What a Profitable Social Media Marketing Strategy Looks Like (with 4 Real Examples)

We’ve come a long way in the last few years. Back in 2011, the biggest question that people were asking was if social was profitable. Since then, industry conversation has moved from ‘will I see an ROI’ to ‘how to measure social ROI’ and the tools that can help.

Yet, only 15% marketers have proven the impact of social media quantitatively. If you aren’t part of that 15% there could be two potential hitches – you aren’t working with a sound strategy, or you aren’t measuring the right metrics.

[ A sound strategy = targeted content + the right channels]

To eliminate the first possibility, let us study profitable social media content marketing strategies and compare them to our own.

1. ShipServ

Who’d have thought that a maritime e-commerce company would seize the social media opportunity and win at it? Shipping companies seem unlikely to be seeking information on social media, but ShipServ saw this differently. Since no one in their industry had conquered the social space, they moved in full force and established thought leadership in it.

ShipServ supplies software to support shipping companies and connects the industry’s vendors to buyers. In 2008, they were struggling with a host of marketing problems. They were selling technology to people who didn’t consider it necessary and on a limited budget. Creating that change in perception would be a huge task.

They began by studying their audience’s content consumption. They identified keyword themes to work with and planned a quarterly content and SEO strategy. A series of original content was promoted through a host of social media channels, driving traffic back to the main site. The channels they used included their blog, newsletters, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and podcasts. They also ran a white-paper series and created a LinkedIn group.

The result?

400% more leads

150% more contact to lead conversions

3 month break even on the social media investment

(Source)

Takeaway tactics

1) Study your audience. One thing that people forget to do is to study how an audience consumes content, where exactly the look for it and what they look for.

2) Consider your content competition when building out a social strategy. One of the social media marketing mistakes that people make is blind-sighting content competition. ShipServ boomed on social because none of its competitors were on it yet. You need to identify a platform that has your audience and isn’t already monopolized by your competition. You need to share content with a unique value proposition.

2. Lyfe Kitchen

For a food industry product, social media marketing may seem like the clear-cut solution. But Lyfe Kitchen is B2B, a restaurant and grocery product line. A few years ago, this company wanted to increase word of mouth on social media and rapidly expand into new supermarkets. What should their approach have been?

The company ran influencer marketing programs, but with a slightly unconventional approach. They chose influencers who belonged to their high-potential target audience across industries – health and fitness, sports, the fashion world, and moms. In addition to this effort, the company also did tastings for a national sports company and magazine editors. The sports management company loved the product so much that they convinced their clients (sports celebs) to get on board. The editors wrote articles and talked about the product on social media.

The result?

Their product distribution grew from 400 to 1400 stores within a few months of the effort. The expansion was a result of direct requests to stock the product.

(Source)

Takeaway tactics

1) Tap into every vertical of your target audience. Don’t restrict yourself to one target demographic or group. Consider all possible consumers when creating your social media content or planning a marketing strategy.

This company considered influencers across so many verticals, from health and fitness to the fashion industry. They even included influential moms, who may have been instrumental in getting distribution to local supermarkets.

2) Look beyond the conventional. Don’t tunnel vision your marketing strategy. If you think laterally you may be able to accomplish more than just your major objective.

For instance, Lyfe Kitchen could have sent free samples to influencers or interacted with them separately. Turning the activity into an event provided a unique PR opportunity, and to make the Lyfe Kitchen experience more memorable and exciting for potential influencers.

3. Crate and Barrel

Crate and Barrel is a chain of American retail stores that sell home furnishings. Wait, so why did they create the ultimate wedding contest? Well, they did it to drive gift registry creation and engage new consumers in the process of it.

Participants were required to create a gift registry with Crate and Barrel to enter the contest (Note: A requirement like this one to enter a contest often introduces legal complexities). After verification of the registry, the participants could move on to the next stage – submission of a photograph and some answers to questions. The contest was then judged by public voting and a panel to pick the winner of a $100,000 fantasy wedding.

The contest was promoted on the company’s website, on-site in their stores and by advertisement.

The result?

Over 17,000 applicants, each with a minimum registry value of $2,000 (a net value of $34 million)

Direct access and engagement with the participants wedding guests, potential new customers

(Source)

Takeaway tactics

1) Craft marketing strategies that target both current customers, and new customers through them.

Crate and Barrel could have simply worked with the contest applicants, but the registry angle increased their reach exponentially (Please consider legal complexities before creating a campaign of this sort).

The simplest version of this tactic is to share the contest post to enter (which will give you access to your audience’s connections).

2) Make your unique value proposition exciting. A dream wedding of that value was certain to attract large application numbers. It was also compelling enough to make applicants want to get through stage one – the registry.

4. IBM

The popularity of ad blockers tells us this – people are growing immune to advertisement. In this market scenario, how do you reach your target audience? How do make someone willing to consume your content?

At IBM, it is all about people. The focus isn’t on the corporate blog or Twitter id, but the people who make the company. IBM has over 17,000 internal blogs, and a 100,000 active bloggers running that community. People are more likely to listen to other people than they are to a faceless brand.

IBM trains its social champions. They call themselves IBMers, and they are given the tools necessary to build a powerful social media presence. Thousands of people identify themselves as IBMers on Twitter and LinkedIn. I was surprised to see that the company culture remains with employees even when they leave IBM.

The result?

Over $100 million in crowdfunding

Over 40% in gross profit revenues

(Source)

Takeaway tactics

1) Invest in people. Employees, partners, well-wishers. There are over 40 studies to prove that they are more influential than official brand accounts on social media.

2) Use an employee advocacy platform to help your employees share your content on social. Build a powerful employee advocacy program that can achieve incredible reach and drive impact for your brand.

How to Be Profitable While Marketing on Social Media

So far, we have broken down profitable social media marketing strategies for insights. Now let us explore the basic framework that a social strategy requires to be profitable. Here five tips to help you implement a solid and returning social media marketing strategy.

1. Create awareness

2, Blog

3. Focus on the right platform

4. Collect and use audience data

5. Engage with your audience

1. Create awareness

Irrespective of your industry, brand awareness should be on your plan. Your target audience should be aware of the need for your product/service, what concerns of theirs it addresses and why they should choose your brand over others. Ensure that your business is known for something.

Begin by building a solid social media presence.

Organize your blog

Optimize your social media accounts

Participate in the relevant social media communities

Social media success depends on the value you create. You have to give away substantial value to succeed in a market where so much of it is already free. Do it HubSpot style, help potential clients achieve results by sharing free insights from your experience. Several companies see returns from their credibility and reputation on social media.

2. Blog

People seek help on the internet, and social media. It is no surprise that ‘How to’ is a heavily searched term. Your blog could be a powerful platform to field and answer queries that your target audience has. Like we discussed in the ShipServ case study, it is good to know exactly what they are asking first.

Share your expertise (make it unique)

Partner with bloggers and industry experts to create more value

Spend 20% of your time creating blog content, and 80% of it distributing it (on social, in email newsletters)

Your blog is an anchor to pull and hold your social media traffic. Ensure that the loop is complete though. Write blog posts that drive people to purchase your product/services. You don’t have to be promotional about it, you only have to show readers its use cases.

3. Focus on the right platform

Every platform you build a presence on is an investment of your time and money. Look at your budgeting as a mathematical equation. The variables (spends on each platform) on the left add up to the maximum budget that you have on the right.

Prioritize your platforms by their ROI

Accordingly allocate resources to your prioritized platforms

Track your progress and optimize your spends each month/quarter

Sometimes, the cost of work on a platform doesn’t justify what you earn out of it. In such a scenario, you could de-prioritize that platform and push something else up the priority list. Optimizing your effort and spends in this manner can help increase your overall social media ROI.

4. Collect and use audience data

Google Analytics has a module called ‘audience insights’. Based on visitor data, the module helps you understand more about who you are targeting and helps you identify the groups that you aren’t targeting yet. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter also give you demographics and user interests so you can build an informed content strategy.

Pull audience insights from Google and social media platforms

Keep the insights in mind when creating your content marketing strategy

Tailor content on each social media platform based on its audience demographics

Your audience will make a move only when encouraged by exactly the right content. The more you know about them and the more you consciously use that information, the better your conversions are likely to be.

5. Engage with your audience

There are many ways in which you can engage your social media audience. While you should engage them on your platforms, you should also go beyond them to target your potential audience. They don’t have to be consumers, they can be partners or simply enthusiasts.

Target communities, forums, websites and blogs that are popular in your industry

Don’t sell before your audience is ready. Begin by being useful to them regardless

Engage with your target market and people who have access to them

Consistency is key in a community. You have to establish yourself as an expert and really become part of your community. Becoming a thought-leader us even more effective, but that requires staying ahead of trends and covering the evolution of your niche.

It is possible to generate ample revenue from your social media pages alone, but you require clarity in terms of your goals and plan of implementation. With the right tactics, partners and tools, you can surprise yourself with your social media results.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

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21 Top Social Media and Content Marketing Trends for 2018 – The Ultimate List

It’s official. Brands are now fully invested in social media, having extinguished all doubt about the effectiveness of the medium. Top brands are even experimenting with their social media and content marketing strategy by embracing the latest trends.

As we approach the new year, reviewing past social media marketing performance and planning2018’s strategy becomes an important concern. According to our research, these are the 21 key trends that will have the biggest impact on your social media and content marketing strategy in 2018.

1. Brands will feature more User Generated Content

It turns out that consumers’ trust in brands is on the decline, as corroborated by this study, and brands need new ways to gain consumer trust. UCG or User Generated Content plays the perfect solution by humanizing brand content and increasing social media engagement.
According to a study conducted by TINT, about 70% of 500 social media marketers believe that UGC makes their marketing more human and authentic. Lifestyle brands like Starbucks and AirBnb have focused their social media campaigns on UGC right from the beginning. The result? Epic campaigns like this one.

Alternatively, you could consider curating content suggested by employees. DrumUp employee advocacy platform allows employee-users to suggest content.

2. Brands will invest more in reputation management to combat fake news

At the end of August 2017, Pew Research Centre recorded that 67% Americans looked to social media for news. That is appalling, considering that social networks, particularly Facebook, faced serious allegations of influencing the US Presidential elections in 2016. But it’s not just the politicians who are affected by fake news.

A few months ago, Starbucks fell victim to the scalding effects of fake news when a post complete with the company’s logo and standard fonts, claiming that the company would give away free frappuccinos to undocumented immigrants, went viral. The claimant even created a hashtag – #borderfreecoffee. It’s tough to control damage once a post has gone viral, which is why brands will invest more next year in reputation management.

3. Messenger chatbots will grow in popularity

In July 2017, Facebook launched “Discover”, a hub inside its Messenger app, to help developers discover and test chat bots. The hub, which is searchable, catalogues available Messenger bots. This, however, is the least of the support that Facebook has shown towards bots, the most being that Facebook messenger’s core algorithm itself has chatbot features built into it. “M”, Facebook’s chat assistance is aimed at enabling automatic interactions between brands and fans.

Chatbots hold a lot of potential is providing instant customer service, and we know that social media users prefer the platform for customer service and expect quick responses.

4. Brands will invest more in disappearing content (24-hr stories & posts)

Snapchat disrupted social media by introducing disappearing content. Since the launch of the company, every social media platform has noticeably incorporated some form of disappearing content. And social media users are loving it. According to this report, Snapchat gets about 10 billion daily video views, slightly more than Facebook does. Facebook has responded to the competition by introducing Facebook stories, temporary profile images and camera effects.

There’s a lot that disappearing content has to offer to brands, such as the opportunity to experiment and make mistakes, and use the psychological principles of urgency, timelessness and instant gratification in their marketing.

Check out how WWF (World Wildlife Federation) used Snapchat for the #LastSelfie campaign to depict the urgency of saving endangered species.

5. Influencer marketing will go mainstream

According to Pardot’s latest study, 95% of the social media marketers who work with influencers find the partnership beneficial. Since it’s getting harder to focus on certain target groups on social media, and paid advertising isn’t a stand-alone strategy, marketers will continue to rely on influencer marketing to connect with target groups.

Many consumers, especially those belonging to “Generation Z”, prefer organic brand engagement to being force-fed advertorial content. Gradually, social media advertorial content is being replaced by subtly promoted influencer content.

6. Video content will dominate social media feeds

While video content was prominent in 2017, it will grow even more important in 2018 with Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram focusing heavily on animated content. 76.5% of social media marketers who participated in a survey said that social media video marketing had a direct impact on their business.

Owing to the effectiveness of video marketing and the popularity of video content on social media, social media marketers are likely to continue to heavily invest in video content.

Brands use video for anything from product advertisement to general customer engagement on social media.

Check out LG’s #LowBatteryAnxiety campaign, which was a combination of both.

7. Brands will focus more on creating an impressive social media footprint

The “noise” on social media is very evident. Businesses small and large have begun to use social media for marketing and the result is a mess of content, a lot of which is irrelevant to social media users. To survive the saturation, social media users have begun to find trustworthy sources (for instance pages on Facebook) to follow for all of their news. This has made it difficult for brands to engage their target audience on social media, causing a rush between them to attract and keep loyal followers.

In 2018, brands will try to create more impressive social media footprints to keep their followers hooked. An important part of this exercise is the curation of quality content, original or otherwise and staying at the top of any niche.

One way to create an impressive social media footprint is by curating relevant content from your industry using a content curation app like DrumUp. You can also use the app’s @mention suggestions to notify other users when you share their content.

8. Costs of paid social media advertising will rise

As a result of declining organic social media reach in the last few years, many businesses have begun to rely entirely on social media ads (2017 saw a 74% increase in spending on Facebook ads). This in turn has led to a dramatic increase in the number of social media advertisers. As the demand for social media ads increases, so will the cost for social media ads.

True to the demand-cost relationship, CPM for Facebook ads has risen by 131% and CPC has increased by 136%. However, with the wide range of outlets available for paid social ads, marketers might seek to spread their spending across social networks and ad types.

9. Micro-moments & moment marketing will take centre-stage

Social media marketers are feeling the pressure with the increasing costs of social media ads, focus has shifted to better management of ad costs while maximizing ROI. Moment marketing allows marketers to focus their budget around an event that is likely to increase traction for their brands.

Some marketers are spreading their budgets evenly across frequently occurring micro-moments or “anytime campaigns”, such as weather changes, competitor advertising or flight delays. Other marketers are more focused on macro-events like the Super Bowl. Here’s what Oreo did during the Super Bowl blackout.

View image on Twitter

Oreo Cookie

✔@Oreo

Power out? No problem.

1:48 AM - Feb 4, 2013

• 6,851
• 16.1K people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

10. Live video and interactive broadcasting will be utilized more by brands

Several typically televised shows have begun to broadcast using social media. The 69th Emmy awards was broadcast by the Television Academy and CBS on Facebook Live, with the Backstage Live! Show commanding over 2 million viewers.

Live streaming via social has changed broadcasting, because brands can now easily turn any offline event into a live event, instantly reaching far more than the audience they can accommodate at a fraction of the cost. Live streaming also increases engagement because the viewers can express themselves and interact with other viewers during broadcasts.

11. Employees apart from executives will also focus on personal branding and thought leadership

According Edelman Trust Barometer 2017, consumer trust in CEOs is lower than consumer trust in employees. Brands are beginning to encourage all their employees to build impressive social media profiles, just as employees themselves are beginning to take interest in personal branding activities.

In 2017, posts from mid and ground-level employees discussing industry issues began flooding LinkedIn and other social networks. 2018 will only see more of such posts.

Brands stand to benefit a lot from employees’ personal branding, with the benefits affecting everything from brand perception to sales and recruitment.

12. Omni-channel marketing will become all-important

According to a Business Insider study, 47% shoppers engage with brands across 10 or more channels, and such shoppers spend 93% more online and 208% more in stores than other customers. Chipotle and Sephora are two great examples of successful implementation of this strategy.

In 2017, brands spent a lot of money ensuring that customers get a seamless experience across channels, and that spending is only bound to increase in 2018. Until social media merges and brands can target customers on one centralized platform, omni-channel marketing will remain a matter of focus.

13. Mobile-focused content will be prioritized as Facebook makes a 100% shift to mobile

At present about 80% of Facebook’s revenue stems from mobile ads, and Contently predicts that by 2020, 59% of US Facebook users will shift to mobile-only usage. Considering this and the fact that major social media players Instagram and Snapchat are already mobile-focused, social media marketers will focus all the more on mobile next year.

Clearly, mobile social users engage with brands more, and brands can benefit from creating content specifically for them.

14. Instagram will overtake Facebook with brand engagement

Bloglovin, an influencer marketing platform, conducted a survey of 2,500 micro-influencers and found that 60% of them saw better engagement on Instagram as compared to engagement on other social media platforms. The reason for this trend is straightforward. Instagram has mobile-focused functionality and is visual in nature, both of which are effective in engaging today’s fickle and overwhelmed audience.

As Facebook races towards as all-mobile presence, Instagram will build on their already solid mobile foundation, leading the audience engagement game and helping brands achieve their goals.

15. Machine learning will transform how marketers run social media ads

There’s more math involved in social media advertisement than many social media managers might care to manage. Plus, there’s only so much accuracy that any human can deliver. That’s why brands are now investing in machine learning based ad management platforms to optimize their social media advertisements.

There now exist social media ad platforms that can run entire campaigns at optimal costs, given only basic campaign parameters. These platforms are even able to identify and set target audiences and choose campaign creatives based on predictions of what would perform best.

16. Facebook’s affordable VR headset will introduce a new playing field for brands

According to a Bloomberg report, Facebook plans to release an affordable VR headset codenamed “Pacific” in 2018. Bloomberg’s source has hinted that the headset will be unlike any available at present, being a standalone device and requiring no external source of power.

After Facebook’s launch of 360 degree photographs and video earlier this year, one can only wait to see what brands will do with these features once the new version of the VR headset hits the market.

17. Facebook Watch will give YouTube a run for its money

On August 9, 2017, facebook announced the release of a new video platform to view television-like shows called Watch. While the initial response (in the US region) was optimistic, the platform’s video views saw a dip in consequent episodes of the few series that were aired. However, this dip doesn’t seem to be a cause of worry for Facebook, because the platform might invest as much as $1 billion in Watch in 2018.

While many might see Watch as a move to compete with Netflix and HBO, the video platform is actually a direct attack on YouTube. The first round of shows commissioned for Watch star YouTube influencers who will bring their fan base along for the ride. Facebook is likely to monetize the video platform once it has an established MAU community.

18. Chatbots will transform personalized shopping and customer service

Clothing brand Tommy Hilfiger was among the first brands to use Messenger’s chatbots after their release. The brand’s chatbot is more than just a shopping assistant, having the ability to engage in intelligent conversations to the extent of offering fashion advice.

Facebook’s chatbots have proved that social media can drive sales, via automation. A brand doesn’t even have to invest in executive level community managers to engage with prospective customers anymore, as was the norm for community engagement in 2016. Brands can now develop chatbots or subscribe to platforms that offer chatbots to automate chat assistance. This only spells good fortune for personalized shopping and customer service on social media.

19. Brands’ presence on messaging apps will increase

At least 2.5 billion people use messaging apps, globally, but many brands still focus primarily on the web version of social media platforms. In 2018, however, as social networks themselves begin to focus on messaging platforms, brands will also begin to make the shift. Chatbots, in the form of intelligent assistants, will help brands manage conversations with their audience via messaging platforms.

At present, brands are already using mobile-focused platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat to target younger audiences. Some brands are also using Whatsapp and Hike to communicate directly with prospective customers.

20. Augmented reality & 360-degree video/photography will dominate experience marketing

Today’s audience wants an immersive experience, according to a YuMe study, and brands are working at giving it to them. The existence of AR and 360-degree video/photography helps. For proof of the fact, let us consider the following example. Hong Kong Airlines’ 360-degree ad was found to be 35 times as effective as its 2D version.

AR and 360-degree video/photography contribute an additional dimension to a customer’s experience, making it more immersive and memorable. Brands can use this to bring their audience into their offices, stores and events.

Check out this 360-degree selfie by 301i.

21. Behavioral data will drive marketing decisions

The advancement of social media technology has enabled marketers to track behavior of users, giving them more insight into the performance of their marketing activities. Until now, most marketers have relied on analytics that measure engagement as events. They are now beginning to rely on analytics that measure audience behavior.

Since social media platforms are becoming more mobile-focused, event-based analytics aren’t enough to understand and predict audience behavior. Behavioral data gives social media marketers insight into what engages their audience and how they can create more audience-centric content.

Summarizing the top 20 social media marketing trends for 2018 –

1. Brands will feature User Generated Content more 
2. Brands will invest more in reputation management to combat fake news
3. Messenger chatbots will grow in popularity
4. Brands will invest more in disappearing content (24-hr stories & posts)
5. Influencer marketing will go mainstream
6. Video content will dominate social media feeds
7. Brands will focus more on creating an impressive social media footprint
8. Costs of paid social media advertising will rise
9. Micro-moments & moment marketing will take centre-stage
10. Live video and interactive broadcasting will be utilized more by brands
11. Employees apart from executives will also focus on personal branding and thought leadership
12. Omni-channel marketing will become all-important
13. Mobile-focused content will be prioritized as Facebook makes a 100% shift to mobile
14. Instagram will overtake Facebook with brand engagement
15. Machine learning will transform how marketers run social media ads
16. Facebook’s affordable VR headset will introduce a new playing field for brands
17. Facebook Watch will give YouTube a run for its money
18. Chatbots will transform personalized shopping and customer service
19. Brands’ presence on messaging apps will increase
20. Augmented reality & 360-degree video/photography will dominate experience marketing
21. Behavioral data will drive marketing decisions

                                                                                                                                       Feature image via Pexels.com

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6 Simple Photo Tools for Creating Social Media Visuals

Are you including images in your social media content?
Looking for easy-to-use tools to help you create images for your content strategy?
If the idea of using Photoshop makes your head spin or hiring a graphic designer isn’t an option, there are many easy-to-use, low-cost alternatives available to you to create social media graphics.
In this article, I’ll show you 6 easy tools that will help you create compelling graphics for social media.

#1: Use PicMonkey’s Online Photo Editor to Take Your Images From Good to Glorious

PicMonkey‘s free option has a wide variety of frames, special effects and font types to choose from.
With a touch of a button, you can crop and resize your photo, and add text to your images.

Choose from a wide variety of free fonts on PicMonkey to create appealing images like this one with PicMonkey.

The paid option offers additional features that include more frames and photo effects.
PicMonkey is a great solution for all types of social media images. Not only can you create graphics for your posts, you also can make banners and buttons for your social media accounts, such as Facebook.

#2: Express Yourself Through Photos and Creations on LiveLuvCreate

LiveLuvCreate is an image-creation website most anyone will find easy to use.
With LiveLuvCreate, you pick from a variety of design layouts—from one image as a background to a collage of graphics. You can use images from your computer or choose from LiveLuvCreate’s library.
Choose up to three text areas with a range of font types, colors and styles.
You may also select borders, filters and photo effects for additional image enhancements.

An example of a social media graphic you can create on LiveLuvCreate.com.

Once you complete your graphic, you can share your creation on Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook, or download the image to your computer.

#3: Create Your Own Designs With Canva

Canva is a free application that offers a myriad of graphic types for use in everything from presentations and posters, to business cards and invitations. For social media use, consider Canva to help you design Facebook cover photos and blog images.

Canva offers many different layouts to help you create compelling and shareable social media images.

If you’re signed into Facebook, Canva can pull in your photos. You can also upload your own graphics from your computer, or purchase from Canva’s stock image library (most images are only $1 US).
Additionally, Canva has a unique feature where you can collaborate with other users, which is great if you need to share or edit your images with someone else.
Canva is currently under closed beta, but you can reserve your username and be placed on a waiting list. Then, you can try Canva out once you gain access to the beta version.

#4: Use Image and Photo Editing Software From Paint.NET

If you want some of PhotoShop’s capabilities, check out Paint.NET as an alternative.

Paint.NET is a free download for PCs and offers many of the same features available in PhotoShop.
It supports layers, has unlimited undo capability and offers special photo effects, including red-eye removal. You can also draw shapes, add text and recolor your images with Paint.NET.

You can easily crop any image on Paint.NET and then resize to your specifications.

Because Paint.NET is a free download, tapping into the user community is the best way to get help with how to use it. Check out Paint.NET’s online forum for help, tutorials and plugins.

#5: Design Unique and Compelling Presentations With PowerPoint

It may come as a surprise to see PowerPoint on this list, but it offers another easy way to create social media images.
Any PowerPoint slide can be saved as a JPEG or PNG. Just click on Save As, and then select JPEG or PNG from the Save as Type drop-down menu.
PowerPoint then asks if you want to export every slide or just the current slide. Select Current Slide Only, and you have an image file of your PowerPoint slide. If you’re comfortable using PowerPoint, take advantage of this capability to create social media images.

#6: Make Awesome Collages With PicCollage

Don’t forget that compelling social media images can include snapshots, and when you want to creatively display these types of photos, check out PicCollage.
PicCollage is an app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
Once you download the app, use photos from your Facebook account or camera stream to create collages.
Select a background on PicCollage, add your photos, then text and stickers to your image. PicCollage also allows you to resize, rotate, edit and delete any of your creations. When you complete your collage, you can share your image on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can choose from many different layouts for your collage. Photo courtesy of PicCollage.

Use PicCollage to creatively display photos from a client event, office party or conference. Or pull in a favorite quote and surround it with images.
With a little creativity, PicCollage helps you create social media graphics that show a more personal side to your business.

Final Thoughts
While hiring a graphic designer or learning to use PhotoShop may be the best solution, it’s nice to know you have alternatives to help you design graphics to share on social media.
When you need help to create social media graphics, consider any of these tools to help you get the job done.
Do your research. Finding the right image design tool is a bit like trying on shoes; you need to choose the best one to fit your needs. You may find that it’s best to use multiple platforms to create your social media graphics, like KJ Ammerman who likes to use Picmonkey and Canva.

KJ Ammerman likes to use Picmonkey for backdrops, Canva for layout and then back to Picmonkey for text.

What do you think? Do you use other image-creation tools besides PhotoShop? What other sites or apps would you recommend? Share your comments and suggestions in the comments box below.

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