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Written By The Art of Business Content Team
We have talked a lot about how important graphics are for your social media platform, your website and your company in general, but to really drive this fact home, here are a few stats:
Roughly 80% of readers only skim online content.
Visuals increase the desire to read content by 80%
91% of people prefer visual content over written content.
So you know that you NEED to have some amazing photos and graphics to go with your already fabulous copy. We understand that it can be hard to punch out professional-looking images without being a professional. We get it. Lucky for you, we have a bunch of options for you to choose from to sneak around this potential obstacle that could be holding your branding back. Just a few programs you can use (lots are free) and general ideas to keep yourself from going from “eye-catching” to “poor” in 9.8 seconds.
Is to hire us, obviously!
We have the tools, the know-how and the experience to take your brand to the next level and beyond, BUT we also understand that not every business is in the right place to partner with a marketing team, so with that in mind…
We cannot stress how important it is to have professional quality photos whenever possible. Usually, we recommend hiring a photographer to come and take team, store and product shots, this helps connect people to your brand. AND what do you know!? We have created two packages that would fit the bill perfectly:
#1– A one hour branding photo session. You keep all of the edited photos from the session (this never happens – we are talking 50-100 ready to use edited photos) and Amanda will be there the whole time to help with the direction of the shoot, and if you happen to ask her some marketing questions I’m pretty sure she would she would share the knowledge.
Whats the investment? $400 (What this would normally be with other businesses? $1000+)
#2– This is where is gets really good – All of the above (yep – ALL of that), PLUS a growth strategy consultation with Amanda, PLUS your choice of a month’s worth of social posts (12 total for 3 x per week) including the post copy OR 20 brand related, and engaging story graphics.
Whats the investment? $750
(What would this normally be? $2000+)
However, if you aren’t able to take advantage of this amazing offer – put it on your wish list and connect with us when the t+me is right for you.
So, the next best thing is to use these awesome stock photo websites to grab yourself some professional quality on-brand photos:
Ensuring that your photographs are high quality is going to take you a LONG way all on its own. Professional visuals strongly communicates to your audience that your company has its shit together, and has high standards for quality – those first impressions we have talked about in the past – here is where the rubber hits the road. A good practice would be to go through the above stock photo websites on a monthly basis, save any images that go along with your brand into a folder, even if they may not work for your current project, you never know when you might need them later.
Use that wonderful trove of photos you have found around the stock photo world and make them your OWN.
How do we go about that?
Well, you have a few options for programs to work with:
Upload that gorgeous snap and start on adding your personal touches. We suggest always using your business colours and fonts to keep your content consistent across all platforms and on-brand. (Check out our blog on rebranding)
Always think about the message you are trying to convey and try to keep it simple and impactful. Consider the target person you are trying to reach, does it speak to them? We cannot stress enough how important it is to know WHO your ideal client is, we even have a worksheet to narrow it down for you here. Will your video or image resonate with them? Is the information helpful or visually inspiring?
There are a million and one ways to create crazy fun graphics for every platform using these free tools. Of course there is a lot more to gain by signing up for full use of these programs, but you can honestly get a TON out of the free versions as well. AND make sure to incorporate these stellar graphic skills into your blog and your website too.
Learn more on how to use these tools to take your website to the next level RIGHT HERE.
Maybe you’re a regular photography guru and you have some really good photos and want to use them. We suggest trying Lightroom to edit your amazing photos to bring out their very best! Download the version on your phone (the free one is pretty comprehensive) so you can just snap a picture and edit it to look sharp right in your hand! You can save your filters to ensure a consistent look across all your future photos (Thus saving time, yay!) and making your photos look branded.
Throw your brand around like confetti with Place It. You can superimpose screenshots of your website, your logo, photos or newly created graphics onto… PRETTY much anything. It’s a fun way of showing off your wonderful logo that you worked so hard on! And it’s a great way to put your brand front and centre into your social media posts and stories, which is KINDA the point. 😉
Size matters!! Oh yes, we are here to remind you that when posting photos or graphics to social media, you want to ensure they are the right size. Otherwise, they can end up blurry or looking, well, terrible. Here is a guide for the optimal size of images for a few popular platforms:
Facebook: 940px x 788px
Twitter: 1024px x 512px
Instagram: 1080px x 1080px
OR, if you are feeling particularly lazy (we feel you), you can use this automatic generator for images by the Internet Marketing Ninjas. All you have to do is upload your image and select the platform you will be posting on and the ninjas do all the work for you (we picture them inside our computer, like tiny little black belted marketing mercenaries) It’s very important to ensure that your images are the correct size for the platform of your choice.
Have a glass of wine. Seriously, we understand how hard you work and trying to run your business and keep all this straight is more than a full-time job. So we wanted to say thanks for taking the time to read OUR blog and we truly hope that some of these suggestions stick with you and help you to create stunning graphics for your business. As always, we are here for anything you may need, if there is ever a topic you would like us to write on, please send us a message! We really love hearing from you and are always happy to help give out any and all tips and tricks we can to enable you to TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Well… something like that anyway ☻