The shape of the visual identity on social media and its dimensions with 7 sources, a complete guide

The visual identity on social media is one of the most important foundations for the success of your business. The customer needs a visual image to recognize you, just as others recognize you through your characteristics. We can liken the visual identity to a human face you meet somewhere and then pass by. Then you close your eyes and can recall its details again. The more beautiful the face is, the more its image will stick in your imagination. Thus, the visual identity forms the facade of your business.

Try to remember how many times you were able to recognize the famous Pepsi brand without reading the brand name. Or Nike sportswear just because you saw this sign (✓). Visual identity includes employee uniforms, the company’s website, business cards, papers and correspondence, company advertisements and publications, and social media accounts. With the massive spread of social media sites, it has become necessary to build an attractive presence there. Through it, you can target and stay in constant contact and closeness with customers. So what is the role of visual identity here? This is what we will answer in this article.

Visual Content Ideas (Making Social Media Visual Identity Look More Familiar):

You should consider incorporating your visual identity into your posts and other media for your company accounts. Using your logo, fonts, and colors, will increase your customers’ engagement with you and enhance your presence with them. Here are some ideas that can be used to market your identity:

1- Graphic designs

It is one of the most attractive content with its variety of graphics and colors. It can be used to tell the company’s story or to deliver a specific message to the audience. It is okay to support some of your posts with designs with bright colors that are consistent with your goal and in an exaggerated manner. It is also recommended to avoid repeating the same colors in each design to avoid creating a state of boredom for the customer.

2- Videos

An effective element that reflects the form of visual identity, as it is superior to written content. A story that takes the reader half an hour can be shortened in a video to only five minutes! It provides flexibility and diversity in content.

3- Quotations and texts

For example, linking a company’s message to a quote from a famous businessman can create an impression of trust among customers.

4- Screenshots

Save your customers a lot of effort by choosing some shots for the user interface of your app, for example, or to explain how to use it.

5- GIF animations

Suitable for displaying quick ads and updates, due to its small size compared to video.

6- Graphics and images

It can be used to harmonize with speech, add a visual element, and diversify the content. You should also remember that it constitutes 90% of the information that the brain receives daily.

Tables and charts (infographics)

It’s a great way to summarize a paragraph, simplify its content for the reader, and engagingly convey straightforward statistics.

Sources for great ideas to inspire you to build the perfect visual identity:

Easy-Peasy generates great headline ideas, measures their strength based on criteria like length and how many words express emotion, and provides tips for improving them.

Quora has an Arabic and English version. It is a platform where users exchange questions, answers, and experiences. It is considered a real treasure trove of reliable information due to its strict sharing rules to prevent weak content. You can get free benefits from entrepreneurs and experts there.

Pinterest has millions of images and ideas shared by users around the world. Here you can find decor ideas, food recipes, nature photos, fashion, and visual identity design ideas. Inspirational quotes and posters and is a great choice for visual feed.

Google Trends shows the trending topics in each country and provides accurate statistics about the activity of a niche at a specific time. You can also compare more than one topic to choose what suits you and know the countries that are interested in it.

The Hesoub.io community is similar to Quora, but it is based on discussions and questions together. It includes many categories such as Harvard Business Review, Technology, Movies, Entertainment, Explain it like I’m 5 years old… and more. There is only an Arabic version of it.

Buzzsumo enables you to know the type of content preferred by social network users, by entering a specific niche in the search box. And to see competitors in your field and enable alerts to inform you of everything new they publish. It also provides the ability to add a work team to help you.

Google Books Search Here you will find thousands of books in various fields. All you have to do is enter keywords and be ready to receive information. Podcasts, discussions, news, and social media. Follow influencers in your field of activity and notice the different reactions of followers. Follow with the eye of a critic, not a spectator, and analyze every piece of content you come across to identify its strengths and weaknesses.

Visual identity measurements on social media

Today, there is a group of sites that provide ready-made templates for social media, perhaps the most famous of which is Canva: It includes hundreds of templates, posters, and logos that can be modified. Other sites include:

vice: Provides multiple options for creating visual content and includes more than 50 charts, tools, and maps. It was created specifically for sharing projects via links.

Pablo: Great for social media marketers, no login is required to use it. It has over 600 images and filters and you can resize, share, and download images.

Designer: Its interface is very similar to Canva, and it contains many images, templates, vectors, and posters. All of these sites are professional in quality but are suitable for simple projects and modifications.

However, if your company is large, you will need specialized designers to create the visual identity, and this is what we help you with, as Khutana provides content management and social media design services. These are some measurements for social media sites, and if you want more accurate measurements for other social media sites, you can leave a comment on the platform that needs measurements:

Twitter

Profile photo 400×400 pixels.

Cover size 1500×500 pixels.

Media 220×440 pixels.

Facebook

Profile photo 170×170 pixels.

Cover 820×312 pixels.

Facebook post 200×630 pixels.

Instagram

Profile photo 110×110 pixels

Instagram photos 1080×1080 pixels

Instagram stories 1080×1920 pixels.

1920×1080 pixel video.

YouTube

Profile picture 800×800 pixels

Thumbnail 1280×720 pixels.

Cover 2560×1440 pixels.

How to build a visual identity on social media?

We have previously explained in the visual identity guide its 7 elements and their importance in the success of any business – a comprehensive and detailed guide that you provide the appropriate visual identity by conducting some research and studies related to your product and audience. So that you know your product, what benefits does it offer? What is the right way to promote it? What category is it targeting? Who are your competitors? Pay close attention to how they identify themselves, and what visual elements are common to them. You should also ask yourself who is the consuming audience?

Are they men, women, or children? What is their standard of living and education? How can your product help them? Are they indigenous? Does the language and colors of the visual identity match their taste? By knowing your audience, you can determine the initial form of your identity by brainstorming and conducting a SWOT analysis. Which is based on identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The Japanese ikigai analysis, can be summarized by the following questions: What do you like? What are you good at? What might you be paid for? What does the world need?

Here the role of social media sites becomes more prominent. A statistic by Backlinko revealed that social media users exceeded 3 billion in 2021. This means that you will find the category interested in your product. Which will be attracted to you through the form of the visual identity and the correct way of promotion and providing valuable content. Here is the Instagram account of OREO, one of the largest biscuit-manufacturing companies in the world. Notice how the company’s visual identity is mixed with daily posts and the diversity of content between entertainment, enrichment, social, and providing recipes. It was able to attract 3 million followers and increase its profits and production and did not limit itself to marketing through its website only despite its fame. This article will help you know Social media marketing is an effective way to market different services: 9 tips .

Tools for marketing visual identity in social media

The functions and features of social networks vary depending on the company’s goal and the options are diverse. Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. The goal is not just to prove your presence and publish routine content as most companies do. Here you should stop for a moment to develop a thoughtful content schedule and monitor the times of activity of your category and the most interactive posts based on interaction statistics. After collecting this data, you determine the most appropriate platform for your activity and start paid promotion campaigns. To increase brand awareness, attract more customers, and increase interaction rates and visits to your site.

Hootsuite is a platform for all social media accounts, through which you can schedule and publish content. It provides you with accurate statistics about the engagement on your accounts.

Buffer allows you to manage your social media accounts, schedule posts, assign a team, and grant permissions to each person.

Visual identity form on social media and its elements

Visual logo (the basis of the visual identity form)

It can be a word or a specific symbol and it is like the top of the pyramid that connects the sides to the base. In other words, it is the most prominent element in your visual identity and what distinguishes you from other companies. It interconnects with other elements to form a clear image of you.

audio logo

A short statement that expresses the company’s vision and goals. It should be brief (three to four words), innovative, easy to pronounce and understand, and relevant to what the organization offers.

Fonts

Any type used to express your vision, so make sure to choose a simple, easy-to-read type. There are logos of global companies that depend entirely on the type of font, such as Amazon, FedEx, and Google. But each one of them is distinguished by its own colors and style.

Colors and graphics

There are specific connotations for each color, as each color expresses a specific meaning and has a deep impact on the soul. Yellow symbolizes optimism and joy, pink symbolizes kindness and femininity, blue symbolizes purity and calm, and black symbolizes luxury and elegance. Considering the nature of the product, determine the color, taking into account choosing clear graphics that are directly related to it. Have you ever noticed that pharmaceutical companies carry the color blue or green? While food companies such as McDonald’s are based on the colors yellow and red? You can also notice the variety of colors of the visual identity of the Google Workspace application package and the difference in the geometric shapes used. Do you find any extra color among them that does not serve the company’s aspirations, such as pink, for example? The combination of these colors carries a connotation of breaking the stereotype and striving to innovate something new, according to designer Ruth Kedar.

How does the visual identity affect the customer?

• Repeated viewing of a company’s visual identity over the long term encourages customers to buy and interact. This is in response to their curiosity and to answer internal questions such as: What does its flavor look like? What services does it provide? Or who is this company? Therefore, care and sufficient seriousness must be given when designing the visual identity because it is the face of your company, as we mentioned earlier. Through it, you will attract customers and remain in their minds.

• A study has proven that consumers do not buy a product just for its usefulness! But because it has succeeded in establishing its identity in their minds. It has become part of their lifestyle, and we are naturally more reassured by a popular product, and we tend to try what others have tried before.

• The speed of forming a first impression in people is estimated at 0.1 seconds according to Research from Princeton University. During this short period, your brand can be seen as trustworthy. Or attractive, or perhaps the opposite, which makes this stage very sensitive.

After reviewing your visual identity more than once and trying your product, the customer enters the marketing funnel stage, which is the stage that begins with his awareness of you, then interest in what you offer, and then he becomes convinced that your product meets his need. Then comes the final stage, which is the stage of loyalty and advocacy for your product, and thus the form of the visual identity affects him.

What is the difference between visual identity and brand? (Is the visual identity the same as the brand?)

It is a mistake to use one term instead of the other, thinking that they have the same meaning. The difference is that the visual identity can be seen, as it expresses the company’s activity with the elements we mentioned earlier. (Logo, colors, fonts, prints, employee uniforms, etc.) and is determined and developed by the company. The brand, as defined by Seth Godin, “is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships combined. It represents the consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” It expresses the customers’ impression of the company and what distinguishes it, as it is determined by them exclusively, and it is difficult to change it because it is part of their mental image. A designer cannot create a brand.

We can give an example of Apple, which has a strong cultural, voluntary, and institutional project. Due to the excellent services and advertisements it provides, it has been able to leave an emotional impact on its customers, which motivates them to use its services and become part of it. And not because of the Apple logo, so this loyalty to Apple is what creates its brand. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not there.”

What is the importance of visual identity?

• Make your company stand out in a crowded market. Can you imagine what it would be like if all companies had just a dry name? Would it be possible to differentiate one from the other?

• Ease of recognition and distinction for the public. Like Pepsi and Starbucks, just looking at their logo will remind you who the company is, what they offer, and when you last bought their products even if you don’t remember the name.

• Focus on the value you offer and the company’s vision, establishing the value and quality of your products and what the company aspires to.

• Protect your rights and sue anyone who tries to exploit your name by legally registering it in your name, which gives you the authority to prosecute the thief.

• Facilitates the sale of new products. Visual identity supports the brand by increasing customer confidence in the company and strengthening the relationship between them.

• Create a visual image for your store and associate it with customers’ minds in the long term, especially on social media. Unify your products under one image.

• Build trust between your audience and your business and leave a lasting impression.

So, we can summarize the above by saying that visual identity is everything your customers can see. From your logo to your company’s interior design, it is one of the components of the brand. It should not be overlooked to market it on social media sites to increase awareness about it and more accurately target potential customers. One of the most important factors for the success of the visual identity is the simplicity of the design, graphics, colors, and lines that express the company’s identity. Proper promotion of it, and focusing on leaving an emotional impression without neglecting the quality of the product. Through it, you can present yourself strongly and leave a distinctive mark, especially among competing companies.

Discover more articles:
Visual identity 7 elements and their importance in the success of any business – a comprehensive guide
4 types of Visual Identity and the Path to Business Growth

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