Top tips for consistent branding on social media
Once you've taken delivery of your branding package or logo, it's really important to make sure that you are getting the maximum impact from your image use. Why? Your literature and communications work best for your business when they are consistent with your company's established image and increase your audience through trust and familiarity.
Whether you use Canva, another low-cost app or software from Adobe Creative Cloud, some design principles will help you to be visually consistent. Here are my top tips on discrete but impactful techniques for repeat value.
Make the logo size and placement consistent. If you have included a full branding package from me then I'll show you the sizes that will work best for your logo and which one to use on what image. As a basic rule of thumb place the logo in the bottom right. If you have a typographic logo, chose the right-aligned version if you've been supplied with one.
Keep your fonts consistent. It's very easy to go mad on different fonts but in a small space, the rule tends to be three fonts max. I'd actually cut that further and say it's your logo and one contrasting font only and keep the weights (bold, roman, light etc.) very simple.
Integrate your colours with care. All monitors can vary depending on the calibration, just as each print run may give you a different variation of colour unless you use a Pantone colour, but you should nevertheless apply the colour supplied by your agency or designer at all times. These are part of my branding package (basic to full) and you'll find RGB for the screen, CMYK for print and HEX for the web in each package.
Choose images that suit your ethos but keep in mind your client too. Will they like the image, does it support your service, product or experience? If we've worked on your ideal customer you'll already have an idea of your client values and you can use these in any image searches you do. Do consider investing in a library or a photo shoot with a pro-photographer to create an exclusive bank of images that are designed for your brand.
Use filters with caution. Just like fonts, less is more but pick two or three that you like to customize your images.
Be consistent with your composition by creating styles. MailChimp and Canva both allow you to create templates with styles for headings. In book design, designers use A, B, C and D head with body styles. In web design, we call them H1, H2 and H3 headings but the principle of having a hierarchy of sizes is good to use in any design. An 'A' or H1 heading is the largest one and used for the eye-catching text. B is based on the Ahead/H1 but usually a smaller size. In most advertising, that's all you need along with your body text and a call to action style.
Takeaway
If one of your social media design aims is to increase brand recognition and direct more people to your business, quick and consistent design tactics are key to success. If you'd like to know more then do get in touch for a free, no-obligation review of your social media.