Social media is a crucial part of any company’s marketing strategy and by getting this area of the business right you can successfully target and engage with potential customers, resulting in more sales and a growth in profits. One area of social media that is particularly crucial is the visual content and this is an effective tool that can really help your brand to stand out.
Benefits of a Social Media Strategy
No business can afford to ignore the benefits of being online and communicating with customers through social media, and by not having a presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ you could be missing out on some great opportunities.
When you post on social media you can significantly increase traffic flow to your website, which is a fantastic means of boosting sales if you have a particular promotion running or are launching a new product. This is also useful for increasing search engine optimization, as driving traffic to the site helps it to appear higher up on the results pages.
With a successful social media strategy, you can build real relationships with your customers, interact with them on a personal level and get to know more about them, which can be valuable ways of targeting your marketing. An active presence on social media builds up brand loyalty, as customers see you less as a corporate entity and more as a group of people that share their views and visions.
Social Media Risks
However, the benefits of social media do not come without some risks and it can all come tumbling down if the strategy is not unified.
When you’re engaging directly with followers, errors can occur if your employees are not fully aware of what they’re doing or the impact that their posts could have, which can be damaging to your reputation. Therefore, it’s vital that you have the right systems and approval processes in place to ensure that nothing is posted online in error.
The Importance of Visual Content
With so many businesses having a social media presence, it’s vital that your feeds can stand out and create your own brand identity online. One of the key ways you can achieve this is to use visual content as a method of communicating your messages more effectively and this can be achieved in a number of creative ways.
Ensure Images are Properly Optimized
All the various social media platforms have their own required image dimensions to ensure that your images are clear and that no part of them are missed off. When you’re using visual content across a range of sites, ensure that the images have been correctly optimized before posting; otherwise it could damage the professional look of your page.
Have a Plan
If you don’t have a plan in place for what you’re positing it could result in your feeds looking empty and when you’re not updating the content with fresh news and ideas on a regular basis you could lose followers. As those engaged with your page are 44% more likely to interact with visual content on social media, you need to put a large amount of effort into sourcing the right images and photographs.
Use Varied Images
Photographs and images are more appealing to followers than simply text based updates, so it’s vital that you have a varied mix of designs to use. If you don’t have a large stock of suitable images to accompany your social media activity, you can buy images, such as Dreamstime’s stock photos, enabling you to build up a high-quality collection.
Infographics are a simple way of transmitting important data, without it looking too boring and overwhelming for followers. They can be used to give your customers an insight into the industry or an area that is of interest to them in a few quick points.
Be Humorous
A large part of social media success is creating content that people want to share and humor can be a fantastic way of doing so. Simply designed fun graphics work best in this instance and, when they’re used effectively, you can achieve a great response from followers. This approach is more relevant to certain brands and industries and you need to be careful not to go overboard or be too controversial.
Be Consistent
You need to have a consistent design approach across all your online accounts to enable customers to instantly recognize your brand. The color palette that you use shouldn’t be too complex and having between two and four colors as the primary shades will work best. Design templates can be an ideal way to save time on social media posts and ensure you are consistent across your pages. There are many free and customizable designs available online that you can save and then reuse.
Quotes and Tips
Creating shareable content is an easy way of increasing the number of followers you have and the impact that your page enjoys. Consumers are always sharing the latest industry tips with their friends or tagging people into meaningful quotes and these not only boost engagement, but also look visually appealing when they appear in news feeds.
Blog Links
Blogs are another way of building up a profile online and making your brand more accessible to potential customers. This can feature news from the industry, tips on how to use your products or other general information that is appealing to your followers. However, if people don’t know your blog is there it won’t be much use, so you need to share your latest posts through social media and use a visual image as a hook to get them to click on the post.
Being successful on social media isn’t as simple as it first seems and getting it wrong can be extremely damaging for a brand, as there is no way of taking back something that is posted online and can be seen instantly. With the right strategy in place and the best use of visual content, your social media accounts can drive your brand forwards and create a more effective relationship with your customers.
