YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA NEEDS IMAGES
We know what it's like. You have activated the perfect campaign. You have all the assets pulled together and taken over your desktop. And now you need to take some of that success and share that content across the universe. The problem? If you aren't a graphic designer, figure out what sizes that content needs to be. And also - how to make it actually look better than what your incredibly adept 3rd grader can do.
We put together a graphics cheat sheet for brand marketers to make it a bit easier. In this blog, Hollywood Branded shares our favorite ways to create content with this graphics cheat sheet for brand marketers, as well as an infographic we found incredibly helpful.
Our Favorite Software We Can't Live Without
We used to design in Photoshop and Illustrator. Everyday and all day long. And we still do... however it's pretty rare now. And finding team members who are well-versed in these platforms isn't all that easy. Lots of people 'do' Photoshop. Few as quickly or as well as we want to have it done. Plus the software is quite expensive and always has a new update to purchase. It's just not something realistic for everyone to have on their laptops at small and medium businesses.
Our entire team blogs for our agency - and part of that job duty is to create the images that go with the blogs. This can range from the social media post, to title images for the blog, to the infographic or even animated video that accompanies the blog post. And we want to make it as easy on everyone to be able to 'do' graphics. Or having everyone on board to help with this marketing task would go out the window.
Then our team attended a webinar that listed top tools for productivity, and of the dozen or so we loved, one has remained at the forefront and is used on a daily basis with our agency. And by everyone - from interns to social marketing teams to myself as the CEO, this software tool is so easy, that if you have the basics of having a good eye for color and lining things up evenly, you win. And if you don't, it has tools to help with that too.
I promise ANYONE can look like an expert graphics artist nowadays.
The software is called Canva - and we suggest you try to sign up for the free version to test it out, and then sign up for the professional version to help make your life easier! Trust us - it's a major time saver.
The other software we can't live without is called Piktochart, which is used for designing infographics. What? Do YOU design infographics? Trust us, it's easier to do than you think once you have some stats and facts - and the results are wow-worthy!
And then last (at least for this blog), but certainly not least, is an animated software tool called Powtoon. With music and voiceover capability (you can even hire someone from within the program) to fun little animated characters that tell your story - whether you are creating a presentation to grab consumers or just to wow your colleagues, this is a fun one!
There is another similar product you can check out called Visme. It's basically a cross between Canva, Piktochart, and Powtoons in that it allows you to create your standard graphics or infographics and add interactivity, animation, narrated presentations, and record voiceovers.
And then there is the brand logo. That's an entirely different beast altogether - and something that should be one of the most important parts of a brand's marketing plan. Luckily, in recent times, online logo makers have evolved to a point where anyone can 'logo' something special - very easily. Whether an agency that is mocking up ideas for a brand, or even when that starring TV role comes calling for a product placement opportunity - and the brand manager realizes their logo just doesn't pop well enough on screen. Or it needs to be 'slightly' changed to allow for what is called Greeking on set - which makes the network ad salespeople more willing to pass their eyes over the brand's appearance in the scene when a couple of changes are made to the name and logo. Online sites provide crowd-sourcing or DIY software options to create that perfect design - quickly, and affordably.
A Size Guide For Everything You Need To Know
Quick References
- Facebook Image Sizes
- Cover photo: 815 px wide by 315 px tall
- Profile image: 180 px wide by 180 px tall
- Highlighted image: 1200 px wide by 717 px tall
- Shared image: 1200 px wide by 630 px tall
- Shared link thumbnail image: 1200 px wide by 627 px tall
- LinkedIn Image Sizes
- Background image: 1500 px wide by 425 px tall
- Profile image: 400 px wide by 400 px tall
- Career cover photo: 974 px wide by 330 px tall
- Banner image: 646 px wide by 220 px tall (minimum)
- Standard logo: 400 px wide by 400 pixels tall (maximum)
- Pinterest Image Sizes
- Profile image: 165 px wide by 165 px tall
- Board display: 22 px wide by 150 px tall
- Pin sizes: 236 px wide
- Instagram Image Sizes
- Profile image: 110 px wide by 110 px tall
- Photo size: 1080 px wide by 1080 px tall
- Photo thumbnails: 161 px wide by 161 px tall
- Twitter Image Sizes
- Header photo: 1500 px wide by 500 px tall
- Profile image: 400 px wide by 400 px tall
- In-stream photo: 440 px wide by 220 px tall
- YouTube Image Sizes
- Video uploads: 1280 px wide by 760 px tall
- Channel cover photo: 2560 px wide by 1440 px tall
- Tumblr Image Sizes
- Profile image: 128 px wide by 128 px tall
- Image post: 500 px wide by 750 px tall
- Google+ Image Sizes
- Profile image: 250 px wide by 250 px tall
- Cover image: 1080 px wide by 608 px tall
- Shared image (on home stream): 497 px wide by 373 px tall
- Shared image (on feed or your page): 150 px wide by 150 px tall
Turning Your New Content Into A Blog
Content marketing is not a 'future' marketing tool. It's a 'must do now' in our opinion. One of the best ways our agency has found to market ourselves is not through traditional sales cold calls - but through content marketing. Every single day we hear from someone who has read our content and found it valuable enough to reach out and start a conversation. One big component of that overall plan is our blog, which we share with our subscribers based on a weekly email, or RSS feed. Each week we post up to 5 unique blogs written by our team, that talk specifically about content, celebrity and influencer marketing, best practices, and case studies.
And when we were first starting out with the plan to launch our blog, we truly didn't know where to start. Saying you are going to do a blog, podcast, or social media anything is a whole lot different than actually DOING the blog, podcast, or daily social postings. If we had read this blog, How To Start A Blog (Step-By-Step Guide) by Richard Goodwin when we first started, we likely would have saved a lot of time and made fewer mistakes along the way.
Whether your brand is a B2C or B2B marketer, you have content that can be shared through blogging. It's a powerful tool that not only makes your brand that much findable through SEO - but it allows your future and current customers to have insight on who your brand is, and how it is differentiated. As a case in point, we encourage our clients to share the entertainment and influencer marketing programs we create on their blogs and social media - it just adds an additional leg to your marketing machine.
Need Exciting Content?
So now that you have some great hints and tricks for making content, you may be asking yourself what would be exciting assets to use. Content from celebrity events is one popular option that always gets high engagement.
With celebrity event activations, you can get photos of celebrities with your product while also obtaining press. Download our celebrity event planning calendar to see what event options exist where you can obtain tangible assets that can be shared with consumers, media outlets, and retail distributors to impact your sales.
