Being successful on social media is directly related to how well you can capture people's attention. Poorly designed social media posts will get lost in feeds, and with no reactions and attention, they will eventually disappear into thin air.
Creating visually appealing social media posts is a challenging task. It can take people years to master. But get ready, because this article will give you the best tips for phone social media design and ways in which you can create engaging social media posts.
After reading this article and getting some practice, you will soon figure out how to design posts that effortlessly capture the attention of social media viewers in little to no time.
10 Tips for Phone Social Media Design
Designing social media posts is easy. Well, not really! You might be nervous to give it a go without any background knowledge or experience. But along your journey, here are some easy social media design ideas and tips to assist you:
Tip 1: Develop a Unique Visual Strategy
When designing your social media posts, you can’t think about each one as an individual post. You want all your brand's social media visuals to be instantly recognizable. This takes a little bit of planning and strategy. To help you create a cohesive look across all your posts, you can:
- Choose a distinct color palette
- Get a list of fonts you like and are trending
- Make a vision board of imagery that resonates with your brand and, ultimately, your audience
- Play around with different types of themes
Remember to keep these things in one document and create a design and style guideline that you can use when creating your posts.
Tip 2: Utilize Free Design Resources
You don’t have to be a professional designer or invest in expensive design software to get ideas and create stunning visuals.
Many free online design resources offer user-friendly tools. These online design resources have a wide selection of templates, stock images, fonts, and icons. You can use these platforms to create stunning graphics without any design experience.
Some of the most popular free design resources are Canva, Adobe Express, Snapseed, and Capcut.
Tip 3: Be Mindful of Copyright Laws
One issue to be aware of is shadow banning. This is when your account or posts are hidden from users without your knowledge. This can happen when your posts include copyrighted images.
Finding the right images for your brand sometimes doesn't go your way. Spending time on your social media marketing designs and later figuring out that they are copyrighted can be frustrating.
That said, in your designing process, avoid using copyrighted images, illustrations, or graphics unless you have the proper permission or licensing. Instead, opt for royalty-free or creative commons-licensed assets or just create original visuals. You could also get a skilled graphic designer to produce custom images for your projects, often equipped with their own commercial licenses.
If you use the free design resources mentioned above, you shouldn’t have any problems with copyright laws.
Tip 4: Optimize Image Sizes Appropriately
In the design world, sizing is everything. When it comes to phone social media design, things can become tricky. Different platforms and forms of posting have specific size requirements to look right and maintain their quality.
You can read all platform-specific guidelines, or you can use online tools to resize your images to the correct dimensions.
Here are some sizing examples of Instagram to get a better understanding of how different sizing can be across platforms:
For your profile page on Instagram, here are the recommended dimensions.
- Profile picture- 320x320 pixels.
- Story Highlights cover and Thumbnails- 161x161 pixels.
For your Instagram newsfeed on your image posts and carousels:
- Landscape format - 1080x1350 pixels
- Portrait format - 1080x1350 pixels
- Square format - 1080x1080 pixels
- Aspect Ratio - 1.91:1 for landscape, 1.1 for square, and 4.5 for vertical
For your Instagram stories and reels
- 1080x1920 pixels with an aspect ratio of 9:16
Tip 5: Design Templates for Your Social Media Marketing Designs
Creating social media marketing design visuals and templates for each post from scratch can be very time-consuming.
Instead, spend some time developing a library of customizable templates for various types of social media posts.
Additionally, having a library of templates can help you streamline your social media graphics ideas and ensure a cohesive brand identity across all your social media platforms.
Focus these customizable templates on things like:
- Product Promotions
- Announcements
- Inspirational quotes
- Customer testimonials
Tip 6: Be Original In Your Branded Social Media Content
Social media is ever-changing, and with that, your designs should too. Nowadays, consumers are not interested in traditional advertising methods that just showcase products.
Studies have shown that stories interest consumers more than hard facts. People are drawn to the narratives behind the people and the business. This is important to note when creating your social media posts. To pull this off effectively, you need to create visuals that tell a story and evoke emotion within customers.
To be original in your branded content, you can:
- Incorporate personal stories
- Use behind-the-scenes footage
- Create user-generated content
This type of content can foster brand loyalty and encourage engagement with your posts.
Tip 7: Negative Space for Engaging Social Media Posts
Ever walked into someone's home and found clutter everywhere? To say the least, it can be slightly overwhelming. The same can be said for your social media marketing designs.
Including too many images, text, or illustrations can create a confusing experience, and the attention is immediately lost.
This is where negative space becomes useful. Negative space is the empty area around your design elements. These empty spaces create breathing room, emphasize focal points, and make viewing more enjoyable.
Tip 8: Use Bright Colors
Bright and vibrant colors can be attention-grabbing and can make your posts pop in users' feeds. However, this doesn’t mean that you must include a luminous rainbow in every design.
You need to use bright colors judiciously and in combination with neutral tones. This will help keep a balanced and visually appealing design.
Tip 9: Add Text to Photo Posts
Some people buy magazines just to look at the pictures, and most people do the same on social media. So, how can you get your viewers to take in some information while scrolling through thousands of pictures a day?
You can incorporate some text into your photo posts. Do this by using text overlays, captions, or quotes to provide context, highlight key information, and add a personal touch to your visuals.
Be sure that the text matches the background well and compliments the overall design.
Tip 10: Promote Diversity and Inclusivity
Do you promote body positivity? Are you reinforcing gender or racial stereotypes with your designs? Do the people in your visuals reflect the diversity of your audience?
These are some questions that you should ask yourself when designing social media posts. Consumers react to things that relate to them, and you can use this to your advantage. Diversify your designs to make all groups of people feel welcomed and invited.
Social Media Design Tools and Resources for Crafting Phone-Friendly Designs
Creating mobile-responsive social media graphics is way more convenient now as there are free and paid options you can access at your fingertips.
Let’s go through the best options to use when designing engaging phone social media content.
Free Stock Photo Sites
Quality imagery can make or break your brand. If investing in professional product photography is currently out of reach, don't worry! Some websites offer paid or free high-quality images without the risk of copyright infringement. These are some of the free resources you can access.
1. Unsplash
2. Pexels
3. Pixabay
These sites offer photographs, vectors, and some illustrations. Here, you can search for good-fitting graphics to use in your social media designs.
Remember to keep in mind which platform you will be creating your project for, as this will impact the type of image you find.
If you are looking to create a Pinterest Pin or Instagram story, a portrait or vertical image would be best. A landscape image would be ideal if you are creating a Facebook event cover photo or X (Twitter) image.
Social Media Design Ideas: Templates and Presets
You don’t have to settle for bland posts. Instead, you can opt to use pre-designed templates and presets that are specifically made for the different social media platforms.
Using these resources can save you many hours and help you achieve professional-looking social media content. Plus. you can find templates specifically made for phone social media designing. Here are the top picks to check out:
1. Canva
3. Tailwind
Design and Editing Apps
Most times, templates can't encapsulate your brand image in the way you want them to. Since they are not tailored specifically to your business.
In this case, having these editing apps can help you create social media marketing designs with ease. Here are a few options to consider.
1. Canva
2. Abode Express
3. VistaCreate
4. Pixlr
5. Fotor
These online design and editing apps are great tools for beginners. However, as a social media designer, the ability to evoke emotions, maintain brand consistency, and achieve success is slightly more difficult.
Sometimes, it can be more beneficial in the long run to outsource design professionals who can provide their valuable expertise to help you achieve your goals.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that becoming a master in the art of phone social media design poses its challenges. Learning how to captivate your audience while maintaining your brand's online presence is essential for your growth and longevity.
By following the tips for effective phone-friendly social media design, you will be one step away from creating engaging social media designs. But by no means is it an easy task.
Consider hiring expert designers who have been doing it for a long time already and have a wealth of experience in this field.
Remember that consistency is key, and stay true to your unique visual style.
FAQs
What are the most important tips for creating visually appealing social media content?
To make great looking social media graphics, these are the most important tips: Keep your design simple and branded, use high quality images, use trendy colors and fonts, and utilize negative space.
What steps should I follow to design effective social media graphics?
There are a few steps you can follow to design impactful social media graphics:
Step 1: Define your objectives
Step 2: Understand your audience
Step 3: Choose the correct social media platform
Step 4: Find suitable templates
Step 5: Incorporate your brand elements into these templates
Step 6: Use high-quality images and graphics
Step 7: Optimize your text for readability
What are the best phone social media design tools?
There are numerous social media design tools that you can use on your phone. The best tools to use are Canva, Adobe Express, Adobe Lightroom, Tailwind, VistaCreate, Pixlr, and Fotor.
Are social media design apps expensive?
Many of the social media design apps are free for limited versions. In order to unlock all the best features and uses, you might have to pay a small monthly fee. For example:
- Canva: For premium features it will cost you $12.99/m for one person or $14.99/m for a team of 5.
- Adobe Express: Premium features will cost you $9.99/m, and for a team, it will cost $12.99/m.
- Tailwind: Premium features go for $10.00 -$12.00/m or a yearly fee of $30.00.
- VistaCreate: Premium features start at $10.00/m.
- Pixlr: Here, you can get premium packages starting at $7.99/m.
- Fotor: You can unlock premium features for $4.99/m.
