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#SMTLive Recap: Social Media Design On a Budget | Social Media Today

Social media has become significantly more visually focused over the past year or two.

Instagram, a visual-first platform, has helped launch entire brands on its own, and study after study has shown that videos are now more important than ever for generating engagement with consumers. Even Twitter, which has built its business on short text communication, has just launched new camera tools to increase its visual focus.

With all this in mind, we decided to ask our #SMTLive community about “Social Media Design on a Budget” and how you can boost your visual efforts online when you may not have all the resources of big brands to do so. Here’s what they said – and don’t forget to follow our #SMTLive hashtag to keep up with our latest Twitter chats (they happen on Twitter every second and fourth Tuesday from 12pm to 1pm EST – you can RSVP here).

Mind on my money, money on my mind

To pay or not to pay, that’s always the question when it comes to social help. Like the ratio of men to women in liberal arts colleges, #SMTLive chatters were split about 40/60 as to who chooses not to pay for social media design resources and who does.

We love kicking off these chats with a poll. Q1- Does your marketing team budget/pay for social media design tools? (If yes, which tools do you use?) #SMTLive

— Social Media Today (@socialmedia2day)

When it comes to what tools they use, there was more variation. @taryn_grisham uses the more in-depth Creative Cloud program, but looks to Canva for the quicker stuff. Canva in particular was brought up a few times in these answers, probably because it’s so user friendly.

A1: We use @creativecloud programs for the majority of our design projects, but also look to @canva for quick graphics. Both are great to have in our design toolkit! #SMTLive

— Taryn Grisham (@taryn_grisham)

Some participants gushed over their in-house designers, too.

A1. We have a budget for some design tools, and an amazing in-house designer. But we’re aware that some of our clients have limited design resources/expertise, so we try and offer content with them in mind #SMTLive

— Easypromosapp (@easypromosapp)

Brand kits galore

We all know that having a brand kit is important, so we asked #SMTLive participants what their brand kit essentials were when it came to visuals. Answers included mood boards, fonts, colors, and more.

A2. In addition to brand guidelines, I think that mood board-style guides really help convey to a team how a brand should stay consistent on social media. #SMTlive

— Ellen Matis (@ellenmatis)

A2
I try to start at the BASICS:
– What fonts do we use?
– What colors do we use?
– Which emojis are off-limits?
– Do we have hashtags that are always required on visuals?
– Set intro-outro for video?
– What is the approval process?#smtlive

— Phoebe McPherson (@pnmcpherson)

Hi again, Canva.

A2. It helps to have a brand identity kit that enforces all the communication, tone, style and visual guide (colors, fonts, types etc) to maintain consistency with social visuals. Also a few templates on Canva goes a long way #SMTLive

— Charu Misra (@charumisra)

Words are important when it comes to visuals, too.

A2: A visual #brandguide consists of font(s), hex codes, font sizing, words to use and stay away from, tone of voice, logo(s), etc. #SMTLive

— IMI (@iMarketingInc)

The more you know.

A2. I like to start off by checking out similar brand’s visual style guides (some make them publicly available) and using those as a template for designing my own, with some addictions and cuts made as needed. #SMTCHAT

— Taylor Barbieri | 文珠玲 (@Taylor_Barbieri)

Color me branded

Color has always been one of the most important aspects of brand recognition. The psychology of color when it comes to branding is actually pretty in depth and fascinating (more on that in this infographic). But if you’re just getting started and feel confused about how to use color strategically, #SMTLive had answers for you this week.

A3: On top of using a primary color palette, playing with saturation and contrast can make a big difference when it comes to creating consistency and brand-recognition. #SMTLive

— Spencer Ballard (@spencerjballard)

Because filter has to do with not only color, but also brand recognition:

A3 cont: And while we’re at it, I’m going to include filter in “color”. Don’t confuse your audience by having too many filters on your feeds! Pick the ones that flow and roll with it. #SMTlive #SocialMediaBranding

— CourtneyCrossJohnson (@CCrossJohnson)

Good point! And colors have different meanings in different cultures, too – important to remember if (when!) your brand goes international #SMTLive

— Easypromosapp (@easypromosapp)

Video killed the radio star

If visuals rule the social media marketing world, then video content is king. That’s why it’s a bummer to hear that people have a harder time with their video content production than any other type of visual. Thankfully, the SMT community on Twitter chimed in with all kinds of advice for video content production.

A4: We use @Wibbitz to assist in our video creation when we’re not relying on our graphic designers.#SMTLive

— IMI (@iMarketingInc)

@Animoto is a great tool for cool videos. Been using it for a while already.

— Anastasiya Sasnakevich (@sasnakevich)

There were a heap of interesting and valuable insights shared. Again, make sure you tune in to the next #SMTLive chat on Twitter on March 27th.

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Trump’s 2020 attack strategy: Smear Biden over mental fitness By Eric Bradner, Ryan Nobles and Dan Merica, CNN President Donald Trump and his allies have zeroed-in on an attack against Joe Biden, going after the presumptive Democratic governmental nominee’s mental physical fitness in a coordinated effort using smears and innuendo to paint him as ill-quipped to be President of the United States. Trump for months has questioned the mental skill of the opponent he calls “Drowsy Joe.” Trump last week described Biden as “a sleepy person in a basement of a home,” and he has actually repeatedly recommended that Biden did not personally write declarations issued by his project criticizing Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. His project and the Republican National Committee have progressively focused its attacks on Biden’s tendency for on-camera verbal stumbles in recent weeks, as it looks for to define Biden after he emerged triumphant from the Democratic primary. One example came previously this month, when Trump’s campaign launched an ad comparing Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, which closed with the line: “At least Bernie remembers his positions.” https://twitter.com/parscale/status/1247928262036258816 The attacks are an early demonstration of how Trump will utilize the full Republican politician Celebration apparatus to run a scorched-earth campaign based upon personal insults and unwarranted insinuations– a heightened variation of his playbook from 2016, when Trump and his allies, without proof, called into question Hillary Clinton’s health. They have actually become a daily occurrence from Trump’s campaign, assistants and Republican allies throughout every medium possible– on social media, in campaign e-mail blasts and videos and on Trump-aligned media companies like Fox News. Biden’s advisers and Democratic allies mention that Trump is guilty of many of the same verbal tics he is attacking Biden over, and often lies and embraces conspiracy theories. As one Biden ally put it: “Has Trump taken his own guidance and downed a gallon of bleach yet?” The attacks weaponize Biden’s propensity to stumble over words, utilize the wrong word or interrupt himself in the middle of long answers by stating, “anyhow,” and altering course. To fans of a former vice president who in December 2018 called himself a “gaffe maker,” those long-time spoken tics have always belonged to Biden’s public persona. They are made more forgivable to his advocates by Biden’s openness about conquering a stutter. Aside from periodic jousts amongst assistants on Twitter, Biden’s project has mostly neglected the Trump project’s attacks. Biden-world’s view is that the political and media landscape has actually shifted because 2016, when every Trump attack on a rival was treated as novel and took command of the project narrative on social media and cable news. His consultants pointed to Trump’s stopped working efforts to guide the political discussion in the 2017 Virginia governor’s race, when he and his GOP allies cautioned of the MS-13 gang, in addition to the 2018 midterms, when Trump’s message concentrated on caravans of refugees approaching the US-Mexico border. ” The misapprehension that whatever Trump wishes to speak about is inherently efficient and that he gets to act as the media’s at-large task editor has actually been closed,” a Biden consultant said. As Biden has adapted to marketing in the age of coronavirus– knocked off the campaign path and rather transmitting occasions and interviews from a transformed rec room in his basement in Delaware– Trump’s project is seizing on every on-camera miscue, with conservative Trump allies such as Fox News host Sean Hannity then magnifying them. ” His sharpness, or absence thereof is on screen every day, every time he talks,” Trump project spokesperson Tim Murtaugh informed CNN in response to concerns about the technique. “His failure to keep a train of thought going is obvious.” Biden frequently looks down at his notes, which Trump’s allies have actually mischaracterized as Biden dropping off to sleep. Trump’s boy Eric Trump tweeted a seven-second video from Biden’s online broadcast with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, along with the hashtag “#SleepyJoe.”. https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/1255213748811374596. Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign supervisor, said Trump “always projects his biggest weakens on his challenger in an attempt to deflect criticism from himself.”. ” What is very clear is the White Home thinks his presidency will be evaluated on how properly he is managing coronavirus, so it makes ideal sense that he is now attempting to accuse his challenger of incompetence, which is ridiculous.”. The attacks resemble how Trump’s campaign pursued Clinton in 2016, Mook noted. Trump and his campaign frequently cast the former secretary of state as sick or unhealthy, a technique that was further elevated after Clinton stumbled after a September 11 occasion in New York due to concealed pneumonia. ” I simply see a pattern regularly from 2016 all the way through now, which is, he attempts to predict his most significant issues onto his opponents so he gives the media a false equivalence to attempt to muddy the water,” Mook stated. “Part of the factor he was so obsessed with calling Hillary Clinton dishonest is because he is probably the most deceitful individual to win the White Home.”. Biden advisers argue that Trump’s efforts to caricature Biden won’t overcome the same qualities that insulated him in the Democratic primary: After 5 decades in the public eye and eight years as President Barack Obama’s No. 2, voters feel like they know him. Biden frequently expresses distaste for attacks on his rivals’ character. His aides say that by questioning Biden’s mental capability, the President is guiding the project toward concerns of character and fitness. ” This is asinine to tee up– since it’s 10,000 times even worse for him,” a Biden adviser stated. As an example of how easily Trump could be parodied, Biden’s assistants indicated a video from The Daily Show in which Fox News hosts and analysts’ comments about Biden’s mental skill were interspersed with videos of Trump’s own verbal flubs. Biden spokesman Andrew Bates tweeted The Daily Program’s video, which has been seen 3.6 million times on Twitter, on March 25, in action to Trump spokesperson Matt Wolking tweeting: “When is the last time Joe Biden was lucid?”. https://twitter.com/AndrewBatesNC/status/1242886701002960896. ” Triggering voters to assess prospects’ mental states is a devastating proposal for Donald Trump, so we’re never going to prevent him from going there,” Bates said. – CNNPolitics.

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Posted May 3, 2020