Most of us find ourselves scrolling non-stop on social media until we find something interesting. It may be a good story, a catchy headline, a funny cat meme – anything that catches our eye and piques our interest.
Here’s the secret sauce: captivating visual content. Based on a study by Statista, carousel posts with visuals, such as images and videos, had the best engagement and interaction rate in 2022.
Social media content creation can make or break your business today. And while it sounds simple, a lot goes into creating visual content for your brand.
In this post, we’ll explore how you can ace the visual aspect of your social media content strategy. Let’s start!
At a glance:
• The Importance of Creating Visual Content
• 4 Types of Visual Content
• 7 Ways To Ace Creating Content for Social Media
The Importance of Creating Visual Content
If content marketing and social media were tables, then all types of visual content would be their centerpiece. This is because visuals create an immediate connection with users. Sure, great copy relays information, but visuals make them more digestible and accessible.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, our brain processes images 20 times faster than any other type of information.
Another 2022 study from Demand Gen Report revealed that 30% of users see accessible visuals as a key driver for sharing content.
Screenshot from 2022 Content Preferences Survey
Social media today is fast-paced, and individuals have shorter attention spans. You can also see that platforms are gradually transforming their algorithms to fit these trends by featuring more short-form videos (TikTok and Meta or Facebook Reels) and bite-sized posts and primers (X or Twitter and Pinterest).
Therefore, content creation on social media must seriously consider visuals that captivate users and stop them from scrolling. In this age, visual content marketing tremendously impacts how users interact with your brand and messages.
4 Types of Visual Content
We won’t fault you for thinking that visual content creation on social media is limited to images and videos. While they’re definitely included in our list below, they’re not the only ones you should be creating.
There are several types of visual content to leverage, and here are the four most crucial to keep in mind
1. Photos
You can share various social media photos, such as:
• Professional product images
• Behind-the-scenes shots
• Customer photos
• Lifestyle images
Sharing photos for social media adds a personal touch to your accounts, making it easier for users to relate and engage with your brand. Take this investment brand, for example:
Screenshot from Longhorn Investments
Their Instagram feed contains employee features that describe the team behind their work. These social media photos and video content give their brand the face and authenticity most in the investment space seek. After all, no one wants to give their money to a shady firm that doesn’t have a face to put to the name.
2. Illustrations
Instead of using photos for social media, illustrations are another popular type of visual content used for social feeds. Instead of real-life people, illustrations are digitally created designs of people or objects. These illustrations can be used to tell a story, convey an emotion or explain complex concepts in a simple way.
Here’s how illustrations can be leveraged and managed across social media platforms:
Screenshots from Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
Thrive skillfully uses its brand colors in its illustrations to maintain a unified look in its feed despite the large topics it has to cover. This way, users are delighted to see its photos for social media instead of avoiding them because of being overwhelmed.
3. Infographics
If you want to make more informative social media photos, an infographic can be an excellent tool. This is best used if you’re explaining complex information, such as survey results, technical topics and more.
Here’s how infographics would look in your content strategy for social media:
Left image from Guided Choice. Right image from Thrive.
Infographics are huge in visual content marketing campaigns since they prove you know what you’re talking about.
For instance, Guided Choice says you must invest in your retirement if you want to be part of the top 30% of adults regarding retirement security. Similarly, Thrive shows they know how social media brand management works by succinctly explaining the process in one image.
These types of visual content marketing campaigns help you establish trust with your target audience and let them know that you are an authority in your industry.
4. Videos
YouTube, Meta (previously Facebook), TikTok, X (previously Twitter): All these platforms let you upload long-form and short-form video content. Social media videos showcase real-life stories, like when someone uses your product or service.
In 2022, video content engagement on the YouTube mobile app averaged 23.1 hours monthly. TikTok also generated 35 billion post views on its For You page in January 2023. (Statista)
As a social media content creator, you just can’t ignore the power of video. Social media videos can be used to:
• Showcase product tutorials
• Create educational content
• Support your content marketing and social media campaigns
It’s also a great way to tell interesting stories about yourself or your company.
A multi-location ABA therapy center leverages video production services for its brand to enhance its digital advertising funnel. Their video marketing campaigns ultimately generated impressive results:
Case Study: Multiple-Location ABA Therapy Center
Brands that create videos for social media are more likely to succeed in educating their audience and gaining more leads from their social media campaigns.
7 Ways To Ace Creating Content for Social Media
Content creation on social media requires a clear strategy since you don’t want to keep throwing something on the wall, hoping something would stick. Here’s how you can enhance your visuals and content strategy for social media.
1. Implement a Brand Palette
Here’s the thing: You’re not just creating visual content for one post. When creating a feed, you must ensure your graphics and elements look great together.
A brand palette contains the following elements:
• Hex codes for your brand colors.
• Design elements such as fonts, shapes and patterns.
• Photography and design style that aligns with your messaging.
These elements should be consistent in all visuals and content you create for social media platforms. This helps identify who the content is from without having to read a caption or a logo.
2. Tell a Tale With Visuals
The mistake most brands commit when creating content for social media is using stock visuals or graphics that are not true to their brand.
Using unique visuals allows you to show off your brand’s personality and create a story around it.
This home growers brand is an excellent example of visual storytelling:
Screenshot from Grow Strong Industries
The visuals should be consistent with the brand palette to ensure they are recognizable and stand out from competitors.
By maintaining substantial brand equity, this company was able to increase ad sales by 290.5% and reduce cost per click by 41.9%.
3. Keep Tabs on the Hottest Trends
Believe it or not, reading and watching design news is crucial to social media content creation. This helps you in creating content with relevant and modern designs.
Here are some publications to follow for industry news and emerging design trends:
• Journal of Social Media Marketing
• Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
• Social Media Examiner
Whether you’re a social media content creator or a brand, following these publications will help you stay at the top of your game.
4. Minimize Textual Content
Pictures paint a thousand words: It’s cliche but true. And it can get crowded pretty quickly if you use more text in your content.
Remember what we said earlier: your visuals are the centerpieces of your social media content strategy. Don’t let too much text take away the attention from them.
Use captions to narrate what’s going on in an image or video. This will make it easier for people to process information and help you get more engagement from your social media posts.
5. Pixels and Resolution Count
Production value is crucial when you design graphs and create videos for social media. Unlike websites, where you have to worry about page speed and loading times, graphics and videos on social media should be as close to perfect as possible.
Ensure all your visuals have the right size and resolution for each platform. This will help them look crisp and professional, giving people a better impression of your brand or product.
6. Variety Is the Spice of Life (and Social Media)
Your content strategy for social media isn’t a static thing. Just like with the rest of your marketing, you need to find ways to keep things fresh and exciting for your followers.
Use the different types of visual content you learned earlier to break your feed’s monotony.
This ID printing company’s Meta or Facebook Page is an excellent example of multi-format visual content:
Screenshots from IDVille
IDVille uses both photos and videos in its Meta feed to keep things interesting and draw in its followers.
By mixing up the visuals they post, the company keeps its social media content engaging and helps it stand out from the competition. As a result, it generated $207,128.64 in ad sales and an 83.2% increase in new website users.
7. Connect the Dots and Stick to Your Plan
Always remember that your visual content is just one part of your social media content strategy. So, don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees just to post visually enjoyable content.
Stay focused on your strategy and ensure that your visuals are helping you achieve it.
Do you need to post images that drive engagement? Are you aiming for increased website visits or more followers? Tie your visuals into the goals of your strategy and ensure that your content supports them.
Spruce Up Your Social Media Content Strategy With Thrive
In the era of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence (AI) content creators, social media feeds are already drowned by lookalike content. If you want to stand out, then you should create high-quality, striking visuals that immediately capture attention.
Create videos, show photos of your team and prove that there are humans hard at work to provide more value to your audience. This is the only way to gain their trust and confidence.
And when it comes to on-brand visual content, Thrive is hard to beat. We’re a team of creative digital marketers synergizing with yours to create stunning visuals that take your social media content creator game to the next level.
Reach out today and let us help you become the influencer in your niche!
