But in order to take full advantage of social media, your content needs to stand out from competitors. And with the social media landscape being so crowded, it can be challenging for your business to cut through the noise.

And that’s why we’re here today with the top five tips to generate social media content that resonates with your audience…

#1 — Understand your audience

The first and most crucial step is understanding who your audience is, what they care about, and what makes them tick.

For example, Pew Research Center reported in 2021 that roughly half of all Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 use TikTok, making it a crucial platform if you’re trying to reach a younger audience.

Remember to…

• Analyze the patterns, needs, and preferences of your audience demographics
• Conduct surveys and ask questions
• Engage with your audience to get valuable insights
• And more

The key is to tailor content that is relevant to your audience demographics. It should always resonate with them.

#2 — Create a content strategy

A well-defined social media strategy can help you focus your efforts on reaching your social media objectives. The best way to create a social media strategy is to first identify your goal — and then, of course, develop a plan to achieve them.

To put it all simply, once you have your determined goals, you need to decide…

• How often you will post
• Which types of content you will create
• What channels you will use
• How you’ll measure your goals
• And more

A comprehensive content plan will save you time and ensure your content is consistent and within your brand guidelines.

#3 — Use visuals

Visual content is a powerful tool to attract and engage social media users. Posts with visuals tend to get more likes, shares, and comments compared to those without visuals.

Infographics, photos, and memes can provide extra mileage to your posts. Use high-quality visuals that are aesthetically pleasing and consistent with your brand. Moreover, don’t discount the power of video content.

After all, “91% of active Instagram survey respondents say they watch videos on Instagram weekly,” according to Instagram itself.

#4 — Leverage trends and hashtags

Trending topics and hashtags provide opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences and boost engagement. They expand the reach of your posts, increase visibility, and help you stay relevant.

Also, monitor trending topics and hashtags that align with your brand and are highly relevant to your audience. But remember, Instagram isn’t the only platform that uses hashtags. TikTok and LinkedIn both utilize hashtags, too.

“Hashtags on LinkedIn help you discover topics and interests most relevant to you, and give you the opportunity to engage with them,” as explained by LinkedIn. “All hashtags start with a # sign, followed by a keyword or phrase. Some examples of hashtags include: #Productivity, #Careers, or #SocialEntrepreneurship.”

#5 — Experiment and test

Last but not least, truly effective social media content creation comes down to experimentation and testing. Experiment with various types of content and utilize the ones that work best for you. Monitor insights and analytics, like engagement rates, likes, and shares, to determine what resonates best with your audience.

It’s important to continuously evolve your social media content and adapt accordingly so that it continues to engage and captivate your audience.

That being said, generating social media content may seem like a challenging task. However, with the right tools, planning, and mindset, it could be turned into an enjoyable task with measurable results.

The post Our Top 5 Tips for Social Media Content Generation appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term “typography”, it’s the strategic arrangement of type in order to make written language readable and visually appealing. In graphic design, typography’s two main purposes are to:

1. Communicate a message
2. Promote legibility

If one’s typography is failing in either of these objectives, it can greatly affect the desired response from the intended target audience.

Anyone in the field of design or marketing understands how important brand recognition is, and car companies are among the most recognizable in the world. In early 2021, Kia noticed that companies like Nissan, Volkswagen, BMW, and GM were all rebranding and decided to hop on the bandwagon. Their solution to an outdated and juvenile logo was to design something bold, stylized, and immediately recognizable.

They succeeded in all of those and still, unfortunately, missed the mark.

The shortcoming stems from the legibility of the logo, which is lost due to how the company decided to connect the K and the I to the A in the middle of the name. One could argue that the legibility here is a matter of opinion and that the logo clearly reads KIA, but you can’t argue with Google Analytics.

According to Google, over thirty thousand people a day Google the letters KN, thinking that the stylized logo is portraying a backward N instead of an I and A.

While the new KIA logo isn’t the worst logo taboo we’ve seen before, it is a detrimental one and has clearly been confusing drivers since it was unveiled. Here at Mad Men Marketing, we understand how important it is to have a brand logo that not only speaks to you and your business but is legible and above all, effective.

The post Kia’s Confusing Logo appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

We won’t beat around the bush. We’re talking taglines.

If you’re in the process of brainstorming a tagline or have yet to figure out how to work a tagline into your brand identity, don’t worry, we’re here to break it all down:

Tapping Into Taglines

Cambridge Dictionary defines a tagline as “a short, easily remembered phrase that a company uses in its advertisements, especially on television or the internet, so that people will recognize it or its products.”

In fact, you can probably recognize more taglines than you realize. Tell us: Which brands do these taglines belong to?

• I’m Lovin’ It
• Just Do It
• Think Different
• The Happiest Place on Earth

Now, let’s stop to consider what else these taglines have in common. Simply put, they cultivate a positive sentiment among their audiences, thereby influencing the overall decision of would-be consumers.

So if you were to determine how “successful” your tagline is, you might try asking yourself…

• Is my tagline memorable?
• Does my tagline evoke a positive feeling that resonates with what I’m selling?

Tag, You’re It…

It’s important that you don’t just think of your tagline as a line of copy to go on your product packaging. From food, to products, to theme parks, and more…. A brand’s tagline is arguably one of the most enduring elements featured in its overall identity.

That’s why the power of a tagline cannot be overstated: Because first impressions won’t be the last.

“Taglines also have the potential to build value over time,” as explained by Forbes. “When you use a tagline for long enough, it can become one of the most memorable parts of your identity. Audiences may even become more likely to remember your tagline than your company name.”

Conversely, keep in mind that a bad tagline has the potential to negatively impact your brand, so choose wisely.

Interact, Don’t Interrupt

With that being said, if you’re only beginning to dip your toes into the wide waters of marketing — or if you are otherwise unsure of how far your efforts have taken you in the past — there is no shame in reaching out for help.

“In essence, catch what your company or brand stands for in as succinct a manner as possible,” Marketing Epic advises. “When in doubt, it’s always beneficial to consult your marketing or advertising agency for guidance.”

Thankfully, Mad Men Marketing has the wit, the know-how, and the creativity to help you craft your tagline with confidence.

After all, here at Mad Men Marketing, we are rooted in the belief that brands should interact with their customers, not interrupt them — in fact, it’s in our tagline — and we’d love to help you do the same.

So, are you ready to interact? If so, contact Mad Men Marketing today by calling (904) 355-1766!

The post Just Do It: Write a Powerful Tagline appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.

We don’t need expensive cameras to take quality photos. Our cell phones can take such high-quality photos, and most people can’t tell if they are taken with a phone or professional photography equipment. The camera can’t do all the work, though.

There are a few key tips to keep in mind while you’re trying to capture that Kodak moment.

#1 — Light it Right

Lighting is one of the most important tools you can utilize when taking photos. An easy tip to remember is to ensure your subject isn’t backlit, and that the light is shining down on it directly or coming at it from an upper-diagonal angle. If the light hits it from the back, you’ll be left with a dark, indiscernible green smoothie bowl, which is social media blasphemy.

You can combat this in a few ways:

• The first way is to make sure your light source is coming from behind you (facing the subject).
• You can also take the photo in HDR mode.
• The third option is to fix it in post-production.

#2 — Shoot in HDR Mode

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. In HDR mode, the camera will typically take two, three, or more photos at different exposures in quick succession, and then blend them together into one image with detail in both highlights and shadow.

Smartphone cameras that have the HDR feature usually offer the option to switch the HDR setting to On, Off, or to set it to Auto-HDR. Having HDR set to “On” tells your phone to capture a high dynamic range image every time a photo is taken.

#3 — Understand Depth of Field

Creating depth of field with your phone camera is a really cool way to up your Instagram photo game. When you’re shooting, always take into consideration the foreground, middle ground, and background in relation to the subject of the photo.

Let’s say you’re taking a picture of a subject some distance away from you and you want the subject in focus and the background blurry — simply tap your subject and wait for a yellow square to appear. Shooting in portrait mode on your phone is a great way to effectively highlight the depth of field, too.

#4 — Learn the Rule of Thirds

Rule of thirds, also known as the golden grid rule, is a technique where a composition is aligned to a three-by-three grid.

By dividing a composition into three grids, we section it into nine imaginary rectangles with four intersections. The focus subject is aligned at one of the intersecting points or close to them. This creates an asymmetry in the composition.

In Settings, tap Camera, and then enable the Grid option. That’s all you have to do to turn the feature on! Your next step is to apply the concept: remember to put important things along the lines.

#5 — Have Fun With Camera Angles

Playing with unique angles can help your photos stand out and offer you a variety of options to choose from when it comes time to post. Angles can create the illusion of depth and height, making your images more interesting to look at, thereby generating more views.

TIP: Try lowering the angle to create a new perspective instead of shooting straight down.

#6 — Use Negative Space Appropriately

Negative space is the area surrounding the main subject in a photograph that is left unoccupied. Basically, it’s the space around the subject that helps define the positive space (or main focus).

Leaving a large amount of negative space in the photo can emphasize scale and simplicity, but make sure you are using it correctly.

TIP: If you’re trying to highlight the subject in the photo, make sure you’re taking the photo close up and filling the frame with the subject. This will reduce the surrounding negative space.

#7 — Tasteful Phone Editing

We could break down each category of editing you can utilize on your phone, but for simplicity’s sake, we want to highlight the three tools that can really elevate your photo:

1. Brightness: It’s always a safe bet to bump up the brightness a bit unless your photo is already over-exposed. Indoor lighting rarely provides you with adequate illumination for a decent photo.
2. Contrast: Adjusting the contrast ever so slightly helps to make the darks darker and the lights lighter. This can help your image appear less “flat.”
3. Saturation: Delicately increasing the saturation will help to bring out some of those vivid colors that poor lightning may have counterbalanced. Make sure to not overdo this one or you will end up with some radioactive colors.

With over 4.6 billion people around the world using social media, online engagement is higher than ever. That is why it is so important to have content that is not only engaging but aesthetically pleasing. Take each one of these tips into consideration the next time you are taking a photo with the intention to post and you’ll look like a pro in no time.

And the Mad Men Marketing production crews are always ready to step in and help elevate your content for you! So, are you ready to interact? If so, reach out to our team today by calling 904-355-1766!

The post 7 tips on taking better photos for social media appeared first on Mad Men Marketing.