According to the Statista Research Department September 2021 report, 2853 million people use Facebook, 2291 million people use YouTube, 2000 million people use WhatsApp, 1386 million people use Instagram globally. People’s growing dependency on social media shows how social media captures people’s attention on a daily basis. Using social media has become as vital as completing our mundane tasks such as brushing teeth or taking a bath.
Social media has become one of the major weapons used by brands and advertisers to seize an audience as it helps to reach a large number of people within seconds of posting an ad. It also reduces your costs, and makes your ads reach out to your potential audience.
Now, how do brands promote themselves on social media?
Majority of the brands create social media posts to grab the audience’s attention. Firstly they can be created at a less cost; secondly, it is very easy to attract the audience with their presence as it is available at just a swipe.
A social media post gives you a complete summary of the product or service that you wish to advertise. The more detailed and well-researched your post is, the more effective it will be. Many social media marketers share the same social media post across multiple social media channels which may not be very productive. All social media platforms are unique in their own way and have their specific target audience, therefore the concept of one size fits all doesn’t work here.
Benefits of Social Media Post
- Aids in faster and easier communication.
- Helps to increase brand awareness and visibility.
- Enables us to achieve higher search engine results page rankings.
- Builds loyalty and goodwill towards the brand.
- Creates public relations which again helps to establish the brand.
- Broadens audience reach.
Points to keep in mind while creating a Social Media Post
Do your Research
Pursuing research is crucial in order to create an effective social media post. It gives you a pathway to work so that you don’t get deviated. You can start your research by giving an outline to your social media post and then begin your research around it.
Use Simple Language
Using fancy and unique words sounds very fashionable and hip, but when your aim is to reach the largest chunk of your potential customers you need to use a language and words that are easy to understand. Therefore, you must use simple language and regular words so that people can understand what you are aiming at.
Use of Images, Video
Use of regular text becomes very monotonous and often the audience loses interest while going through a heavy textual information. Use of images and videos break the monotonous tone of the text and give the audience a breath of fresh air.
Keep it Short and Simple
People now-a-days want instant results and feedback. Giving lengthy and bulky details will bore the audience and they will quickly swipe off your post; thus you must add only relevant information and keep it short and simple.
Add Call to Action Button
Your sole aim for creating a social media post is to fulfill some action- be it increasing the website traffic, sales, leads or brand awareness, you need some kind of action button to check the conversion rate. A call to action button, serves as an action hero; which triggers the code and helps us to analyze how many people are actually interested in our product/service.
10 Steps to create a Social Media Post
Step 1: Identify the Concept
The foremost step is to identify and analyse the concept that you wish to create the post on. How you wish to portray your concept and what information, points that you wish to add will be all strategized at this point.
Step 2: Target Audience
Similarly based on the concept select your Target Audience. Conduct target market research through interviews, surveys, analytics to find out the demographic information to create the buyer’s persona.
Step 3: Select the Tool
Select the tool where you wish to create your social media post. The selection of a tool is one of the indispensable steps for the creation of a social media post. There is a wide variety of tools available in the market, you need to pick a tool that suits your requirement and offers you the best possible result.
Tools for Creating Social Media Post
- Canva
- Adobe Spark
- Pablo by Buffer
- Desygner
- Snappa
Step 4: Select the Dimensions
Check the dimensions that are needed to create a post. Ideally 1:1 is the dimension for a Social Media Post. You can select the dimensions as 1080×1080 or 120×120; just make sure they fulfill the criteria of ratio 1:1.
Step 5: Background
Select a background that matches with your concept that you wish to present. The background must be as plain as possible without too many elements as this will serve as a base for our post.
Step 6: Placing a Logo
Place the logo of the company for which you are creating the post. Keep in mind that the logo size should not be very large. It should be visible enough but should not scream for attention. Ideally it should be placed on any one corner of the post.
Step 7: Placing Creatives
A picture speaks a thousand words. This saying is there for a solid reason; on social media platforms people don’t have the patience to read all the textual information, they want to take a glance at the post and then move on. Hence, images, infographics and Gifs are powerful attention grabbers that explain all about the post in seconds.
Step 8: Text Placement
Headline
- Use a headline with a maximum of 60 characters.
- Use numbers in your headlines, as they help in engagement.
- Ask a question, trigger curiosity or emotion.
- Create urgency in your words, so that the audience can take prompt action.
You may also create a Sub-headline (maximum 15 words) to give the readers another reason to click.
Content
- Add 50-60 words of content and not more than that as the audience isn’t much interested to read lengthy texts. Keep your information to the point and crisp.
- Always use Active over Passive voice as active voice promotes a conversation which is more engaging in nature.
- Put your audience first; use you instead of us or we.
- Make sure your copy matches with the visual content for communicating a clearer message.
Adding Special Characters, Emojis and Hashtag
Special characters and emojis enhance the visual performance and make your text stand out, but don’t overdo it by adding all the elements in one go.
Using trending Hashtags increases the visibility of your post. Add hashtags according to the social media platform you are selecting to publish your post on.
Step 9: Font and Color Setting
Decide the font that you want to keep for the post and stick to the same font throughout. Consistency is the key to making our site look professional. The correct usage of font that compliments your post proves vital for attracting the audience.
The color setting for a social media post can make or break things for the marketer. Always stick to the color palette of the brand as brand recognition increases by 80% if we use a stable color scheme throughout.
Step 10: Check Alignments
The alignments are the aesthetics of the social media post. The overall look of the social media post and its visual theme function as a magnet for the customers.
The core message or image should be in the centre of the post. There should be proper and equal spacing on all the margins. The text and all the elements should not spill outside the margins as it disturbs the whole layout of the post.
Once all of these elements are added and fixed your post is ready to be published on the social media platforms.
The above 10 steps on how to create a social media post explains to you the details behind the essentials of a social media post. The social engagement does not end at one social media post, the idea here is to maintain the regularity of posting on the social media platforms.
There is a growth of art on social media, so do not shy away from experimenting with something, you never know when your idea gets clicked and becomes a sensation overnight.
Want to learn how to create a social media post in a professional way? Enroll yourself in a Digital Marketing Course.
Source: Digital Ready
