I did a time study for a month and I learned that I spent 30% of my time scrolling and interacting on Instagram on behalf of my clients.
If you’re new here, I am a social media manager for R+ dog training businesses and part of being a social media manager is to engage and interact with others on social media. 30% of my time is spent creating content for these accounts.
Here’s what I’ve noticed from two years of being a social media manager - there are tons of trainers who are sharing incredible and valuable information.
But sometimes, these posts are not getting the likes and shares that they deserve.
Sometimes even I scroll past them because…
they didn’t catch my eye
it was too much for me to read the whole thing
it was too complicated for me to understand
When it comes to making graphics for social media, it’s extremely important to consider things from the audience’s point of view.
Before you post your graphics, you should really ask yourself “Will this catch my attention if I’m someone else reading this?”
Here are 4 tips to level up your graphics for Instagram and Facebook:
#1 Add white space
“White space” is the empty space between the elements on your graphic. Leaving “white space” in your graphic is like giving your reader the space to breathe in between the lines and words.
Something like this can be overwhelming to look at for your reader and makes them scroll past your content:
I usually recommend using no more than 2-3 sentences per graphic. That way your information can be bite-sized and easier to consume/digest, just like an appetizer!
And if you’re like “well there’s a lot I need to address about this topic” then you can provide more information in your caption. You can scroll to read a caption instead of having to read a whole paragraph on an image.
Or better yet, make your topic into multiple posts so you can expand on each topic in more detail! Let your followers know to stay tuned for more.
Personally, I love the second suggestion because now you have multiple content ideas to work from!
#2 Add contrast
Our eyes are trained to look at big flashy things. That’s what catches our attention immediately. Adding contrast to your graphics is an easy way to make them more eye-catching and eye-appealing. This video is a great example of what our eyes are trained to look at first.
So when it comes to adding more contrast, you need to consider:
Font sizes - your slide's headings, or the main topic, should always be the bigger font. The text with the details, or paragraph font, should be smaller.
Font types - Headings can be flashy. If you wanted to, you can use a crazy, silly, curly, or cursive font. However, for texts with more than 1 sentence, you need to use a more traditional font so it’s easier to read. Traditional fonts are called “serif fonts” or “san-serif fonts”. Here are examples of common fonts that you can find on Canva:
Serif Fonts:
Libre Baskerville
Playfair Display
Source Serif Pro
San Serif Fonts:
League Spartan
Open Sans
Source Sans Pro
Color contrasts - Generally, you’ll want to put darker text on a lighter background or lighter text on darker background.
If you like geeking out over fonts like I do, this guide from Canva is a great resource.
#3 Positioning of your text matters
The human eye is trained to read words from left to right (just like in a book). If you have a paragraph in your graphic, it’s easier for the person to read if you left align your text.
However, this is not to say that center-aligned or right-aligned isn’t good. I use those sometimes as well! But when it really comes down to it, left-aligned is always best.
#4 Use portrait sizes instead of square
Even though we’ve always been pretty used to square photos on Instagram, I am noticing the app is gearing toward portrait-size posts.
A portrait-sized post means the dimensions of the image are 1080px by 1350px. It makes more sense to use this dimension because of our screen sizes. It takes up more space on the phone screen, which can capture your reader's attention more easily!
Another good thing about using portrait-sized posts is that they are also optimized for Facebook! We love to repurpose content around here.
Congrats! Now you know how to make awesome graphics for your Facebook and Instagram!
Making these simple changes to your graphics for social media will make your posts stand out.
You spend a lot of time making posts, so it’s important to get the most out of it. You will want to consider things from the viewer’s perspective by making things easier for them to read.
After all, what’s the point of making & posting it if no one’s going to read them?
I know that you have tons of valuable and credible information about dog training. I want everyone to stop scrolling and read your post so they can learn more about dogs and be the best pet parent for them.
P.S. Did you know Canva has free graphic design courses? This one is great for jump-starting your graphic design skills.
As always, if you need additional help with your social media, you can always find me on Instagram or reach out to me at pawsistant@gmail.com. Be sure to subscribe to my email list if you want more social media and content creation tips like this!
