How do you create engaging visual content for social media without breaking the bank?

1 Use free or low-cost resources

You don't need to hire a professional designer or photographer to create stunning visual content for social media. There are plenty of free or low-cost resources online that you can use to find, edit, and enhance images, videos, and graphics. For example, you can use sites like Unsplash, Pixabay, or Pexels to find high-quality stock photos that are free to use for any purpose. You can also use tools like Canva, PicMonkey, or Adobe Spark to create and customize graphics, flyers, logos, and more. And if you want to make videos, you can use apps like InShot, Lumen5, or Animoto to turn your photos, clips, and text into engaging video stories.

2 Follow the best practices for each platform

Different social media platforms have different formats, dimensions, and preferences for visual content. To make sure your visual content looks good and performs well on each platform, you need to follow the best practices for each one. For example, Instagram favors square or vertical images and videos, while Twitter prefers horizontal ones. Facebook and LinkedIn have different image sizes and aspect ratios for posts, ads, and covers. And Pinterest and YouTube require high-resolution images and thumbnails to stand out. You can use online guides or tools like Landscape or Resizer to help you resize and optimize your visual content for each platform.

3 Add your brand identity and personality

One of the goals of creating visual content for social media is to build your brand awareness and recognition. To do that, you need to add your brand identity and personality to your visual content. You can use consistent colors, fonts, logos, and filters to create a cohesive and recognizable visual style. You can also use elements like emojis, stickers, gifs, or memes to add some fun and humor to your visual content. And you can use captions, hashtags, or quotes to convey your brand voice and message. By adding your brand identity and personality to your visual content, you can make it more memorable and engaging for your audience.

4 Mix up different types of visual content

Another way to create engaging visual content for social media is to mix up different types of visual content. You don't have to stick to one format or style for all your posts. You can experiment with different types of visual content to see what works best for your audience and goals. For example, you can use images, videos, infographics, carousels, live streams, stories, reels, or polls to showcase your products, services, tips, stories, or opinions. You can also use user-generated content, testimonials, reviews, or case studies to add social proof and credibility to your visual content. By mixing up different types of visual content, you can keep your audience interested and curious.

6 Test and measure your visual content performance

Finally, to create engaging visual content for social media, you need to test and measure your visual content performance. You need to track and analyze how your visual content is performing on each platform, in terms of reach, engagement, clicks, conversions, or other metrics that matter to you. You also need to test different variables, such as images, videos, graphics, colors, fonts, captions, hashtags, or times, to see what resonates with your audience and what doesn't. By testing and measuring your visual content performance, you can optimize and improve your visual content strategy and results.