Having a powerful social media presence is crucial for any business owner. However, creating visually appealing content that resonates with your audience can be challenging, especially if you are not a design expert.

This is where design templates come into play. With the right strategy and tools, you can elevate your brand, engage your audience, and drive more traffic to your website.

Everything you need to know about templates, their benefits, and how to use them is right here.

Why Design Templates are Essential

Design templates are essential because they ensure consistency in branding and save time by providing pre-designed layouts that can be quickly customized. They help maintain a professional look across all marketing materials, making it easier to create cohesive and recognizable content.

Consistency and Branding – Cross platforms

Consistency in branding is vital for establishing a recognizable identity and fostering trust among your audience. Maintaining a cohesive look and feel, which reinforces your brand’s visual identity, is a huge part of it.

Equally important is having a well-designed website to complement your social media efforts. Your website serves as the central hub for all your online activities, providing a unified space where your audience can learn more about your products or services, engage with your content, and make purchases.

You can create a website easily with a website builder platform and other relevant supportive tools. A professional and user-friendly website boosts credibility and provides a seamless experience, guiding visitors smoothly from your social media channels to your online storefront.

Therefore, integrating your social media strategy with a robust website ensures a harmonious and effective digital presence.

You can save a lot (!) of time

Creating individual graphics for every post or article can be incredibly time-consuming. Design templates streamline this process, allowing you to produce high-quality content quickly. This efficiency is particularly beneficial for small business owners who wear multiple hats and need to allocate their time wisely.

Cost-Effectiveness

Hiring a professional designer for every piece of content can be expensive. Design templates offer a cost-effective solution, allowing you to create professional-looking graphics without breaking the bank. Platforms like Snappa offer a wide range of free templates suitable for various needs.

How to Maintain Effectiveness with Design Templates?

Maintaining effectiveness with design templates is important because it ensures that all marketing materials remain cohesive and aligned with your brand’s identity, enhancing professionalism and recognition. It also streamlines the design process, allowing for quick updates and consistency across all platforms, which is crucial for effective communication and marketing.

Use the same Color Palette

Choosing the right color palette is critical for brand recognition. Stick to colors that align with your brand’s identity and evoke the desired emotions from your audience. Tools like Adobe Color can help you create harmonious color schemes.

Choose your unique Typography

Fonts play a significant role in conveying your brand’s personality. Select fonts that are easy to read and complement your overall design. Avoid using too many different fonts, as this can make your graphics look cluttered and unprofessional.

Images and Icons

High-quality images and icons can make your posts more engaging. Utilize stock photo sites like Unsplash or Pexels for high-resolution images. Custom icons and illustrations can add a unique touch to your designs.

A well-structured layout

The layout ensures that your message is clear and easy to understand. Use grids and guides to align elements neatly, and ensure there is enough white space to avoid visual clutter.

Leverage your Call-to-Action (CTA)

Every social media post should have a clear call to action. Whether it’s directing your audience to visit your website, sign up for a newsletter, or make a purchase, your CTA should be concise and compelling.

Integrating Design Templates into Your Social Media Strategy

To integrate design templates into your social media strategy, use consistent templates for posts, stories, and ads across all platforms to maintain a cohesive brand identity.

Now before you jet off, here are some tips that can help you get the most out of it:

#1 Plan Your Content

Start by creating a content calendar. Planning your posts allows you to align your content with your marketing goals. Knowing what you need ahead of time makes it easier to choose or create the right design templates.

#2 Customize Templates

While templates provide a great starting point, customization is key to making them work for your trademark. Adjust colors, fonts, and images to match your brand identity. This personalization ensures that your content stands out and remains unique.

#3 Test and Analyze

Not all designs will resonate with your audience equally. Regularly examine the performance of your posts to see what works best. Tools like Google Analytics and social media insights can provide valuable data on engagement rates and audience preferences.

#4 Update Regularly

Social media trends and design preferences evolve. Keep your templates fresh and up-to-date by periodically reviewing and updating them. This practice ensures that your content remains relevant and engaging.

What are you waiting for? Start using templates!

Design templates are a powerful tool for all business owners looking to enhance their social media strategy. They offer numerous benefits – from maintaining brand consistency to saving time and costs.

By incorporating well-designed templates into your social media plan, you can create visually appealing content that attracts and engages your audience, ultimately driving more traffic to your website.

Explore our range of customizable design templates and start creating stunning graphics for your brand!

The post Streamlining Your Social Media Strategy: The Power of Design Templates appeared first on Snappa Blog.

Google Ads is an incredibly diverse and robust system, with so many different ad formats and placement options. And while search and shopping campaigns typically get the main focus (and the largest investment of ad spend), Google Display Ads can be a vital part of a brand’s overall ad strategy— and success.

In this post, we’re going to go over practical strategies for how to successfully incorporate Google Display Ads into your campaigns to maximize reach, re-engage users, and increase overall conversions.

Why You Need Google Display Ads

As a quick refresh, Google’s Display Ads appear on third-party publisher websites. If you’re browsing recipes on Food & Wine and see a video ad in the sidebar selling tickets to a wine tasting, that’s probably a Google Display Ad.

Brands often use Display Ads for retargeting, showing products to users who have either interacted with the business’s website, landing pages, ads, or even a particular product page recently. Some advertisers also use Display Ads for cold targeting with demographic, customer segmentation, or interest-based targeting.

The idea is to reach potentially-interested or known-interested users with relevant messaging in a visual format. You’ll generate interest as they’re doing something else online, and ideally re-engage customers. As a result, Display Ads can play an important part in the overall ad funnel— as long as you’re implementing them correctly.

Creating Strong Display Ad Visuals

Display Ads either consist of an image or a video in various sizes, both of which can technically be text-only visuals. As a result, the visuals you choose here play an essential part of campaign success.

We talked to Austin LeClear, Co-Founder of GrowMyAds. Here was his best advice about creating strong Display Ad visuals:

• Avoid clutter. Clean, high-quality images often perform best. If you want to promote a single product, feature just that product. Any images and videos should be visually interesting but not so chaotic that it’s distracting.
• Include branding. At least test adding your brand’s logo somewhere on the image or video in order to build brand awareness and leverage brand recognition.
• Opt for high resolution. Skip out on grainy images and videos, ideally using the maximum resolution possible for each image format.
• Include multiple formats. You’ll see that there are multiple format options for images and videos, with unique aspect ratios. Upload key visuals in each essential format to increase your odds of a strong placement and to test which perform best.

You can learn more about Google Display image sizes to ensure you’re off to a good start.

How Display Ads Fit Into Larger Campaigns

Google’s Display Ads, as we’ve already mentioned, can play an important part in your overall ad funnel. They can be used to generate interest in cold audiences, or re-engage existing users who already have some relationship with your business.

This is reflected in Google’s line of products.

Google’s Responsive Display Ads, for example, personalize ad images and messaging based on what they know about the customer, increasing the odds of a conversion. Their system can now automatically generate videos for your review, based on images you’ve uploaded and those sourced from your site. (That said, Austin still recommends making and testing your own video assets, too.)

Display Ads are also built into Google’s relatively new Performance Max campaigns. These campaigns combine ad options across Google’s entire inventory of products, including Search Ads, Shopping Ads, and (of course) Display Ads to create a single, streamlined approach to ad creation and management.

As a note, it’s always important to consider your underlying strategy for Display Ads and how they fit into your larger ad goals.

When it comes to Performance Max campaigns, for example, Austin noted that you want to choose Display Ads that line up with the Shopping and Search ads you’re creating within that larger campaign. Performance Max campaigns should contain ads with the same objective, such as generating leads or promoting a new line of products. The ads need to be cohesive to work well and provide accurate data for testing purposes.

What Metrics to Watch When Testing Display Ads

When running Display Ads, testing is a critical part of long-term success.

Austin shared that while it’s common for Display Ads to have much lower conversion rates in general than both Shopping and Search Ads, that’s to be expected. The average conversion rate for Display Ads is currently around .77%, though this can vary based on factors like industry and time of year. That said, it’s still important to track conversion rates and ensure that you’re getting some results.

You also want to track the following metrics, in addition to your conversion rate:

• Impressions, to see how many people are seeing your ad
• Click-through rate (CTR), to see how many people are interested enough they’re clicking on the actual ad
• Ad cost, often charged per thousand views (CPM), to ensure that your campaigns have a positive ROI

Take advantage of attribution tracking. Users may not convert on the first Display Ad they click, but they might click and convert on another Display Ad or another touchpoint later on.

Final Thoughts

Display Ads can be a vital part of your overall Google Ad and PPC strategy, so take the time to create solid visuals that will appeal to your audience— and their pain points. Snappa can help you quickly create gorgeous images, with plenty of free-for-commercial-use stock images, drag-and-drop design software, and a library loaded with customizable templates.

Ready to create Google Display Ads for your business? Get started with Snappa free today!

The post How to Leverage Google Display Ads appeared first on Snappa Blog.

If you put 100 social media marketers into a room and asked them about the hardest parts of the job, the vast majority would agree that the difficulty of coming up with the sheer amount of content needed to stay relevant was at least in their top 5. 

Quantity does matter, after all; most brands need to post at least 3x per week per platform (though no more than once per day per platform) to keep engagement up. 

That’s a lot on its own for an ongoing basis, but the fact that you need to do this for Facebook, Instagram, Stories, Pinterest, Twitter, and any other currently-popular app becomes overwhelming. Because of course it’s not just about quantity; the quality needs to be there, too.

And that’s where diversity in social media images comes in. You want to include more images into your posts, since they’ll result in an average of a 37% increase in engagement on Facebook and can’t even be shared on Pinterest and Instagram without them. So you need enough images to keep your audience engaged, but you also need diversity so that they stay interested and you’re able to generate enough content without grasping for straws.

We’re here to make that a little simpler for you. In this post, we’re going to look at 8 types of social media marketing images you should include into your social calendars to mix it up for everyone involved.

1. UGC-Oriented Images 

User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most powerful types of content you can use on any social media marketing platform ever.

 It’s created by your customers, so their peers automatically read it as more authentic and trust it 12x more than any marketing messaging you could dream up. As a result, it sees an average of 28% more engagement than standard posts. 

Since UGC is created and shared by your customers, there’s not much you need to do except encourage its creation and to find it. It’s typically best to share the image exactly as it is after you’ve asked for permission, and to thank the customer publicly. This can encourage other users to swoop in and create more for a chance of a public call-out, too.

2. Product Images 

While only about 20% of your content on social media should be directly promotion, that still gives you 20% of your posts to be promotional. 

Take advantage of this by sharing beautiful and interesting product pictures.

When it comes to product images, consider the following options:

• Use text and arrows to point out features, announce sales, or list the name of the product.
• Show the product in use so people can get a good idea of how it would benefit them.
• Add the product picture overlaid onto an interesting or seasonal background pattern or image.

In the example above, you could easily add an image of the knife to a large number of different bright backgrounds in a few seconds with Snappa, allowing you to repurpose the same concept weeks or months later without much work.

3. Pictures Of Employees & Business Owners 

Your clients like to get to know the people running the businesses they’re working with or purchasing from, and featuring images of your employees, your team, or your business owners can help with that. 

Spotlight pictures of a single employee or two at a time and sharing fun facts or brief information about their story allows your audience to really feel like they’re getting to know your team, which makes a big impact. 

It also is a great source of fast content; just shout over to Greg to ask his favorite ice cream flavor that you sell and snap his picture with it, and boom, instant post. 

For these images, you can keep them simple. Make sure they’re high quality, but they typically don’t need much editing. Try to choose a neutral and non-cluttered background in your office for best results.

4. Behind-the-Scenes Images 

Behind-the-scenes pictures work similarly to the employee spotlights. They can include pictures from company retreats, what’s happening in the breakroom, and your team assembling products or preparing for a lunch. 

It doesn’t really matter what you’re showing, as long as it feels like it’s an exclusive insight look into what your business is doing. A simple image with text overlay can do really well here, as you can see from the Instagram story example above, just make sure that you’re explaining exactly what your audience is seeing. 

5. Store Announcements 

Social media is an excellent place to make big brand announcements, whether it’s about an upcoming event, a soon-to-be flash sale, that you’re hiring, or new store hours.

Whatever it is, remember that you don’t want to just post it in text; images will be more memorable and they’ll dramatically increase the visibility of your post.

Store announcements can be simple; you want them to get the message quickly, so information-based images are best here, and may do best with writing on the image itself to establish context quickly. 

6. Seasonal Images 

You can’t go wrong with simple seasonal or otherwise-timely images, whether it’s a generic stock photo that you add messaging to or you showing off your in-store decorations. 

Keep in mind that social media users are always looking for content that’s relevant to them right now, and seeing something you post that aligns with a big event in their life– even if it’s just got a summer vibe or we’re all celebrating Mother’s Day– can capture their interest.

Seasonal images can include the following:

• A picture of your jack-o-lantern, menora, Christmas tree, or Valentine’s decorations. Bonus points if the post itself asks users to share pictures of theirs to increase engagement.
• A relevant stock photo, like those that come free with Snappa, that captures the spirit of the day/season and allows you to focus on engagement-building in the comments. You can add text (like a quote or seasons greetings) and your logo onto the image.
• Images of your products, store, or team, with a festive border around (and for Stories, graphics on it) with a message wishing them a happy holiday.

7. Quiz Images 

Quiz images give your audience two or more options and ask them to choose which one they like best. These pictures give you a fun way to promote your brand in some way and are excellent ways to drive engagement.

You can also feature two products side by side and ask which your audience members like more and why. Both can drive engagement quickly, which helps you boost priority in the algorithms for more visibility. They also keep things interesting and can act as basic market research, too.

8. Quote-Oriented Images 

Everyone loves a great quote every now and then, especially when it’s relevant to your business or industry in some way. That doesn’t mean, however, you need to relegate the nuggets of wisdom to text-only posts.

Instead, use our quote maker to make it easy. Find a list of quotes that you think your audience would love and compile them into one document. Then find a template (or templates) that you love for our pre-made content, and just insert the quotes in place. You can always switch up the backgrounds– or anything else– if you choose, but this is quick and easy work to help keep your social media profiles diverse.

Conclusion 

Social media marketing isn’t something that you can phone in on (or, potentially even worse, hire an eighteen year old “intern” to take over for you). It needs to be strategic, and you must consider what types of content will help you capture the attention of your followers and keep them interested. 

Images are a big part of that, so you can’t afford to neglect them. If you struggle to create them regularly, make time at the beginning of the month to create as many of the month’s images as possible, and then queue them into social media scheduling software like Buffer. This will cut back on the time involved and improve your results along the way.

In the meantime, need some help generating enough great images to keep your audiences interested? Start your free trial with Snappa! 

What do you think? Which social media marketing images are most impactful for your campaigns? What does your audience respond to most? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

The post 8 Types of Social Media Marketing Images All Brands Should Use appeared first on Snappa Blog.

As someone who has worked as a social media practitioner for years, it always legitimately makes me sad when I see that most brands struggle to get the results they should be getting because they’re not leveraging the platforms correctly. This happens much more often than you’d think, even from brands that have really loyal audiences who would love to see strong social profiles to interact with.

While there are a few brands who really step outside the box and find unique ways to derail their social media marketing (like insulting customers or failing to reliably proofread), most are making the same common, seemingly-innocent mistakes over and over again. And though a small mistake like failing to optimize your content isn’t nearly as inflammatory as a brand posting something overtly political or insensitive, it can actually impact you long-term almost as much.

So what are these pitfalls to avoid? In this post, we’re going to take a look at the 7 devastating-but-common social media mistakes that we see happening over and over again, and how you can avoid them.

The post 7 Common Social Media Mistakes All Brands Should Avoid appeared first on Snappa Blog.

I was very, very wrong.

Instagram Stories–which were a copycat of Snapchat’s classic disappearing-after-a-day content– became a wildly popular feature, and it was so successful that Facebook eventually rolled out their own version, and they both moved from mobile-only to mobile- and desktop- friendly. Stories have developed rapidly on these platforms in the past few years, offering “Swipe Up” links, Story Ads, interactive stickers, highlight covers, and even Shoppable content that allows users to purchased tagged products.

If you’re wondering why you should use them, it’s not just about the fact that Stories have become more high-tech than we ever expected; it’s because users love them. Consider the following statistics from Embed Social:

• Instagram Stories are used by 500 million unique users every day 
• One third of the most viewed Instagram Stories come from business accounts
• 96% of marketers surveyed plan to continue using Stories Ads over the next six months, which means that it’s currently working for them

The biggest challenge with Stories for many brands isn’t getting engagement on their content; it’s reliably coming up with enough ideas to be posting consistently. In this post, we’re going to look at 7 different types of Story ideas that you can use to build up your brand and engage your audience across social media.

1. Behind-the-Scenes Snippets

You really can’t go wrong with behind-the-scenes content, whether you’re using images or videos (and pro tip: you should always try to use a healthy mix of both for Story content).

These tiny snippets and glimpses of life inside your brand feel meaningful to your audience, and it offers a kind of transparency that users are thriving on. Share pictures or video clips of an in-office birthday celebration, the process of setting up an upcoming event, or even peeks at how your products are made.

2. Educational Series

More and more brands are using Stories to offer brief, snapshot-like insights that inform their followers about things that are directly relevant to them. Fashion brand Stitch Fix, for example, offers fast style tips, and stacks them one after the other for what feels like a full series of helpful information in short, 15-second-or-less bites. Keep the information simple, keeping single ideas in a single Story.

Some brands will have full IGTV stories offering educational content, and they use their Stories to drive people to the long-form stuff. This is a good option, too, and a great way to funnel people to where you want them most.

If you want to get promotional, you can even use this strategy to promote your own products and help customers choose what’s right for them, as Lush does here:

Want to take this to the next level? Use Instagram’s new Quiz stickers, letting users answer multiple choice questions, and then using the next Story slide to explain the answer. Fun, engaging, and you can get extra metrics on how people are engaging.

3. Shoutouts & Shares of UGC

User-generated content is some of the most powerful marketing materials you could ever have, so it’s only fitting that you can’t create it yourself! While you can’t make it yourself, however, you can promote it once it comes rolling in!

We’ve had entire Stories (and then archives on Instagram) focused on sharing UGC from customers, particularly after a big event or during a special campaign. This helped fuel excitement, and we always saw immediate and substantial spikes in UGC for about a week afterwards, with other people getting the message to share their content, too. A good go-to is always use the camera emoji, type “credit,” and then tag the user, like you can see in the example above.

4. Interactive Stickers to Drive Engagement

Increasing numbers of platforms are offering interactive stickers to Stories, making them more fun for users and giving brands a new way to interact with followers and gauge their response. On Instagram, you’ve got everything from poll stickers to questions stickers, the latter of which lets users ask the brand questions that they can answer by going live or uploading new Stories in response.

Even hashtag stickers, like the ones used below from a Facebook Story, can be used to establish awareness of an event or your branded hashtag and drive people to a UGC-filled feed where they can learn more about you.

5. Story-Focused Brand Building

It makes sense that a feature called “Stories” would thrive on the actual telling of stories, but this isn’t something all brands put together because of the short time frame. In reality, by creating content ahead of time with Snappa and just needing to slap on those interactive stickers, you can create and upload a stream of content that can tell a great story when each image or video is placed back-to-back-to-back. Orgain did this in their now-archived Highlight telling “Our Story,” using short snippets to break down a powerful story about why the founder started it.

Stories (like tales, not the disappearing content feature) are essential for brand building, because they’re memorable, relatable, and potentially emotionally resonant. Take advantage of this and use Stories to share our brand’s history and keep people excited about what you do. Whether you’re sharing the origin tale of your company or explaining why community work is so important, go all in on these and make it as personal as possible.

6. Partnerships with Other Companies

Partnering up with influencers or other brands can be a powerful marketing move in general, but it can earn you a lot of love in Stories. People will take notice if you’re talking about other brands you care about, because they don’t want it to just be all about you. Showing that you’re professionally associated with other reputable accounts can also help your reputation, too.

To take this strategy a step further, consider hosting an event, featuring a promotion or special in-store (like selling the store’s products at your location), or hosting a contest together with a combined prize from both companies. This will get people talking about you (in a good way, as long as the prize isn’t terrible!) and engaging in no time.

7. Images that Sell Hard

Shopping through Stories is here for Instagram, and if you’ve got those shopping, product-tagging features enabled on your account, there’s no reason not to use Stories to try to sell more! Use Snappa to create interesting product images with fun but unobtrusive design elements and backgrounds added in to keep it interesting, and then tag the images once they go live!

For best results, tag either one product per Story, or opt for no more than three items if you want to try to sell something as a set. This isn’t like a conventional post where users can sit and review each one; that timer is ticking, so keep it simple.

Conclusion

Try to embrace the slightly quirky, graphic-heavy style that these images and videos thrive on, and remember that you can always use tools like Snappa to design perfectly-unperfect images that your audience will go crazy over. The drag-and-drop design software is easy to use, and it’s definitely much simpler and offers more creative options than trying to navigate creation on your phone. And if you’re looking for video content, check out Shakr’s Stories Ads, which is free and helps brands put together short video Stories quickly.

Story content, no matter what platform you’re on, should always be fun, engaging, and created specifically with your audience in mind. These 7 different Story ideas should help you generate ideas that meet the criteria of all of the above and then some, helping you to build brand awareness and even drive results like clicks and sales, too.

What do you think? How do you use Stories to build your brand? What social media Story ideas resonated most with you? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 

The post 7 Social Media Story Ideas to Boost Your Brand appeared first on Snappa Blog.

Unfortunately, Facebook is a lot different than when it launched business Pages years ago. And while Facebook can be a valid part of your distribution plan, it’s really best suited for brand awareness, engagement, and relationship building.

So, if you want to share external links on Facebook that take users from their site to yours, there are a few things to keep in mind.

In this post, we’ll get expert advice from a social media practitioner about the best ways to create click-worthy link posts (and a few other strategies to consider, too).

Why Outbound Link Sharing on Facebook is So Difficult

If you’ve noticed that Facebook posts without outbound links have higher engagement rates and impressions than posts with off-Facebook links, you’re not alone.

Facebook does typically deprioritize outbound links that take users off Facebook. What this means is that your post with outbound links are less likely to receive as many impressions as other types of posts.

Jack Shepherd—Co-Founder of the social-first agency The Social Shepherd— explained why this happens.

“It’s true… Facebook prioritizes posts from business pages with outbound links… Facebook’s revenue model is to serve ads. So, if users are exiting the platform by clicking on an outbound link and then not returning to Facebook, they’re losing out on the ability to deliver ads to users.”

Losing on-site user activity combined with the increased urgency for businesses to pay for clicks was a powerful motivator for Facebook.

What This Means for On-Platform Marketing Strategies

Business Pages should ultimately prioritize creating engaging and valuable content that their audience wants to see. And, to ensure that they see it, it unfortunately means keeping outbound link sharing to a minimum.

This doesn’t mean to never share links— there’s a time and place for that, and we’re going to look at best practices for that in a minute.

But it does mean that Facebook shouldn’t be used primarily as a distribution channel.

“Businesses should focus on delivering high-value content on their Facebook page, whether that is inspirational or educational, without outbound links,” said Shepherd. “Both Facebook Pages and Groups should focus on community first and promotions second.”

Groups right now are particularly powerful, often being prioritized in the algorithm for existing group members. They also have high average engagement rates and a feeling of belonging to a true community. Some large, popular groups even have engagement rates over 100%.

Why Pages Should Consider Paid Advertising

If you want to drive significant off-Facebook traffic, many brands do significantly benefit from using Meta’s paid advertising platform.

And we know— this isn’t what you want to hear. Especially SMBs on a shoestring budget. That said, even a small daily spend in a paid ad budget can help your content reach more interested users in your target audience and actually drive clicks.

Shepherd strongly recommends leveraging paid advertising to drive traffic to key landing pages.

“Facebook advertising is a must and the priority when it comes to driving traffic to their website,” said Shepherd. “The benefits to this are that you can choose the most relevant target audiences to your brand, as well as select how the campaign optimizes, which improves the metrics you care about most, whether that’s conversions, traffic or engagement.”

It’s the most effective way to ensure that linked content is being seen, and Facebook’s targeting system does a solid job of showing the ad to people most likely to take your desired conversion action (like submit a lead form or make a purchase).

Best Practices for Sharing Organic Links

Outbound link sharing isn’t going to be the iron-clad promotion strategy many of us would like, but that doesn’t mean to never create posts that do have them.

While most of your content should be community- and engagement-focused, creating value and brand relationships, you can also implement a few best practices to get better results when creating posts with outbound links.

First: Link placement can be important.

“Place the link within the first sentence or two of the caption, ensuring it doesn’t appear below the “see more” button,” said Shepherd. A visible link may help drive clicks.

Shepherd also recommends highlighting the value of the content and the link early. “Businesses need to give users a reason to click… What’s the value for them?”

Creating valuable resources that customers actually want can be what drives them to click.

A mortgage broker, for example, might get clicks on an outbound link to a loan calculator helping interested leads determine how much their monthly payment would be on their dream house. That’s an immediate value offer for users, and a potentially lead-generating resource.

Users would be more likely to click on the mortgage calculator, for example, than a link to a client testimonial raving about the experience with the mortgage firm. This may be content that the firm wants to show off, but it wouldn’t offer immediate value to the users in question.

Keep in mind this important tip: “People use the platform to engage with their family, friends, creators and brands they like, rather than to find something which takes them off the platform.”

So if you’re going to add a link, it needs to add value, and users need to see it clearly.

Final Thoughts

We know this post may not be the most thrilling news for businesses and marketers who were excited to leverage Facebook to drive off-platform traffic. While you can strategically use posts to send users to your site, it’s important to focus primarily on engagement creation, valuable content, and relationship building.

When you do create outbound link content, test different strategies to see what your audience is most responsive to.

Want to learn more about marketing tips for small businesses? Check out our blog for more!

The post Sharing Links on Facebook: What Business Pages Need to Know appeared first on Snappa Blog.

Knowing how to leverage images for SEO— and knowing how to optimize images for SEO— are essential skills that can help you improve your overall search visibility, both for the images and the pages that they’re on.

And in this post, we’re going to walk you through image optimization for SEO so you can drive more clicks (and hopefully conversions!) through your content.

Why Images Matter for SEO

We know that images can improve the user experience. They break up text, are visually interesting, add context, showcase products, and can be downright invaluable when used for data visualization, tutorials, or product breakdowns (hello, infographics).

They also have several benefits to consider from the actual search engine optimization side of the equation, too.

1. Optimized Images Increase Search Discoverability

People can and do use Google’s image search function. Sometimes, Google will even feature images (or blog posts with images) for top search results.

Here’s an example for the search “infographic ideas” on Google:

And here’s an example of a Google search for “pineapple upside down cake,” which features a picture of the final dish for recipe search results:

Both of these search engine results pages (SERPs) are for standard search, but still feature images prominently.

So, ensuring that your images can be found and understood by Google (we’ll talk about that more in a minute) means that you may have advantages for gaining attention in the SERPs or showing up in additional visual searches you may not have otherwise. This increases your overall search discoverability and visibility, and even if it’s only to a relatively slight degree, we should take any advantage we can with how competitive the SERPs can be.

2. Increased User Engagement = Increased Dwell Time

We know that blog posts and landing pages that have images and visually-interesting elements have stronger user engagement. Users are likely to consume more content and spend more time on the page, on average.

Dwell time— or time spent on a page per session on average— is not an official ranking factor that Google has disclosed, but many SEO experts believe there is a correlation between higher dwell times and higher SERP ranking. It may be only correlational and not causative, but it certainly never hurts.

3. Can Boost Results Coming From SEO

Most businesses that invest in SEO spend a significant amount of time, energy, and financial resources doing so. So in addition to the fact that any extra bump in search visibility is a plus, optimized images that can increase engagement once users are actually on the page means your SEO efforts are more likely to pay off beyond an initial click.

The longer you engage users, the more you build brand awareness, so they may come back in the future. You also may be more successful at driving them to other pages or to take certain actions, like downloading an eBook or even making a purchase.

How to Optimize Images for SEO

Optimizing images on your website for search engine performance comes down to a few key things:

• Helping Google find the image.
• Helping Google understand what the image is (aka establishing context) so it can present it in relevant searches.
• Ensuring that the image won’t cause technical issues, like delaying site loading speeds, that could negatively impact your SEO performance.

1. Add Alt Text

Alt image text— also known as “alt text”— is text you add to your image file that tells Google exactly what the image is. Google uses this to understand context, and it uses that context when choosing what images and blog posts to show based on users’ search results.

Alt text is also used by screen readers, a type of assistive technology that can tell blind users what the image is.

Most CMS systems have options where you can add alt text to your images upon uploading. You can also right-click on the image in a Google Doc to add it, which is useful if you’re using a tool like Wordable to automate content uploading.

You can add keywords to your alt text descriptions, and it’s a good idea to include secondary keywords when relevant to expand the number of keywords you can potentially rank for. That said, you also want to actually describe what the image is.

2. Name Your Files

Image file name— or image title tags— allow you to essentially name your file. They’re often used by CMS platforms. The idea is the same as alt text here (though admittedly not quite as important as alt text itself)— it gives Google more context regarding the image itself.

If your CMS platform has a feature for title tags, take advantage of them! It can also help you keep your image library more organized, so you can better find older images if ever needed to reuse in existing posts.

3. Consider Image Size and Format

Images (and videos for that matter) are great for on-site engagement, but if not optimized correctly, they come with a risk of significantly slowing down your site loading speeds. Large, uncompressed image sizes in unideal formats can look great, but they can significantly delay loading times, which is a confirmed Google ranking factor.

Opt for image file types that automatically compress images. JPEGs automatically compress images as part of the file format, and any potential loss in image quality is barely perceptible. If you need to upload an image with a transparent background, PNGs are okay.

Image size recommendations vary, but many recommend keeping image file sizes under 100KB, which JPEGs are useful for. If your images are too big, then you can compress them further using a tool like TinyJPG.

4. Consider Crawlability

Images are only going to offer SEO benefits if Google can actually find and crawl them. If you want to take a few extra steps, you can consider XML image sitemaps.

You can use Google image extensions for sitemaps to give Google more information about the images on your website. It can in theory help Google crawl images it may have missed otherwise, and it tells Google which images you absolutely do want them to crawl.

You can learn more about image sitemaps through Google for more information.

Final Thoughts

While writing is an essential part of SEO, images play an important role too. Optimizing your images with search performance in mind can increase search visibility and help you prevent missteps that could otherwise negatively hurt your ranking potential.

And don’t forget that the quality of the images themselves matter, too. Leveraging tools like Snappa, which offers drag-and-drop design software for all levels of experience, can help you create stunning, interesting, and engaging images that can help you get the biggest impact out of your SEO efforts.

Ready to start creating SEO-friendly images? Learn more about Snappa here.

The post How to Leverage Images for SEO appeared first on Snappa Blog.

Right now, with the massive layoffs in multiple industries— including, very recently, significant layoffs impacting marketers and journalists— it’s more important than ever before to know how to optimize your LinkedIn profile to get noticed.

That’s what we’re going to talk about today. I’ve been using LinkedIn for ten years to connect with potential new clients and help build my business, and I’m going to share my best strategies for everyone looking to get more out of LinkedIn, too.

So if you want to optimize LinkedIn to get noticed for any reason, read on!

1. Use Friendly, Professional Visuals

First impressions matter, and what people may notice first is your picture.

Normal social media rules do not apply here. You want a simple, friendly headshot.

You don’t have to wear a suit or have a neutral background, but it should ideally resemble a professional photo and you should be smiling.

No pictures with other people cropped out. No pictures of you dressed for a date. And definitely no pictures of you from your wedding.

Choose a high resolution image, and make sure that when you crop it, it crops correctly.

You can also choose to add frames to your picture, like an “Open to Work” or a “Hiring” frame, so account for that when cropping your image.

Your LinkedIn profile background image is also worth noting. While this is only visible to people who click on your profile (and thus won’t help with initial visibility), it can help make an impression on those who do see it.

Choose a LinkedIn  background image that’s professional and that highlights either your business or your chosen skill set. Snappa can help you here. We’ve got plenty of templates that you can customize using drag-and-drop design features, whether you want to create a branded background or find one that feels true to your profession.

You can get started with Snappa free here. (And don’t forget to get your LinkedIn image sizes right!)

2. Add a Unique, Descriptive Tagline

Your tagline is one of the most important parts of your LinkedIn profile. When people see your post or a comment you made in their feed, they’ll see your name, connection level, and immediately under that, they’ll see your tagline.

This is your chance to stand out and capture attention. It’s important to say exactly what you do, and when possible, leverage value.

Be descriptive and know how to set yourself apart. What specific feature is your target audience (whether it’s an employer, a job candidate, or a customer) looking for?

My tagline stresses that I’m an experienced and high-converting content marketer. Stressing these benefits instead of just saying “content writer” has earned me plenty of clicks.

Emily Wood’s profile is another great example. The beginning of her tagline is attention-grabbing and immediately attractive to her target audience: Uncomplicated PPC Strategies for Startups & Small Businesses. Her full tagline is full of personality and keywords, which is a winning combo.

3. Account for Search Visibility

When you want people to find you, you want to account for search visibility.

I’ve had clients tell me they found me by searching for “content writer” or “copywriter” on LinkedIn, and my profile was one of the ones that popped up. And if people are looking for whatever it is that you offer, you want them to be able to find you.

Start by adding common search keywords to your tagline and your About section.

For me, that was “content writer,” “ghostwriter,” and “PPC copywriter.” While you want your tagline and About section to be creative, sprinkle in keywords wherever possible. When people search, they’ll see where the keyword is mentioned in your job role, tagline, and even your About section or services offered.

In order to maximize your reach, try to incorporate diverse keywords throughout your profile.

So a landscaper, in theory, might use the terms “tree maintenance,” “landscaping service,” and “licensed landscaper” at different points in their profile.

4. Get Recommendations

Recommendations probably won’t do much until people land on your profile… but once they do, they can make a world of difference.

Having even two or three testimonials from past managers, coworkers, and employers can make a significant impact on how people perceive your profile overall. Having people publicly vouch for you can instill a ton of confidence, and earn you instant credibility. No matter what your goals are on LinkedIn, this is a win.

Ask for a recommendation from a coworker or client, I strongly recommend messaging them directly on- or off-platform and asking if they’re willing to write you one. If so, go to your Recommendations section, click on the +, and then click “Ask for a recommendation.” This will send them a prompt on LinkedIn.

Final Thoughts

If you want to build your network for any reason, don’t sleep on LinkedIn. The platform has come an extraordinarily long way in the past few years, and it’s now one of the more active social media platforms.

Which brings us to a final bonus tip for the post… If you want to get noticed on LinkedIn, be active.

Post your own content. Engage with content from other users, including content you see pop up even if you aren’t directly connected to that user. It’s a fast way to grow your network and build genuine relationships, which can give you more reach to more people on an exponential level.

LinkedIn is what you make of it. Leverage a strong, well-optimized profile and great images and go from there. And good luck!

Ready to optimize your LinkedIn profile? Start with your images. Sign up with Snappa free today.

The post How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Get Noticed appeared first on Snappa Blog.

That doesn’t mean you need to chuck your entire existing strategy out the window; we’d actually probably recommend against that. But now is the time, if you haven’t already, to reassess what was working, consider your new goals, and develop a marketing plan based on consumer behavior, the existing market, and your business objectives for the new year.

And that’s what we’ll help you do today, as we walk you through how to revamp or create your marketing plan for 2024.

Dive Into Your Data

Before you do anything else, take a look at your existing marketing platforms and their analytics.

You need to determine which platforms are currently working for you, and how effective they are.

Google Analytics (and other website analytics tools) can help you get an idea of where your site traffic is coming from, whether paid or organic traffic is sending you the most clicks, and how your content marketing efforts are performing.

You can also get an idea of which platforms are bringing you the highest quality traffic. Which sources bring you site visitors that are more likely to view more pages, sign up to your email list, or make a purchase? And which brings in solid traffic at the lowest cost?

You’ll want to stick with the most impactful platforms, but don’t necessarily discount the less effective ones— you may need to just take a look and consider if the platform isn’t a good fit for your audience, or if you want to try new strategies.

Get Specific About Goals

Your marketing strategy should always consider your current business objectives.

If you want to launch a new product, for example, you don’t want to just continue on marketing the old product you’ll sunset, even if it’s getting great results.

Or maybe you want to expand into a new audience. You’ll rely on different marketing tactics when appealing to a professional audience compared to a personal one, for example.

And what types of growth do you want to see? Is social media follower growth important to your business objectives, or are leads and brand visibility more important?

Use SMART goals, which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. You can use free SMART templates to speed up the process.

So you may say that you want to generate 100 new leads for your business within four months to scale to the point where you can hire new staff. Or, you may want to increase blog traffic from 200 monthly visitors to 2,000 monthly visitors in six months using a combination of new SEO practices, distribution strategies, and an increased volume of content to better build your brand authority.

Know This Year’s Must-Have Platforms

Marketing platforms and strategies alike go in and out style for a variety of reasons, including changes in the market and in consumer behavior.

It’s important to note, though, that even the general “must-have platforms” may not always work for your business. Even when Pinterest was massive for most brands, SaaS brands were better off focused on LinkedIn.

So, here’s the general advice you want to take into account for must-have and expected-to-be-high-performing platforms for 2024:

• TikTok is still one of the top-performing platforms, particularly for B2C content. It has 30.8 million daily active users right now, and as people are scrolling, they can discover new brands and content (like yours!). Get the latest strategies here.
• Instagram Reels is right behind it. You can cross-post your TikTok content right onto Instagram Reels, which offers the same benefits and may help you reach a diverse audience. Some users, after all, prefer one platform over the other; I’m a Millennial who doesn’t use TikTok, but I do scroll on Instagram Reels. See some Instagram Reels best practices to get started.
• Content marketing is still in, but it’s more competitive. AI made an already over-saturated platform even more so, flooding it with poor quality content. To stand out, you need to invest in creating high-quality and actionable content that speaks to your core target audience, and you want to be writing for users at all stages of the funnel. Learn more about creating a winning content strategy here.
• Google Ads is invaluable for capturing user interest. Even if the cost-per-click (CPC) is higher than other platforms, don’t count it out; strong campaigns can lead to high click and lead quality, which pay off significantly. This guide to Google Ads is extensive, and a great place to start.
• LinkedIn is the B2B platform. LinkedIn isn’t just for job searching. People are building personal brands and making real connections with potential customers. It’s a prime platform for sales people and marketers alike to reach new audiences and drive leads. Their ad platform can also be expensive, but it’s also invaluable for brands who want to expand their reach quickly— especially SaaS brands. See how to market on LinkedIn here.
• Video is still important. Platforms like YouTube can be extraordinary; you can educate users on your industry, and also on your product yourself. It’s a great way to engage users at all stages of the digital sales funnel, including those discovering you, actively researching you, or who are already customers.

General Best Practices

And when it comes to social media, remember these general best practices:

• Engagement matters. Comments, shares, and saves matter more than likes, and they all matter more than just initial views. Algorithms weigh engagement heavily, and high-engaging posts drive visibility boosts.
• Be platform-specific. A LinkedIn video post is going to look starkly different from a TikTok video, and that will look different from YouTube. You can cross-post some content, but only when it aligns with multiple platforms best practices.
• Use visuals. Some platforms, of course, like TikTok and Instagram, require it. But make sure you’re using visuals on platforms like Facebook and in content marketing, too. Create infographics, step by step walk-through tutorials, and even behind-the-scenes content your audience wants to see.
• Consider findability. Content marketing often focuses heavily on SEO and search functions on your site. YouTube accounts should also be using SEO best practices to increase their visibility, and Instagram and TikTok need to consider hashtags and captions, which add context and impact who sees and finds your content.

AI: To Use or Not to Use?

AI made quite the splash in the marketing world in 2023, much to the amazement to some and fear of others.

Everyone has their own take on how AI should be used and when.

And here’s ours: AI can be a useful tool, but you should never, ever rely on it heavily for your marketing creation.

There are a few reasons for this, and it includes using AI to generate both copy and imagery:

• It’s not reliable. There are so many documented instances of AI not understanding nuance at best to making up information (or pulling inaccurate information) at worst. This is a huge gamble to take.
• You can’t copyright it. Right now, you can’t copyright anything that comes out of AI, because it wasn’t your creative license. That differs from all other copy, content, and imagery you create on your own, which is automatically protected by copyright.
• There is little to no originality. AI is only capable of regurgitating what’s already been put online. It might be able to do it in a brand voice that sounds like anyone from Clint Eastwood to Frodo Baggins, but it’s still nothing new.

Instead of using AI, consider using tools that are designed to speed up your processes while still keeping human creativity and intricacy in the driver’s seat. Some examples include:

• Snappa uses drag-and-drop technology and extensive free photo libraries so you can create any graphic or image quickly, regardless of design experience.
• Hemingway can help you proofread and improve the quality of your content.
• Loomly is a social media management tool that can help you curate new ideas for social content (in addition to general social management, scheduling, and analytics).

Final Thoughts

When updating your marketing plan, remember that it should always center around your business objectives and who your target audience is. Both of those things may shift year-over-year, and your plans need to pivot accordingly as a result.

And as a last note, a combination of evergreen content like content that pays off long-after it’s created and immediate-acting content like PPC campaigns (which drive results now, but stop the second you stop paying) is a good mix for many brands. Test out different combinations of platforms to see what works for you, and remember to treat them all as a part of a funnel.

Ready to create new, stunning visuals to engage your audience across all platforms in 2024? Get started with Snappa free here!

The post How to Revamp Your Marketing Plan in 2024 appeared first on Snappa Blog.

These days, it’s easy for social content to get diluted or buried in the noise and activity of all the platforms. That’s why intentionally creating engaging content that starts a conversation is so important.

In this post, we’ve curated a list of 4 different types of engaging social media content that will help drive interaction and stand out to your audience.

Why Social Media Engagement Matters

When it comes to your social media posts, views are great, but likes, comments, and shares are even better.

Engagement helps to boost your brand visibility in the algorithms, meaning you can achieve greater reach through interaction. It can also deliver valuable insights into what your audience wants.

When you have greater reach and visibility, plus a stronger relationship with your audience, you’re setting yourself up for success.

4 Types of Social Media Posts that Drive Engagement

Want to know the top kinds of social media posts that encourage audience engagement? Let’s jump right into it.

1. Short-Form, Mobile-Friendly Video

Short-form, mobile friendly video content is continuing to gain traction and popularity over other types of content. In 2022, 66% of consumers said short video was the most engaging kind of content online.

Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, YouTube Shorts, Stories, and other-platform equivalents are all great ways to drive engagement through short-form video.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your short video content:

• Make sure to create vertical video that utilizes your smartphone’s entire screen.
• Create short, helpful video tutorials for your followers.
• Put your own spin on popular trends to build momentum and boost engagement, especially on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.
• Use trending sounds to create fun, informative videos.

2. Educational Content

Educational content helps brands to establish expertise in their respective industries. When you create great educational content for your audience, you create more opportunities for engagement.

Here are some fantastic types of educational content ideas to get you started.

Infographics

Infographics are an informative, visually appealing way to drive engagement through shares. They’re especially effective on platforms such as Pinterest.

Creating a strong infographic provides your readers with valuable information while establishing your credibility and expertise in your industry. Users love to share easy-to-consume, informative content that could be helpful to someone else, so give them that.

Here are some great examples of infographics to inspire you.

Informational Slides on Instagram

Informational Instagram carousels not only provide users with helpful information; they drive engagement, too. According to Hootsuite, carousel posts get 3.1 times more engagement and 1.4 times more reach than other social media posts.

You can create text-based image slides, or even include images and videos in your carousel. Instagram allows for up to ten slides, so use that space wisely and include additional content in the caption.

Long-Form YouTube Videos

Consider creating long-form YouTube videos to share valuable information with your audience. While short video generally performs best, you can’t always fit educational content into a YouTube Short, a Reel, or a TikTok post.

Instead, create video content that encourages engagement. Shares are valuable, but so are likes, dislikes, and comments.

3. Interactive Content

Because social media is designed for two-way communication, it’s important to create content that enables engagement.

There are many different ways to interact with and get to know your followers. Plus, their engagement with your brand could give you valuable insights that help you improve future content, products, and services.

Here are a few ways to create interactive content that encourages your followers to engage.

Quizzes

Quizzes are a fun, informal way to get your audience interacting with you. There are a few ways to include quizzes in your content strategy, including creating them in Instagram Stories and linking quizzes from sites like BuzzFeed in your Facebook feed or group posts.

Encourage your followers to take a quiz, then share their results in the comments section. Be sure to reply to their results. You’ll also notice that they may reply to one another, too, which can create a greater sense of community among your followers.

Interactive Story Elements

Instagram Stories are a popular feature for social media engagement because they expire within 24 hours. Followers don’t want to miss out on special announcements, behind-the-scenes posts, and interactive story elements.

Ask your followers a question, or let them submit their own questions. Create a poll or quiz, or start an Add Yours thread. Then, repost and respond to their engagement when you can!

Group Posts

Interacting in groups on platforms such as Facebook is another great way to drive more engagement and communicate directly with your fans and followers.

Create valuable interactive content that group members can respond to. Polls, questions, this-or-that posts, and ask me anything (AMA) content are all great options. When members respond, keep the conversation going.

4. Contests

A great contest or giveaway can provide valuable incentives to your followers, driving high engagement in the process. It also gives participants a fantastic chance to become a true super-fan of your brand.

Contests not only drive more engagement and get more eyes on your brand; they can also provide you with user-generated content (UGC) in some cases. That’s a great way to get valuable social proof!

Generally speaking, you’ll get the most engagement by simplifying the ways your followers can enter to win.

Give your followers the chance to win a product, service, or piece of swag in exchange for their engagement. This could be in the form of likes, follows, comments, shares, tagging a friend, or tagging your social accounts in a post they create.

Offering incentives in exchange for more engagement is a long game. It might not result in immediate sales, but you’ll gain more viewers and followers in the process – who might go on to buy from you later.

Tips to Get More Engagement on Your Posts

Want to know how to get more engagement on your social media posts? Here are a few tips and best practices to get you started.

• Include great visuals with your social posts. Your posts are more likely to get attention when they include fantastic graphics and visuals. A tool like Snappa can help you create visual content with ease.
• Use video as part of your content strategy. Out of all types of social content, video is growing at the fastest rate. Don’t miss out on that momentum!
• Maintain a consistent presence and brand voice across all channels. Your followers’ experience with your brand should have the same look and feel no matter where they engage with you.
• Post consistently. If you’re not showing up regularly online, the people who need to see your content will be less likely to.
• Be present on social platforms. Social media users notice when you post, then disappear. They want to feel connected with you online, so create that connection where you can.
• Answer questions and interact with your followers. When someone comments on your post, engage with them. Like their comment and reply when it’s appropriate. The more responsive you are, the more likely your followers will keep coming back.
• Engage regularly with other accounts when it makes sense to. Comment on posts from brands in your industry whose target audience overlaps with yours. This can help to boost your visibility and expertise in your space.

Final Thoughts

Creating irresistible opportunities for your followers to engage with your social content can be an effective way to build momentum and brand recognition online. The key is to try a variety of strategies to keep your audience engaged. Take note of what works, then replicate it.

There are so many resources at your fingertips that will help you quickly create eye-catching, engaging content for your brand. Using a tool like Snappa, for example, will make your graphic design a breeze.

As long as your content is valuable, relevant, and on trend, you’re likely to see a boost in your engagement.

Want to see what Snappa can do for your social media marketing? Get started for free here.

Have you seen other effective, emerging social media trends that drive higher engagement? We’d love to hear about them in the comments section. Let us know what content is performing best for you.

The post 4 Types of Social Media Posts That Will Drive Engagement (2024 Update) appeared first on Snappa Blog.