You want to achieve a soft, pretty, feminine look for your social media branding but don’t know the exact steps to get there. If that’s you, then I’ve got you covered.
In this post, I’m covering five ways to use feminine stock photos for social media branding.
Now, when you think of “branding” – do you think of just a logo? A brand is more than just a logo. It’s a sum of various parts which allows a person to form an overall impression of a company/ person. It ends up being one’s visual elevator pitch. “Branding” is the process of communicating this brand.
Your brand color palette is one of the important visual elements of your brand. Whichever colors you choose to focus on, you will need to bring out those colors in subtle ways through out various touch points with your audience.
Social media outlets such as Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook are some such touch points.
Feminine Stock photos which highlight your brand colors & message are perfect to add in your social media roster. This not only adds variety to your feed, but also helps you post that quick announcement or blog post even on the go.
Here are my top 5 ways to use feminine stock photos for social media branding:
1. Announcements with overlays and text
Want to tell your followers that you are accepting bookings for the next season? Simply add “Now booking for 2018-19” on a photo or a pre-made Instagram background, and hit post.
It is useful to add an eye-grabbing announcement in the image instead of just in the caption below because many people don’t even get to the caption. They simply look at the photo and continue scrolling – even if they may have been interested in your caption! If there is an announcement ON the photo, they will know that this post talks about an announcement which interests them and will stop and read your caption for the details.
Secondly, say your announcement is now 10-15 posts old. If you do not have a text announcement ON your photo, it is hard for you to reference that post a few days down the line. It is also tough for potential clients to find which posts they should click on to actually get to see booking information.
As a business rule, make it as easy as possible for your potential clients to get the most relevant information from you as quickly as possible.
Using stock photos with announcements on them is a great way to do that! You’re missing out on many more people being educated about your offerings if you don’t add text over your photos. No worries, you start now!
2. To start a conversation on a topic
The most important thing on social media these days is the E word.
Engagement.
And there is no better way to encourage engagement on your profile than by YOURSELF talking about key issues & topics you care about. A simple call to action at the end like “Let me know your thoughts in the comments section!” does not work any more.
You can use stock photos which have particular images or items in it to start a deliberate conversation.
For example, use a photo of an iPhone to talk about how to take “technology breaks” or you “tech free Sundays” or things like that.
Use a cosy photo of a blanket, a mug of coffee and a journal to talk about your morning rituals. Or your goals for your small creative business.
There are endless ways of using imagery to spark a conversation. Using pre-made stock photos which have been thoughtfully crafted for such purposes simply makes the process quick & easy.
3. As product mockups
Do you sell products? Do you sell how-to guide or info-products? If yes, you can use flatlays with negative space to add your product to show it off in a natural setting!
There is nothing more convincing to a buyer than looking at a product in a realistic environment instead of simply as a model.
I regularly use mockups to show my designs on my shop.
An added advantage is that by using a stock photo with a cohesive color palette, you also reinforce your brand in that mockup.
You can even use iPhone mockups to announce your new website or your new theme or anything that can be viewed on an iPhone really!
4. Pure Stock as “styled images” to prettify your grids
First up, I would caution you again using ONLY stock photos on your grid. Honestly, using just stock images will not help your brand stand out – because there are thousands of beautifully styled & professionally shot feeds out there.
What WILL help you stand out is sharing honest and real images of your life with a splattering of styled, on brand stock images. My personal recommendation is using styled imagery once every three photos or every alternate photo. For example, Nicole of @lipsbynic does a great job of using her own images with a splash of stock photos from the Modern Rose Gold Social Media Kit for announcements, quotes and fun things like that:
5. Pinterest Posts & Blog Graphics
Do you find yourself writing a blog post pretty effortlessly – when it comes to the writing part – but then spend hours trying to come up with the perfect pinnable image to go with your post? Yea, me too.
Since I’ve switched over to using stock photos along with a standardised overlay for my blog graphics (which are Pinterest optimised a.k.a tall / vertical), I’ve found that I’ve been much more consistent with my blogging schedule. My pain point used to be putting together the non-written bits and now that’s easy.
What’s more – when you use feminine stock photos which are on-brand for your blog & Pinterest graphics, you are reinforcing your brand colors and are creating a cohesive and consistent experience for your audience.
When you audience sees your photos on Instagram and then finds the same or similar images on Pinterest with a blog title, they will know it’s from you even before they click on it – that’s the power of consistent and cohesive branding.
Summary – 5 Ways to Use Feminine Stock Photos for Social Media Branding
Using feminine stock photos for your social media branding will lead to a cohesive, beautiful and consistent brand across channels. You can use stock photos in five ways to achieve this:
- Use stock photos for announcements with overlays and text
- Use on-brand stock images for starting a conversation on a visual social media channel like Instagram
- Use stock photos for your product mockups
- Use pure stock photography as “styled images” to prettify your grid
- Use stock photos to create blog and Pinterest graphics
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