
There’s no question about it, images can make or break any post. These are the kinds of things that social media marketers truly strive to achieve perfection with because we understand how quickly an image can bring a whole new wave of attention to a page.
Let’s get started. Our team of creative professionals are ready to work with you. At StartUp TakeOff, we understand the value of a strong team. We also know that finding the right people can be nerve-wracking and time-consuming, so we made it easy for our Clients. Choosing the wrong partners can be a costly misstep for any entrepreneur, which is why StartUp TakeOff’s founder, Stefani Thionnet, has assembled a diverse group of marketing experts from across the industry who will provide you with solutions that save you time and money. Our team of marketing industry veterans will get to know you and your brand so that we can provide solutions perfectly tailored to your needs. The best people often strike out on their own, but we’ve brought them together to get results you will love.
