Social media users come across hundreds or even thousands of social media posts daily, depending on how much time they spend online. But only a handful of these posts are powerful enough to make each person stop scrolling and pay attention to what’s being communicated. Such posts usually have something in common — they’re high-quality, visually appealing, shareable and dynamic.
Creative visuals make the difference between amateurs and professionals. Since it’s obvious that graphics put your brand in the spotlight when it comes to social media, custom brand designs are important for optimising your social media profile and building your presence online. It makes it easy to differentiate your brand from the sea of competitors. Though having a specific design template for your social media makes your posting process much shorter and straightforward, templates should always be open to evolution.
Instead of sticking to a specific social media design template for your social media pages and profiles, explore the option of having a template for each type of content that goes on each channel. For instance, the template you use for text-only posts should be different from the one for infographics, which should be different from the one for pictures, which should be different from that of clients’ testimonials and reviews. However, despite the creative tweaks, all these templates should complement one another and deliver the same brand consistency.
It is important to consider that the same type of graphics that work with Facebook may not necessarily work with Twitter. On Instagram, the same type of content that works for the regular landing page may not work for stories. Different social media platforms already require different dimensions for their images but it’s important to optimise every post for that particular platform, starting with the design itself.
Key Elements
There are certain elements of your social media that should remain the same, regardless of the platform. They include like your logo, font type, colour and mission statement. Think of Coca Cola’s vibrant red, Cadbury’s rich purple, Facebook’s muted blue and Nike’s ‘Just Do It’. Consistent branding is the key ingredient to brand recognition and success.
Another thing with specific templates for your social media is, templates are easily duplicated and can be improved upon. Imagine your most vicious competitor steals your template idea and even makes an upgraded version of it for their social media, what’s a graphic designer to do? This is why having certain elements in your templates that convey consistent branding is more important.
Think of the fashion industry, Christian Louboutin (Luxury shoe Designer) is known for his red soles. He has a variety of designs that women all over the world are dying to own and other shoe brands (luxury and high-street) are too keen to provide. What sets him apart from the sea of luxury shoe designers, are those red soles (commonly referred to as red-bottoms) — men and women all around the world are eager to own a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes solely because of the soles. It is important to note here that these shoes hurt beyond measure and are virtually impossible to walk in, but his branding conquers all of that, judging from the number of women who own these shoes.
However, this isn’t a yardstick to delete all your already existing templates. Rather, it’s to shift your focus to dynamism and cohesiveness rather than sameness and stereotypes. Always bear in mind that social media is ever-changing and brands are forever sending mixed signals to their consumers. But the brands which will stand the test of time and expand their core audience, are those that never take their eyes off brand consistency.
While working towards brand consistency and recognition, never ignore providing valuable content. Everything you post should be relevant and add value to your users. Valuable content works simultaneously with high-quality graphics for a wider reach across social media platforms, resulting in more potential traffic to your website. At Charisol, we have a team of content writers, graphic designers and digital media managers that work together to deliver high-quality valuable content on websites and social media platforms. We can help you reach your goal of brand recognition and visibility, send us an email.
