Social media is threatening to overtake every “traditional” form of digital media, whether it be search engines, blogs or email. The prevalence of social media in our day-to-day lives makes it a very ripe platform for content creators and marketers, but only those who have a solid strategy will succeed in using it. Since social media can incorporate the sharing of virtually any form of content, it is a primary target for brands and businesses. When creating content that is eye-popping and attractive, what rules should you follow? Today, we’ll discuss some stylistic tips for social media content creation that you’ll want to incorporate into your content creation strategy.

Include Powerful Images

Whether you’re writing a quick post or creating an infographic, social media content creation should produce things that catch everybody’s eye. It is absolutely essential to use images on social media for maximum engagement, but even images themselves may need a bit of tweaking. If, for instance, you’re pinging users with an infographic, then you want the images in the graphic to be more prominent than the text. You can use a combination of contrasting colors and intriguing imagery to get the job done, but catching the eyes of readers and visitors in their status feeds is best done by using powerful images – even within a larger image.

Utilize Videos Wherever Possible

While it may be more difficult to create a video than most other forms of content, engagement rates on social media often justify doing so. With anywhere from two to three times the engagement when compared to a text-based post, hammering home your point with a well-designed video just makes sense. You’ll want to keep the video short – no longer than three minutes – and include professional imagery wherever possible. This can be anything from stock photography to high-definition footage; just make sure that the content within the video itself is good and adheres to the principles we discussed in the previous paragraph.

Share Some GIFs

Most social media platforms now support animated GIFs. This is one of the easiest forms of content to make and share, and is wildly popular among most people. You can use a sassy GIF to summarize a situation, an excited GIF to promote a new event or product, or something entirely different for…well, just about any occasion. Pinging users with high-quality, low-effort forms of multimedia like GIFs almost feels like a cheat, as it can generate plenty of engagement for next to no work. Ultimately, focus on using high-quality GIFs that capture moments from currently popular movies, TV shows or memes for the best effect. If you want to add your own text (recommended), then there are plenty of GIF editing services available on the web that’ll let you do so in just a couple of minutes.

Your social media presence should be equal parts style and substance. In order to capture people’s attention, you need to offer them content that catches their eyes while scrolling through dozens of other pieces of content. By using eye-popping imagery within your content, promoting the use of GIFs and incorporating video into your content marketing wherever possible, you’ll be able to effectively accomplish your goals.