It’s now common knowledge that Facebook posts tend to perform better where there is an image involved. Posting out a straight up status update as a brand is risky, and if you’re going for that approach, you’d better hope that what you’re saying is going to make people sit up and take note! To take the ambiguity out of the process, you’re best to stick to the general consensus and add images in wherever possible. Of course, these can feed straight through from links you’re posting, but when something needs scheduling or updating directly, it’s nice to tailor images accordingly.
Here’s where it’s tricky. Especially if you’re a big brand, you can’t really just pinch a photo from google that you don’t actually have any rights to. Of course, you have the option of using creative commons images to add a great accompanying shot, and there are some great free-to-post images on there. However, they don’t always have what you need and so you have to settle for something less than ideal. Short of bringing a huge camera everywhere you go with someone to operate it in tow, you may well find yourself stuck.
If you were a designer, you wouldn’t have to deal with this, right? You’d know how to create something perfectly fitting for the theme or topic of what you’re posting. But of course, not everyone has these skills. It’s understandable, we all have our strengths, and besides – not everyone has been lucky enough to benefit from the training!
Luckily, there are plenty of options out there to rectify this. If you’re the aforementioned big brand, you’d be crazy not to invest some of your marketing budget into design. You could freelance stuff out, but honestly, who knows your marketing strategies better than the people dealing with it day-to-day. Train them up, and they can produce graphics and edits just like the professionals. Xchange Training are just one company who offer courses for creative and web professionals, and as they deal in so many areas and serve a fair few regions, there’s a chance for everyone to get involved. No matter whether you want to learn PhotoShop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver or almost any other technique, they’ve got you covered!
In the meantime, there are a few handy little online tools you can try. For example, if you want to try making some little graphics which will grab people’s eye in just a few simple minutes, Canva is a great choice. If you’re considering presenting information in a varied way, PiktoChart is fantastic as well, as it allows beginners to create visually interesting infographics.
However, there is only so much that free tools can do. We can all stand to learn something, so sometimes, to improve our social media abilities, we’re best picking up an entirely new skill set.