What is social media post design?

Social media has become a highly visual platform; users gravitate towards images, GIFs and videos on almost every social platform. This has been proven through numerous studies. For example, according to the Journal of Marketing Research, using visuals in your social media posts can increase retweets by 199%! It’s easy to see why these visuals are so effective at grabbing people’s attention and driving engagement with your content.

Our research makes it clear – if you’re looking for powerful results from your social media campaigns, visuals are key. Thankfully, these days you don’t need to break the bank in order to access quality design resources. With a number of user-friendly tools available, creating attention-grabbing posts is both quick and cost-effective.

Content creators across the internet have discovered the power using visuals can have on engagement. Research has shown that users are more likely to engage with and share visual content, making it essential for any social media strategy. It’s important to recognize the importance of images, GIFs and videos when crafting your social media plan—each one plays an essential role in helping you create a successful online presence.

 

What is social media design?

Social media design is essential for creating a strong digital presence on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and more. The visuals used in social media design help to capture attention and draw people into your content. This could mean profile images, posts, stories, graphics and other visuals that support your brand strategy. Creating compelling visuals for social media grounds your content in an eye-catching aesthetic.

Social media design is the strategizing and creation of visuals for social media platforms. This can include a range of content, from product displays to promotional illustrations and more. In a single week, you may use this kind of design to post an announcement about a new hire, create a GIF for product display, and make graphics for targeted ads. Social media programming combines the power of graphics with digital communication technology.

What are the Benefits of Social Media Design?

Creating brand recognition is essential for building awareness and attracting user attention. By increasing visibility through a variety of channels, businesses can reach users more efficiently and establish a strong connection with them on an emotional level. This will help to increase customer loyalty and ensure long-term success.

 

Who needs social media design?

Nowadays, social media design is a must for any company that engages in social media marketing; this holds true for businesses of all shapes and sizes, from world-renowned corporations like Amazon to the small cafes down the street. Effective use of social media design enables businesses to maximize their reach and impact through social channels.

The modern consumer spends a lot of time on social media, giving businesses an opportunity to make a strong first impression with eye-catching visuals. Not only do they look great, they also help your company engage customers, build brand awareness and boost sales. Visuals are definitely the way to go!

 

Why is social media design important?

An effective social media design strategy is essential for any business. It helps establish a cohesive visual identity across all social media channels, differentiate your brand from competitors, and foster engagement with posts. Additionally, strong social media design can help you build trust and loyalty with followers, as well as increase your reach and visibility online.

 

How to design beautiful social media posts

• Define your brand identity

Brand management is essential for businesses when it comes to social media. Your profile image, language choices, and overall look and feel of your online presence all have an impact on how your company is perceived. To be successful on social media, it’s important to maintain brand consistency across platforms to build an audience and garner attention.

 

For a complete, professional look on social media, it’s important to have all three elements created properly. This includes adding a profile picture, cover photo and a brief description that accurately reflects your brand. Having these details in place will ensure your social media presence looks polished and inviting to potential followers.When establishing a social media presence for your business, it is important to ensure that your profiles accurately represent your company. 

Utilize profile pictures, cover photos, and brief bios to make sure your brand is properly represented. Consider including a logo as the profile picture, taking advantage of the cover photo by featuring a product or service you offer, and writing a summary bio that effectively communicates what your business does – all in two sentences or less.

When you establish a unified visual identity for your brand, and keep it consistent, you have the opportunity to make an impression on your audience. Our colleagues from Notion serve as a great example here; they are excellent at keeping their distinctive branding throughout all their posts:

 

• Choose the right platforms

Different content types are better suited for certain audiences, not just in terms of technology but also based on user behaviours. Social media platforms have different formats and users interact with content in distinct ways. For instance, landscape videos don’t work well on TikTok because it is optimized for smartphones, while quote graphics do better on Instagram because they tend to get more engagement from users. It’s important to understand how you can adapt your content depending on the platform you use.

At times, content repurposing is beneficial; however, a word of caution: you should never post identical content across different channels. To maximize engagement and performance, tailor your content to the specific platform it’s being posted on by making minor changes. This adjustability will make a demonstrable difference in how readers respond.

• Optimize for SEO

Social media designs can be optimized with search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. Adding keywords, title tags, and image alt text to your posts is a great way to improve their visibility in related searches. Additionally, think about how you can use descriptive language that relates clearly to the topics associated with your post and brand. This helps people find your content using either a search bar or by clicking on linked hashtags on various platforms.

 

• Brand Your Graphics

Social media images are an invaluable tool for businesses. With a strong visual presence, you can engage with customers and boost website traffic. Adding your logo or URL to your graphics can be very beneficial since it will enable people to find you more easily if they have further questions or are interested in learning more about your products and services.

 

• Create a good profile

When creating or updating your social media presence, don’t forget to design your profile accordingly. Having consistent profile pictures and cover photos can help make a strong and meaningful statement that speaks to the values of your brand. For instance, if you’d like to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community in June, consider adding a rainbow pride flag to your logo. Additionally, selectively update your profile only when appropriate events or holidays call for it – such as seasonal changes – in order to hold the consistency of these visuals.

 

• Use a content calendar

An Instagram account is easy to set up, but staying consistent with posting can be challenging. Crafting a content calendar for tracking and planning posts is a way to stay organized and on top of publishing content. This may mean dedicating time each week towards creating posts in advance or using tools such as Notion, Asana, and Google Sheets. Small businesses should aim at scheduling 2-3 posts per week as a good starting point.

Current research suggests that the majority of interactions on Twitter consist of replies and retweets, as original tweets only account for 14% of activity. Additionally, pins on Pinterest are predominantly re-pins. This is because social media is best suited for people to respond to and engage with each other rather than posting only fresh content. To save time, it can be beneficial to alternate between freshly created content and re-posted content.

 

• Aim for consistency and cohesion

Branding consistency is fundamental when it comes to social media design. This is because having a consistent visual identity helps build trust and recognition with audiences. For example, over time if a brand regularly changes their logo and colours, chances are people will recognize them less or confuse them with another brand. To ensure your audience remain engaged, you should consistently keep the appearance of your page consistent so it’s easily recognizable.

Creating a strong visual presence on social media involves more than just posting regularly. It also means being consistent with the look and feel of your page. Determine whether the style should be dark and moody or light and airy, plus what emotion you want to evoke (calmness, excitement, balance, focus, etc.). This can be achieved through a consistent design aesthetic: use the same filter or editing style across all of your images so that they’re consistent with your branding.

 

How To Find Social Media Design Templates?

For teams looking to source quality templates without breaking the bank, there are a variety of online branding companies that offer customizable options designed by experienced professionals.

 Are you looking to revamp your social media post design? Our team has put together a valuable resource that lists 11 tools to make your job easier. We understand that standing out can be expensive — but it doesn’t have to be. Check out our list and find out how you can maximize the impact of your posts without breaking the bank.

 

1. Canva

Canva is an online graphic design platform that helps individuals and brands in any industry create visual content. Along with a range of templates, Canva has a library with photos, animations, and videos to choose from. It’s free for individual users, but there are professional and enterprise options available at up to $30/month – perfect for companies looking to take their visuals to the next level.

Canva is a powerful graphic design platform with templates produced by professional designers. You can create attractive visuals to promote your brand, from motivational quotes and events to product launches and visual FAQs. With thousands of templates available, Canva has the perfect solution for any situation. However, you will need a subscription to access some premium templates.

 

2. Lucidpress

Lucidpress is a templating platform designed to simplify the creation of social media content, ebooks and more. It’s free to use; however, if you need access to unlimited templates for your business, pricing starts at $10 per month.

Your branding shouldn’t just stop at a logo or website. Robust branding includes utilizing a creative design specifically tailored for social media – it will help you bridge the gap between your business and target audience. Investing in the design of brand-specific social media content is an essential step for success.

 

3. Freepik

For those looking for vectors, illustrations and templates, Freepik is the answer. On this site users will find a variety of free and paid design templates. Templates on Freepik consist of PSD and JPG files, making it suitable for use with Adobe Photoshop as well as other programs. A noteworthy requirement when using Freepik’s resources is attribution; to opt out of this requirement premium plans are available.

 

4. Template Monster

If you’re looking for more web design templates, take a look at Template Monster. Aside from website templates, they have a range of different social media designs as well. You can scroll through their bundle packages that include separate template designs for posts, events, stories, ads and banners. Download the individual visuals you need for your project easily and quickly with Template Monster!

Template Monster provides users with two options for buying design templates. They can either subscribe to their MonsterONE Subscription, which has two payment plans: an annual one priced at $13.25 per month (or $159 a year), and a lifetime plan for $529. Alternatively, customers may opt for licensing options, with personalized and commercial licenses available at different prices.

 

5. Piktochart

Piktochart is a well-respected infographic maker with an array of useful offerings. Their templates are appropriate for various design types, including posters and flyers. Plus, they provide tailored templates suitable for social media, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. With more than 500+ available templates to utilize, you’ll never exhaust creative possibilities. 

When it comes to pricing models: A free tier is provided for casual users; a Pro account offering more specialized features will cost $29 a month; and enterprise packages are available through contact sales.

 

6. Paperform

Start engaging with your target audience with interactive content! Quizzes and surveys can really differentiate your message from all the noise out there. For a low monthly fee starting at $20 (with a 14-day free trial), make sure that you stand out by harnessing this powerful tool.

When creating social media content, asking questions is a proven method of increasing likes, shares and comments; plus, it’s easy to do at scale with the help of Paperform. With its user-friendly interface and customisation options, Paperform enables even the most novice designer to create stunning and memorable posts in mere minutes. Put your trust in Paperform – you won’t be disappointed.

 

7. Infogram

Our pricing plan starts from the Free version, which offers limited features. The Premium subscription is available for $19/month and it allows you to fully unlock all features. Our platform is designed to help you quickly convert blog posts into visually appealing graphical formats that are optimised for social media sharing. Try us now and start designing amazing infographics!

Infogram is an invaluable tool here due to its simple user interface, top-notch graphics and extensive range of templates. With its selection of typefaces, colors, charts, symbols and shapes, even beginning designers can make remarkable posts. Its formidable library provides all the necessary components to create a visually appealing piece quickly and easily.

 

8. Adobe Creative Cloud Express

Adobe Creative Cloud Express is an ideal choice for creating compelling, branded posts, quickly and easily. With the app, all of a project’s elements – from images to text – can be seamlessly combined in one place. Plus, it integrates with Adobe’s powerful editing tools like Photoshop, so users don’t have to switch between apps. For access to all its features and capabilities, there’s a premium plan available for $9.99/month; otherwise, there’s also a free plan that offers limited functionality.

Adobe Creative Cloud Express offers an entry-level, straightforward design experience with various templates and stock elements at your disposal. You can select from a wide range of fonts, colours and logos stored on Adobe Creative Cloud; changing them up is easy too, since the integration with apps such as Paperform makes for a seamless transition. Plus, PhotoShop’s core features will make the complex tasks more achievable for any user.

 

9. Placeit

Placeit is a great tool for showcasing your product or creating brand assets. Custom logos, social media posts, and mockups of your website on desktop or mobile can all be created in mere minutes. With Placeit’s subscription plan of $14.95/month and variable pricing per post, you’ll be able to quickly and easily create the content you need to promote your company culture or product.

Placeit has an impressive range of 38,000 templates to choose from. From high-quality videos to static images that feature your logo or branding, Placeit offers it all. It’s the perfect way to create modern designs and videos. So don’t hesitate–go ahead and explore the possibilities offered by this powerful design tool!

 

10. Logaster

Logaster is the perfect solution for creating an aesthetically-pleasing logo, perfect for use on your social profiles. An attractive image is of paramount importance when it comes to increasing visibility on social media. With Logaster, you can create a logo tailored for social media use at an affordable price – with your first small logo being free! What are you waiting for? Create the perfect logo today!

 

11. Animaker

If you’d like to create animated and live action videos, Animaker is the tool for you. This premium video making tool allows you to make a variety of video types and comes with a wide selection of stocks and templates. Plus, its animation capabilities are top-notch. The paid plan with full commercial rights costs just $19 per month – what a deal!

With the character builder, users have access to a comprehensive system for creating custom cartoon characters. These characters can then act out particular activities with an array of displayed emotions. Additionally, the auto lip-sync feature aligns animated lips with audio content. The videos created through this feature can range in length and appropriateness for any platform or use—including full-length projects or shorter snippets designed specifically for social media or GIFs.

 

How Can I Create a Social Media Design Template?

When it comes to designing social media templates, the best possible option is to use a graphic design software. Several great programs offer built-in editors, including Canva, Piktochart, Designhill and Adobe Express. And the best part is that these programs have been optimized for users of all levels – no need to worry about sizes or file formats!

Social media design services