This is a sponsored post, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. You can read more about sponsorships and collaborations in my disclaimer here.
If you have been following me for a while then you may already know that alongside my blog I also run the community site Plus Size Travel Too. Written by Plus Size Travellers for Plus Size Travellers, it’s a place where you can find everything you need to know to travel confidently and comfortably.
While the site is a reasonably new venture, I have been running the Instagram account Plus Size Travel Too for a number of years. Originally an account that was designed to share beautiful pictures of plus size travellers on their travels, I’ve recently decided to take a new direction with it.
As the accompanying website is all about sharing tips and tricks, personal stories and industry insights, I wanted the Instagram account to follow suit. This meant stripping back from using user-generated content I was used to sharing and instead, creating stand-alone content that provided value.
Enter, social media graphics.
I am a huge fan of the shift Instagram has started to take when it comes to sharing useful and valuable information and as a result, I have been super excited about switching things up. I started creating lots of different graphics and as I pieced things together, I knew that I had made the right decision.
My Top Tips For Making Social Media Graphics for Instagram
I know don’t mention it often here, but when I’m not a travel blogger, I’m actually a Freelance Social Media Manager for a number of different clients and brands. As a millennial, social media is something I have grown up with and after graduating with a marketing degree, going into Social Media Management seemed like the next best step for me as it’s something I can honestly say I’m passionate about.
I spent a couple of years working in the industry before finally setting up my own freelance business in 2018.
So, that leads me to the purpose of this blog post – sharing my top tips for creating social media graphics that people HAVE to engage with.
Stick To Your Branding
This is something I always used to struggle with, but if you’re creating content for a branded account, you need to ensure you’re sticking to the brand guidelines with every single image you’re creating. Whether that means using the correct logo or using brand colours and fonts, people will start to notice if every single graphic you create has a slightly different look and feel to it. Remember, consistency is key when it comes to social media.
Get Creative
One of my favourite things about creating graphics for Instagram is how creative it allows me to be. I absolutely love coming up with a concept and seeing it come to life, especially if it’s a project I have been working on for a long time.
The great thing, however, is that being creative doesn’t have to take as much time and effort as it used to. With programmes like Canva freely available to use, you can create professional-looking graphics in seconds. All you need to do is ensure you have all of the elements you need and within minutes, you could start creating tens to hundreds of different graphics to schedule over the course of the month.
Use Tools Designed To Help You
As mentioned above, there are lots of different tools that are available to help you create professional graphics, without a graphic design degree. For someone who has worked in marketing for years, the rise of these tools has certainly started to make certain aspects of my job much easier.
One of the best tools I have come across over the years is Design Bundles, as they have various different products that are beneficial to social media managers. One of the most common, of course, is their wide range of SVGs. Whether you’re looking for a bunch of flowers SVG or a coffee SVG, you will be able to find exactly what you need to add a little extra pizazz to your social media graphics.
They also offer a wide range of templates that can be downloaded straight into Canva, giving you a lot more choice than the standard templates included in the free version. While I have only been using these for a couple of months, they’ve already proven to be a great asset when it comes to encouraging engagement on posts.
Think About How You’re Going To Provide Value
There are lots of different ways to provide value when creating social media graphics for Instagram, so it’s important for you to decide which ones are best suited to your business. Whether you’re sharing entertaining stories and GIFs or you’re inspiring people with quotes, it will largely depend on your target audience.
For the Plus Size Travel Too account, for example, two ways in which I can provide value are by sharing useful information and inspiring quotes.
Look For Inspiration Wherever You Can
If you’re struggling when it comes to creating content, there are lots of different places in which you can look for inspiration. Whether you scroll through commonly-used hashtags on Instagram or you look for inspiring quotes on Pinterest, just half an hour of scrolling could give you a huge list of ideas. I find that whenever I’m struggling to come up with ideas, a lil’ brainstorming session is all I need to get those creative juices flowing again.
A great tip I’ve picked up is to use answerthepublic.com to find out what people are talking about when it comes to the topics you cover. For me, I can search Plus Size Travel and it will give me lots of different areas to discuss, all of which ‘the public’ are currently talking about.
Although I know it can be difficult to create graphics for social media, there are now so many incredible ways to make the creative process easier! What are your top tips for creating social media graphics for Instagram?
