4 Ways to Make Your Social Media Posts Stand Out

Social media marketing is one way to interact with your customers on a more personal level. It is also a way to attract new customers by getting the attention of people who don’t know about you yet. Attention is a key word in social media marketing. You can’t engage with others on social networks until you first get their attention.

How do you make your social media posts stand out in the feed? Posts that catch people’s eyes and then compels them to share contain a mix of elements that make them more noticeable. People pause on a post for several reasons including:

1. The color stands out in the feed
2. Words in bold fonts attract their eye
3. The message evokes an emotion
4. The information you’re sharing interests them

Let’s explore four ways to make your posts more attractive and compelling.

Color

The colors you use in your post should go beyond reflecting your brand colors. Color can attract attention and evoke emotion. Color Psychology reveals the emotional effects of color. Cool colors – like blues and purples – are said to create a sense of peace. Warm colors – like reds, oranges, and yellows – can be more stimulating but also more disturbing or irritating. Markets know that the color of ads and packaging matter.

When you choose dark colors and low contrast for a post, it can evoke dark emotion or cause your post to sink back visually instead of pop. Researchers found that red, purple, and pink images were shared more frequently than green, black, blue or yellow.

Text On Visuals

Overlaying words on top of images, whether over a photo, illustration, or solid colored background, is a popular design style for social media. The key is to be clear and readable by choosing the right font style and size as well as the right colors. Font styles can also evoke emotion. Bold versus thin-lined, boxy versus curly, each font type can vary in how it makes the reader feel in addition to the actual message. The curlier and more detailed the font, the less legible. Go for smoother, simple lines. If the background is busier, go for a thicker, bolder font.

Motion

A moving picture can be more eye-catching than a static one, even if it is an animated gif versus a video clip. Vary up your post feed adding in some movement. You can easily add animation to graphics you create using Canva or add an animated illustrated or photo GIF using a site like Giphy. Some social networks, like Twitter, have a GIF feature to easily search for and select a relevant animated image to liven up your feed.

While video can also attract attention, a person will likely only see the first few seconds on their feed, and only if the platform allows instant play. Make the first few seconds of your video count. Add words over the video with a compelling message. Use interesting camera angles or techniques to compel someone to stop for a moment and click in to watch more.

Interactivity

People love providing opinion and feedback, if it doesn’t take too long. A quick poll can be just the right type of interactive feature to add to your post to get someone to stop a moment, see your message and your brand, and click a response. If they are genuinely interested in the message or the responses of others, they may stick around even longer to see what other people think or to learn more about the company behind the question.

Using all the attention-grabbing features in a single post won’t automatically make it more engaging but being aware of the psychology behind social media marketing can help you pinpoint what will work for you. Pick the elements and styles that are appropriate for the channel you’re on, your audience, the message you are trying to convey, the emotions you want to evoke, and the actions you’d like people to take.

Bottom line: You can’t predict what people will like or share, but you can, over time, create more likeable and shareable content by paying attention to what works – and what doesn’t.