The ultimate guide to social media for creatives

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From Myspace to TikTok, social media has exploded over the last 15 years. A digital space with almost no rules, or a true definition of what it is and where it’s going. It was the unknown, and still is.

Fast-forward to 2019, and social media is mammoth, with huge personalities presenting to an even bigger audience, insane data and gurus. With all this change, structure, and specialised careers coming out of the past 15 years, there is one thing you should know – social media will always change, and you’ve got to move with it.

Where is social media right now?

Right now, as a brand or person of interest entering into social media for the first time, it may be daunting. How are you meant to compete with those giants who seem to have it sussed? Social Media works in mystical ways – okay, not so mystical, but more on the algorithmic, ‘understanding your audience and finding your voice’ side of things. This article will explain those in more detail.

Although these giants may have teams of creatives, copywriters and strategist, you will always have your personality. No large team can recreate that. Being authentically you has never been more desirable, and enables your audience to create a more meaningful connection to your brand.

You don’t need to bring them into your personal life, but let them see you, hear you, and find out what you stand for through your content and tone of voice. Don’t be scared to push those boundaries. How far you push is up to you. Not every piece of content or story will be a home run, and that’s okay. 

It will take time to build up a network of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. So don’t be discouraged – it may also be that you are just not telling it in the right place or to the right people. Keep looking for your audience. They may be in places you don’t expect.

Social media is powerful, but it can be incredibly fickle; don’t let your stats entirely define what to create

The question that comes up all the time is ‘how do you measure success?’ This has had people up in arms figuring out what’s important. What do you want to achieve from your content? Was it to grow your audience or create engagement? Let the intention be the measurement of success, and not your engagement rate or like for like. 

Social media is powerful, but it can be incredibly fickle. Don’t let your stats entirely define what to create. If something doesn’t work, go back and look at why. Review, rework, re-publish and review again. Once you are able to determine what your audience enjoys, where they are and how you would like to show your personality, build on that. Social media is all about escalation.

Read on for a closer look at each of the big players, and how to use them to build your brand and grow your audience. 

Next page: Facebook

Click the image to find out more – and enter the competition

The largest online platform in the world, with over 2 billion active users, but is Facebook still relevant?

Data from taken from the top page categories showed that they have experienced a decline of up to 70 per cent engagement. The worst affected in this case were artists’ pages. However, don’t be put off by the bleak stats. Facebook is in a changing state, so you’ve just got to be willing to move with it. 

Some say Facebook’s publishing tools are a little bloated, but here are a few that you should consider focusing on.

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01. Facebook groups

By creating a group on Facebook, you’re able to connect one on one with your audience. You are providing them with a space in which they can discuss and share their own opinions based on a topic you’ve set. It becomes less about broadcasting and more about collaborating, and with over 400 million people in meaningful groups, it’s a great time to start.

A successful group isn’t easy. You’ve got to give a reason for people to join, and of course, it needs to have some relevance to your brand. Think about what topics you could set. This could be a theme, brand value, collaborative effort — either way, it has to have as much value to your audience as it does to you.

If you can create a home for this topic, you will have created a community with a deeper connection to your brand. This advocacy will create word of mouth, and through that, micro influencers who will become a trusted voice.

02. Facebook messenger

Facebook reported that 53% of people are more likely to shop with a business they can message directly. The best part is, there isn’t a whole lot you need to do to get this started. Make sure you’ve turned on private messaging for your page. You’re using the messenger call to action on your content, and most importantly, you’re replying.

You could explore bots. However, if you are not offering a service that requires an order status, FAQ lookup or some gimmicky interaction, don’t invest in it. Keep it human – apart from the automatic greeting, which is a great way to let people know their message has been received and when to expect a reply.

03. Product catalogue

This tool is free, and it carries over to Instagram. If you are selling products through your website or a third party site, consider setting up a product catalogue, which can be found in your Business Manager. This will enable you to tag products in posts, which comes in handy when sometimes the copy doesn’t call for a long explanation of the products featured in that post.

04. Event pages

These micro groups have come a long way since being the main source of a birthday party invitation. If you are planning on a series of events over the summer, spend the time to build out an event page for each. Cover what to expect, where to buy tickets, and most importantly, keep those interested updated on the happenings by sharing updates to the timeline.

Next page: Instagram

Instagram is one of the fastest growing, visually led platforms. So how can grow your audience by using a personality led strategy? 

It’s a given that your profile should feature some of your work, brand or products that you sell. All these points will help followers to understand what you offer, but how do you really become unique? Here are some top tips for improving your feed.

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01. Hone your focus

Pick a consistency topic. This could be your products, brand values or concept. Merge this with a specialist topic. This isn’t always on-feature but will enable you to expand outside of your normal publishing realms, building an audience that appreciates not only your work, but also your commentary and creation.

For example, if you are an illustrator, your page could feature your work, mixed in with appreciation and/or commentary of other peoples’ illustrative work. By sharing and introducing your passions, you are further injecting your personality and interests. All these traits give a user a reason to follow you, as you are aligning further with their own interests.

02. Focus on individual posts

It’s been reported before, but I’m here to tell you that colour coordinated profiles are over. Ditch the block colours, colour themes and colour matching. Instead, focus on the creative – let it sit jarringly next to the post before. There is a need for less conceited profiles, an injection of the raw and experimental.

03. Don't forget stories

Instagram Stories are more throwaway, but this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your content quality – it just means being more accessible and engaging, and less like a series of adverts. An example would be using a question or poll sticker to support a live draw on stories, documenting each stage with the involvement of your community. Not sure how to use them? Look at our guide to Instagram Stories.

04. Organise your bio

If someone is going to take the time to look at your page, you need to make sure you have any info they might want on there. Make sure you include a URL where they can find more about you, and add an email button so they can get in touch. Story highlights help give an idea of your personality. When you've done all that, it's time to explore personalisation options, for example you might want to change the font on your Instagram bio.

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05. Engage!

If you are going to ask a question or any include any form of a call to action in a post, either on stories or your timeline, make sure you do something publicly and respond. There is nothing worse than seeing a brand ask a question just for the sake of engagement. You can also share other people's content – just make sure you follow the etiquette rules (take a look at our guide to how to repost on Instagram for this). 

 Next page: Twitter and Pinterest

Twiitter is a micro-blogging platform dominated by the media, influencers, journalists, fans and more. What you should be asking yourself is this – do you see your audience or brand on Twitter? There are a couple of ways in which you could approach Twitter, but we are going to look at how you can create awareness.

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Twitter: How to create awareness

The trending page offers the chance for amazing visibility, and being prepared for large public days such as WorldSockDay (only joking.) But it is worth looking at what big days are coming up. These could be from sporting events, TV, national holidays and so on. Preparing assets against these topics ahead is a sure way to get noticed. However, you should always ask yourself before getting involved — can I add anything of worth, will this makes sense to my audience, and will my brand tone of voice come through?

More than anything, Twitter is an opinion piece platform, and works predominantly on creative writing and quick reflexes. Look at the trends of Burger King, Vita Coco and Pizza Hut. Clapbacks at the community or at other big brands can be hit or miss. Where it’s good, it can create a buzz, but it can easily turn into you who’s is being dragged.

Twitter works predominantly on creative writing and quick reflexes

Most actions are done through the app, hashtag or trending timeline view. You will need to get your brand out there. If you can create engaging, relevant, timely and debatable content, then it will throw your brand into the view of any interested parties that tend to frequent the site.

Overall, Twitter requires you to shape out your authority in a topic, be a category leader and find your niche. It’s a busy platform driven more by opinions than visual content. You need to be willing to go and look for your audience, take the time to respond, and create engaging situations to carve out your space.

Read more: Learn how to change the font in your Twitter bio, or explore the designers you should be following.

Next page: Pinterest

With 250 million monthly active users, it’s not a platform to ignore. The question is, do you need an account, or can you just be present by introducing better sharing functions on your website? How about both?

Users come to Pinterest to find pins for inspiration, aspiration and motivation purposes, which you can work to your advantage by pinning against these points to seed content throughout the platform, creating links back to your website. Here are some tips for making the most of Pinterest.

Read more: How to make money on Instagram

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01. Work with what you already have

Start small and build up. Work with what you have. For example, If you’re an illustrator and have a bank of work on facial expressions and features, use those files and start. You could organise them and create sections within your board to separate it by categories – eyes, smiles, happy or sad. Show a potential pinner your expertise, and provide them with inspiration.

02. Use keywords

As mentioned earlier, Pinterest is an image search tool, so use those general keywords in the description, including relevant hashtags, a title to summarise, and always include your website. The optimisation is important — take the time to fill out the small details, as it will pay off in traffic and awareness.

You can also use Pinterest to promote your back catalogue of work for inspiration and awareness. Be sure to work in those keywords when you do, avoiding words like “my work” or “my portfolio.” Instead “Illustrations” with sections such as ‘botanical” or “typography.” Be descriptive. Make your work easier to find by potential clients.

03. Create dedicated Pinterest content

If you are willing to invest, spend some time in Pinterest. You could look at creating some templates, inspiration pieces or how-to style guides. These pins are a great way to build up awareness for your expertise, provided motivation for a pinner. Instead of sharing it as a native upload, pin this work directly from your website, ensuring you are getting traffic back to your page.

04. Pay attention to what works

There are no real rules on how much you can upload to Pinterest and when the best time to post is. Just think about the quality of your pins, and keep a close eye on your top pins, clicks and audience affiliates to better understand what your audience engages with. Discover further opportunities, and find what drives traffic back to your website and why. New pins may take a while to show any results, but check back on those older pins – they may surprise you and receive more attention.

05. Set up your site as a business page

Finally, if you do decide to pin from your website, make sure you’ve set up your account as a business page and claimed your URL by adding a meta tag to your page. In summary, Pinterest is slow and steady, but each pin is an investment in traffic to your website and brand awareness.

This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 283 or subscribe.

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