Social Media Graphics for Your Campaign

If you have a campaign for a candidate or issue, you need a solid social media game. Graphics are a huge part of that. A scrolling person is much more likely to stop and actually read what you have to say if it is accompanied by an eye-catching graphic. Creating your graphics in-house can save a smallish campaign lots of money. However, if you aren’t really the artistic type, the idea of creating your own graphics can seem daunting. It’s actually pretty simple if you follow some basic rules.

• Your Message:
  • Determine to whom this graphic is intended: voters, volunteers, general public, donors, etc.
    • Craft a clear message for that target audience
    • Include an actionable link. Do you want them to sign up? Register to vote? Donate? Link your graphic to pages that help them do what you want them to do.
  • Set a limit in the graphic of only one or two lines of text
    • Too much text in your post will overwhelm a design and make it seem cluttered
• Your Branding:
  • Include your logo or by-line
    • Your graphic should be instantly recognizable as YOUR graphic
  • Use your campaign colors and shapes
    • Using your campaign and website colors will give your graphics continuity
• Your Design:
  • Keep it simple and use white space for that purpose – no clutter
    • If your design is very busy and has little white space, chances are your message will be overlooked. You have less than a second to appeal visually to your reader. Don’t lose them with clutter
  • Use lines to guide the eye
    • Arrows, straight lines, and icons can all be helpful to guide the eye to your main message
  • Make sure there is a clear contrast between words and the background
    • A hard-to-read message is not going to attract attention. Make sure the word colors contrast well with your background
    • Check out https://colorpalettes.net/category/contrasting-color/ for more on contrasting colors
  • Make the text part of the design with appropriate fonts – some fonts are more formal, some whimsical, some can look childish, and others are fairly neutral
  • Get Noticed
    • Use bold and bright colors
    • Use visual emotional appeals – campaigns are won largely on emotion
    • Tell stories with your graphics
    • Use drama or comedy

This is an American Red Cross graphic. Notice their logo on her blanket and the call to action with “Donate Now.” It is simple, with great contrast and a clear message, all while conveying emotion. https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/

Each social media platform has its own policies for size of graphics, so you should get familiar with them before posting. For instance, a Facebook post graphic should be 1200 x 628 pixels; an Instagram post graphic should be 1080 x 1080, and a Twitter post graphic should be 1000 x 500. The easiest way that I’ve found to keep all this straight, however, is to open a www.Canva.com account. I’ve had a free one for years, and I just recently upgraded to a low-fee business account. In the free version, you can choose from many different sized graphics from a Twitter post to an Infographic or a Youtube thumbnail. 

Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be on your way to bolstering your campaign with simple, yet effective, graphics!