When it comes to your social media content, visuals are a very important part. From a single image to a collection of photos and videos, these can help readers visualize the experience that your business offers. Suppose you offer your customers a visual experience through visuals like photographs, videos, and illustrations. In that case, you need to take extra steps in editing them to make sure that they present the best version of your brand. Follow these tips to edit your visual content for various social media in two clicks:
Choose an editing tool.
There are a lot of editing tools out there. Please use the same one for all of your images; however, we know that this is not possible. It would help if you chose the tool that best works for your needs. Here are some of the most popular image editing software today: Photoshop, Retoucher Online, Lightroom, GIMP, and Canva.
Beware! Not all of them are free. Choose one that fits your budget and still has features that can support your content creation activities. For example, Canva offers a Photoshop-like editor and the ability to design and publish flat design graphics on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, just like icons and images.
Organize your photos first
You might already have some images that you want to edit and upload on social media platforms to show off your brand or product. If not, then you need to start by taking some photos. However, taking good photos takes a lot of time and effort, so it would be best to organize them first before editing so as not to waste any time during the editing process.
Avoid Generic Stock Images
For visual content, generic stock images can be pricey. Saving money is great, but spending on generic imagery is not always the best way to invest your marketing efforts. If people don’t know what you do, how can they trust you with their business? As your business grows, your marketing budget will also grow; but even in the beginning, there are better options for visual content that can help your business grow faster. A simple search online will yield tons of free images that will be perfect for your media.
The most obvious place to search is Flickr. This is my personal favorite because not only are there tons of free images; they’re also all in the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This license means that you can use them online or in print without attributing the photographer or paying a licensing fee.
Starting with high-quality images will build trust in your brand immediately. Using generic stock images may save money initially. Still, when potential customers see the same images being used by hundreds of other businesses, it makes them wonder if they are getting something unique.
Stay Consistent Across All Platforms
Consistency is the cornerstone of a strong brand identity. It’s what keeps your content from jumping between different sites and social media profiles in a way that feels jumbled and non-professional.
Brand Consistency
Nothing is more distracting than a brand’s visual identity not being the same across all channels. Consistent branding makes it easier for users to get to know your brand and allows them to get valuable updates, notifications and follow your brand more easily. That said, the same image uploaded to various social media platforms could come out looking very different.
How can you keep these images consistent?
Fortunately, there are a few ways to tweak the visual content so that it comes out looking professional across all platforms. Here are a few techniques you can use:
- There is a feature on Photoshop and Gimp that will allow you to flip the image horizontally and vertically at the same time. This feature will give you an exact match of the upload. Get The Image Right — Standard dimensions used across social media sites include 468 x 60 pixels for Twitter, 728 x 90 pixels for Youtube, 400 x 225 pixels for Facebook, 600 x 315 pixels for Pinterest etc.
- Use Retoucher Online. Retoucher Online is a visual content editor that lets you edit several photos from different sources simultaneously. Whether you’re working on multiple social media accounts or preparing a graphic for your blog post, Retoucher Online will let you do it all in the same place. That means that you don’t have to spend hours editing your content – all you have to do is use this tool, which will help you generate amazing visuals in just two clicks.
Know the Rules of Good Visual Design
Good visual design is important to any good content marketing strategy, and it can be just as important as the words you use to tell your story. Visuals help you to direct and affect performance and action steps. The internet is a visual playground: social media posts, your website, blogs, email templates, ads, even your videos need to have good visuals to be effective.
For your visuals to do their best, they have to be engaging- not just in a cute way. They have to work with your narrative and be useful and usable in directing your audience and getting action from them. Visuals that use contrast, composition, lighting, color, and perspective can create a layout that draws attention to a message, call to action, or product.
