The best guide to Social Media Design with 5 amazing tips for social media content design
Nowadays social media is as important as oxygen for people. Some people might think about its presence as unimportant but it has become an essential element of life. The best guide to social media design is very important these days because social media has become an important element.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are good to connect with followers. These platforms are very beneficial in business. Social media is very vast that when you upload content then it compares itself with the other contents and brands. By using certain elegant graphic tools you can create engaging and memorable content.
In this article, we are going to introduce you to the best social media design tactics. You will be able to learn how to use them and how to make them better.
An overview of Social media design
You should do the following things before you start your social media design:
You can create a social media page by following tips:
- Profile picture design
- Cover image design
- Profile page layout design
- Platform-specific profile branding
Special guidelines for social media content design
- The way of designing content that is useful to your followers is required.
- You can put different types of designs into your content.
- The balance of individual content with the overall profile page is a good thing.
- The adjustment of design according to analytics is also a good thing.
Before starting the social media design
1. Social media design strategy
The strategy is very important. A solid messaging strategy is very important in the enhancement of content and facilitating the messages you want to get across.
A. Evaluation of the audiences for the current channel
You should have an idea about the targeted audience for each social media channel. The evaluation of who is following your content will help a lot in the strategy. Target market research is very important including interviews, surveys to use for the demographic information. User personas are also important to reach new audiences. These will help you to create content for a person than for facts and figures.
B. Best platforms to reach your audiences
Every social media platform is perfect for different businesses. You should research the specific social media platform according to your audiences and followers. There are some social media apps that help a lot in your business.
C. Evaluation of the content according to the platform
When you will know about the channel and the audience then you will be able to know about the content. Instagram is the best option for imagery and video, and Twitter is best for short clips. On Facebook, people can share the articles links, and a long clip of the video. So, you should be able to use each channel in the best way.
2. Lists and Briefings of the design assets
After the above process, you should start a mapping of the design pipeline with a list of briefs. You should keep in mind the documentation of the following:
- Upcoming content plans
- The goal of the content
- Intended audience
- Competitor content examples
- Design references
3. A reference of the container sizes and dimensions for each platform
A reference about the social media content sizes and dimensions JS very necessary for any designer. You will be able to adapt designs across different platforms. The sizes may change now and then. This list is for June 2020, but you should be very careful about the changes.
| Instagram image dimensions | Twitter image dimensions | Facebook image dimensions | LinkedIn image dimensions | YouTube image dimensions | |
| Profile picture | 110 x 110px | 400 x 400px | 180 x 180px | 200 x 200px | 800 x 800px |
| Square image | 1080 x 1080px | ||||
| Portrait image | 1080 x 1350px | ||||
| Instagram stories | 1080 x 1920px | ||||
| Cover image | 1500 x 500px | 820 x 312px | 1584 x 396px | 2,560 x 1,440px | |
| Content image | 1024 x 512px | 1200 x 630px | 1104 x 736px | ||
| FB event image | 1920 x 1080px | ||||
| Company profile picture | 300 x 300px | ||||
| Company cover image | 1192 x 220px | ||||
| Video thumbnail | 1280 x 720px |
Tips on the social media page
Now you can set your social media profiles for success. The profile is very important in the account because it is the place where people come and check your profile. The profile page will tell important information about you and you should reflect the bio in short sentences and with imagery for the identification of the brand. You should be very careful about the imagery for the profile page.
1. Profile picture design
The profile picture is your identity. This will show you the most important information. You can use the entire logo at the place of the profile picture if it can cover a small space. Some brands are good with the abbreviated version. The circular avatars are best for some platforms on social media design and you should use a bold color to back your profile image.
2. Cover Image design
Some social media platforms don’t account for the cover images. Cover Image is a rectangular banner at the top of the profile page. The cover picture is an expansion in the profile image in which you can add some other pictures and graphics.
There are some cover Image designs that will go with the color of the avatar. This is the caste in the No Contact Facebook design. When you rearrange your profile layout then you will have to put a great effort into smaller screen sizes.
3. Profile page layout design
In social media design, the profile page is very important. Profile page layout is controlled by the social media platform. You need to focus on the spacing and alignment of the page so that you can make the context available to your followers.
YouTube is such a platform that can give you tools to customize your profile page. You can pin a channel trailer at the top of the page. Pinterest can organize content through boards and sub-boards. You should be very careful about the important content at the top position and the features images to convert the nature of the content.
Using Facebook and Instagram, you can display your content on the daily basis. There are no options for customized profile display.
4. Platform-specific profile branding
During the guide to social media design, you should bear in mind that there is great versatility between platforms. Every social media app has its own criterion to distribute the content and a unique approach to social media design.
Most of the social media platforms have avatars and cover images, but you can ask for some extra profile designs. For example, Twitch has an offline image (a static picture will be shown on the video screen when you are offline) and screen overlay images(some graphics which are overlapped on the screen when you are online).
Youtube will allow you to update your channel trailer, branded video thumbnails, and lower thirds. You should spend some time testing the profile pages and review your competitors on certain platforms.
5 best guidelines for social media design: Content
On social media, the best content is necessary for followers. You should give a lot of attention to your profile page design, but if your content design is not able to impress then your whole effort is a wastage of time.
The nature and design of the content will depend on: Who are you? What are your goals? What is your business all about? The followings are the social media design guidelines that will help you a lot in creating social media graphics. With these tips, we hope you will be able to earn your followers.
1. The way of designing content that is useful to your followers
The tailoring of the content is very much important. Social media is best for updating your words and pictures. You should provide such content that is best for the followers. You should provide the relating content according to the interests of the followers.
The audience comes for a reason whether it is for information or entertainment. Content must be visually attractive and appealing. The content must be presented in such a way that attracts the audience to share and save it.
2. You can put different types of designs into your content
When you plan for a strategy then you should look for the variety of the content. There is no doubt that the post should cover various topics, but you should look for different styles that will attract the audience.
You will be able to know about the different design styles which are in prominence. If you are using Flat design characters and colors then these will help you in infographics. These will convey information or tell a story.
Some people use hand-lettered typography which will tempt the audience to share and save at the spur of the moment. By using Photography, you can show real products and people. By over filtering the photos, you will lose the authenticity.
When you plan a social media strategy, then you should involve your followers which will help you to create variety. You can consider crowdsourcing methods and hashtag contests. You might feel that the result is inconsistent, but it will look consistent because it is from your customers.
3. The balance of individual content with the overall profile page is a good thing.
It is a property of the profile page that will show the chronological feed of your recent posts. A balancing act means, your content must b distinctive with its own goals and targeted segments of your audience. The content must contribute to the collective whole of your social media design.
You should design varied content but bear in mind that each piece is in accord with the core principles of your brand guidelines. On some pages, there is a cohesive order of the contents. Instagram uses this technique and arranged the content in three-column square rigidity on the profile page.
On Instagram, you can publish 3 design posts with similar styles and can set up columns that will create a cohesive impact. By using this method, you can restrict the types of content on the downside. There are more options for designing and opportunities for expanding your content.
4. The themed content and templates
It is not necessary to use surprising and original social media content. When you design templates for some of your posts then there will be content in a speedy and scalable way. It also created a visual cohesion. For YouTube video thumbnails, this will be useful.
Most people click on the video after viewing the thumbnails but you should more time on the video than on crafting unique thumbnails. In design, the word ‘Template’ might appear dirty but it is a roadmap that will allow you to move on. You don’t need to brain-storm, sketch, and trial-and-error of the design process.
The templates can be varied by using specific imagery and colors. You will be able to give more attention to the content and the templates will speed up the design pipeline.
5. The adjustment of design according to analytics
The speed of social media can be guessed from this aspect that when you post data on social media then it swims into a stream of the content. The speed of social media also gives you fast results.
The lifespan of some content is a few hours or a day. By keeping this in mind, you can test the popularity of the designs that which design is popular and which is unpopular. The successful post depends on the particular following. Based on the success of some content, you can create content that will be successful according to the experience of other posts.
A/B test is the best option for deciding which design variants are the best options. By using tools like UTM codes added to your CTA links, you will be able to know about the traffic of specific posts.
The power of social media design
You need a great deal of planning and hard work to succeed in terms of the content and the design front. By using social media you interact with people. Because of the property of social media as ‘a fun’, it is called Social Media.
By having a conversation with an expert designer you will be able to ensure your presence on social media. The followers will pay a lot of attention to good design. Your messages will be useful and easy to digest. The best social media graphics can be achieved by an expert designer.
