Best Practices For Social Media Content Creation
Author: Kierra Shreffler
Content Creation
When it comes to content creation, it is best to have some creative tips and tricks prior to posting on your social platform. In today’s world, social media influences each and every one of its users. For businesses, social media provides a mostly free way to advertise and gain buyers and followers. With that being said there is going to be some competition within your niche. The difference between an average social media page an experienced professional-looking page is having the knowledge of what content your audience wants.
When thinking about creating content, there are psychological ways to gain trust and insight into your posts. Colors, symmetry, editing skills, and graphics, just to name a few, help your social platform gain a nice follower count.
Editorial Calendar
Editorial calendars offer a wonderful way to organize and plan all or content creation for the week, month, or even year. When using an editorial calendar, it allows you to stay motivated and keeps you on track when to post to your website, blog, or feed.
How do I make an editorial calendar?
Google Sheets
Microsoft Excel
Any free website you can find
All you need to make a basic editorial calendar is a website like Google Sheets, however, I love using the website Trello.com. Trello allows you to plan and add content to an actual calendar. At the end of the day, it all depends on the creator's style of organization. You can use a basic calendar or if you like a fancy one too that works as well!
Example From Trello
Color
Color plays a huge role in playing with people's emotions. Color subliminally controls a buyer's emotions. Have you ever wondered why Lowes’ logo is blue? That is because the color blue oftentimes represents trust, dependability, and loyalty. A hardware store might want to have a dependable reputation, this is why companies use certain colors for certain logos.
Click to see more color examples
Say you own a non-profit organization that is wanting donations for your animal shelter. When creating the content for your viewer, you are going to want to use a color that makes people feel bad for these poor animals. You might want to use colors like black and blue. These colors together portray a sad mood and make people feel empathetic towards your cause.
Psychology of color helps promote posts on your social media feed. It also allows you to show an aesthetically pleasing theme. This provides a feeling of trust for your views because your page looks professional and clean.
Graphics
When using best practices for content creation, making sure that you have great graphics for your feed is very important. When you have graphics, you show your viewers you are able and capable of creating trustworthy content. There are many free websites you can use instead of downloading actual graphic design software. One website that is great for simple and effective graphics is Canva.com.
Below are examples of Canva infographics:
Infographics are great for educational and informative use.
Photography
Great photos on your feed provide your viewers with great content. Photos do not have to be super crazy and busy, infant people like simple photos that get to the point. When taking a photo, it isn’t necessary, but it helps to have a good quality camera like a Nikon or Canon. However, a phone camera can do just the trick if you make sure to edit and capture your photos in a creative way.
Some things to watch for when taking a picture:
Symmetry
Lighting
Contrast
Clarity
Empty space/ a too busy photo
Perspective
Great photo characteristics
Display of emotion
Simple storytelling
Unique moments
Unique lighting and color
Light play (with lights and darks)
When taking simple pictures, it is important that you make sure you are using the rule of thirds to get the message across.
RULE OF THIRDS:
“In photography, the rule of thirds is a type of composition in which an image is divided evenly into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, and the subject of the image is placed at the intersection of those dividing lines, or along one of the lines itself.”
The rule of thirds helps focus the viewer on a specific object in the picture. When advertising it is important to make sure that whatever your business is trying to sell, you have it placed correctly in the frame of your picture.
Above in the image, the deer is the main object, it is placed on the right side of the image because it is looking to the left. The way the deer is looking lets the audience follow and “move” through the image. The image tells a story, and the use of the rule of thirds helps convey that story. You wouldn’t want to place the deer on the left side, because the story the picture is trying to tell would stop abruptly by the image boundary. The rule of thirds sets a focal point for the viewer and guides the view throughout the image.
Editing
Editing content is one of the most exciting parts of creating content. This is when you are able to let your creativity shine through. When people view unique edited photos, it sparks an interest in them. A great software for editing is Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. There is a monthly package you can purchase that is worth every penny. This software allows you to remove un water backgrounds, merge photos, and so much more.
If you aren’t interested in paying for a software, there are tons of free websites online.
Below are some images I edited on Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
Editing videos
When editing videos it is important to keep them short and sweet for advertising. When you advertise, most people will continue scrolling if they don’t like what they see. This is why it is important to get to the point as quickly as possible. The more time you take, the more likely the viewer is to scroll.
When creating longer videos, it is extremely important to use jump cuts
What are jump cuts?
Jump cuts are when you remove all the extra footage between talking in your videos. Using jump cuts helps draw viewers in that may have a shorter attention span than others. The constant cut in the videos mimics a real-life conversation that is fluid and fast.
Watch how nigahiga uses jump cuts right from the start
Conclusion:
When using all these tips and tricks for your digital content creation, you are almost guaranteed more viewers, customers, followers, or whatever your platform has! Let your creativity flow and don’t be afraid to make trendy and bold content pieces.
Sources:
https://www.elleandcompanydesign.com/blog/2015/3/18/the-psychology-of-color-in-branding
https://coschedule.com/blog/social-media-best-practices-for-business
https://www.slrlounge.com/glossary/rule-of-thirds-definition/
https://blog.promolta.com/5-editing-tips-to-keep-viewers-watching/
https://apps.kodakmoments.com/top-10-tips-for-great-pictures/
Webs of Influence, by Nathalie Nahai