Ready to watch the click count mount on your social media ads?

Of course! But how do you make it happen?

You need to create a stunning design that will compel people to click and engage. You need a design that catches their attention and that they can’t ignore.

How do you do that? Well, it’s more than simply tossing a few decorative elements together and sending it out there.

Check out these 8 tried and true social media graphic design tips to learn how to get those clicks!

1. Know Your Audience

Before you begin creating a design for a social media ad, you need to know who you’re targeting. No matter how amazing your design, you will never appeal to everyone on Facebook at the same time. People have different tastes, and this will affect what catches their attention.

Thus, think about the demographic you would like to reach. Men? Women? Millennials? Baby boomers? Teenagers? People in a certain profession?

Write down everything you can think of to describe the ideal customer in your target audience. Then, tailor your design to colors/styles that would catch their eye.

2. Visuals

There is one element of a great social media design that is vitally important. It’s so important, in fact, that posts including this element enjoy a full 87% of all engagement.

What are we talking about? Images.

All elements of graphic design are important. But if you don’t do anything else, at least add an appealing image or another type of visual to your post.

Be intentional about the image you choose. Don’t slap any old image on your post and call it good. Think about what would appeal to your target audience.

Are you targeting bakers? Maybe try using an image of an elaborately decorated cake. Targeting new moms? Go for an image of babies, baby clothes, or other baby accessories. Mechanics? Perhaps tools or a fancy car.

You also want the image to convey something about your service or product. Use the visual to catch the attention of your ideal client and give them a quick idea of what you can do for them.

Take time to view a few examples of good graphic designs to help fuel your creative process.

3. Contrast

Using contrast in your social media graphic design is another great way to grab attention. Try using high contrast light and dark. Or pick contrasting colors to make the design jump off the screen at the viewer.

Choosing contrasting colors is easy. Simply take a look at the color wheel and choose colors that are opposite one another on the wheel. For example, purple and yellow or blue and orange.

Remember when choosing colors to take the social media platform you’ll be posting on into account. For example, if you plan to post on Facebook, avoid colors that would clash with its blue theme.

4. Psychology of Color

When choosing colors you should also consider the psychology of color. This is the idea that viewing different colors has different effects on the viewer. Blue is calming, while red is energizing, etc.

There is also research that color preferences change as people age. Thus, older folks gravitate towards darker, cooler colors like blue and green. Younger folks, on the other hand, like a bright pop of yellow or red.

Go back to the target audience that you wrote out. Choose colors based on the demographic you want to appeal to.

5. Address Emotions

Everyone always makes completely rational buying decisions. Makes sense, right? After all, we’re intelligent, rational beings.

Yeah…maybe in a perfect world, but not in this one.

People base many buying decisions on frivolous things. Instead of rationally determining if the product has the features they need, they buy it because they like it. This can range from simply liking how it looks to liking the idea of what it can do for them.

So, use emotional language in your post. Talk about what your product can do for them. Tell them how’ll they feel if they use your product. Make them want…need your product.

6. Keep It Simple

Now you have to figure out a way to incorporate or use all the elements we’ve discussed but keep the design simple.

Simplicity is key and cannot be stressed enough. If your ad is visually overwhelming, people will scroll right on by.

Avoid blocks of text that take effort to read. And don’t crowd your post with all your favorites fonts and colors. Pick the one or two that will accurately convey the message you want to send.

7. FREE! Whatever

People love the word free! They love getting free stuff. Plus, being able to try out a product for free (or receiving a free gift in return for trying it) takes some of the anxiety out of shopping.

Buying things on the Internet can put buyers on edge because they can’t touch and examine the product. They fear wasting their money on something not worth their time. Offering something for free is a great way to combat that fear and add value to your product or brand.

8. Do Several Test Runs

Don’t slap together your favorite design and start blasting it all over the Internet. Run a few tests of several designs to see how people respond.

Show them to all your friends and record their reactions (yes, even the negative ones!). Make multiple posts and take note which performs best and on which social media platform.

Test drive several designs before settling on the perfect one.

Social Media Graphic Design Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult

There are a lot of ins and outs of social media graphic design. Each element has a specific purpose and even the tiniest detail can have an impact on whether you get a click or not.

However, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Follow the graphic design tips we’ve laid out here for a simple way to create a design that people will click on.

For more great tips, be sure to check out our blog!