Social media and various digital platforms have become a popular medium for products and services to be marketed. With all the social media competition, it’s a challenge to create content that grabs attention and stands out.

But, with the right ingredients a good recipe can be ready as every designer’s standard method for an effective post!

   

To Prep.:

• First things first! Inspiration is always necessary as a foundation of any post or content plan. You never know which illustration, theme, color, font style, etc. can lead to a new creation!
• To further organize your thoughts along with the content you find intriguing, it’s always helpful to create boards. Platforms like Pinterest and Behance allow you to categorize works of different creators you like into various inspiration boards.

   

Ingredients:

• A few drops from different color palettes.

  You may have a set of colors that are required for posts as instructed by your brand. So, whether your creative freedom in this regard is flexible or narrow, you can still use colors creatively by experimenting with various hues and tones. If for instance one of the brand’s colors is a shade of blue, you can highlight it further by using a secondary color that compliments that shade of blue. Experiment with contrasting colors as well but ensure that it does not distract the viewer from the main message of the post – and does not make the text less readable.

     

• A spoonful of aesthetic fonts.

  With minimal and simple design styles trending these days, a lot of power resides in a clear font. Many brands actually accommodate text as a part of their illustration as it has become a key element of design. For a precise, clear message, a smart approach could be to stick to a very crisp, preferably a sans-serif font that is both readable and visually pleasing. Another essential rule to follow is to keep text to a minimum – so the most carefully crafted message in brief text!

     

• A pinch of visuals.

  Each brand/company has a different set of requirements. Product-oriented brands usually always have visuals in between, whilst others use graphics and illustrations. To differentiate yourself from another competitor, positioning and placement of visuals really can set you apart from the rest. Instead of large visuals in the middle of the screen, you can opt. for a smaller sized visual that can balance the entire post with its positioning, along with any supporting text.

     

• Balance, Symmetry & Spacing – As per taste

  Most content is seen across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and many more platforms consists of the standard; visuals, text, and call-to-actions. How does one differentiate one content from another? You might notice a pattern with the most appealing posts across these platforms – it’s the use of negative space effectively, creating harmony through the use of colors and shades, as well as, ensuring symmetry.

      There are many tools to evaluate the effectiveness of your brand’s posts – whether it is through engagement, analytics, or even talkability, but as a designer, you should know you did your job right when your post grabs the viewer's attention instantly.