I’m no expert on social media…
I work with a bunch of talented people who are, but as GFM’s Director of Creative Development, my specialties focus more on making things look good. When I go to a business’ Twitter account, I don’t see bad tweet etiquette (of which I’m certainly a perpetrator) or better ways to incorporate a hashtag. Instead, I see missed opportunities concerning their visuals. Making social media platforms look good is incredibly simple, yet many businesses seem to ignore the importance visuals have on their success.
As a home brewer and beer lover, I follow just about every brewery in Colorado on Twitter, plus a bunch of my out-of-state favorites. I’ve noticed recently that very few of them have any sort of cohesive look when it comes to their headers, profile pics and accent colors. If you’re assuming your followers all know your product, then it’s less of an issue, but I immediately found myself being turned off by breweries I’d never tried when their visuals were lacking. How am I supposed to believe that your beer is amazing when you haven’t even taken the time to make sure your header is the right size?
Rather than calling any of them out, I figured I’d break down some of the key issues and how to resolve them by using a fake brewery as an example. Ladies and gentlemen, Ben’s Beers:
Notice how the blue accents have nothing to do with the color in the logo. The header is a generic, pixelated, stretched picture that does absolutely nothing to differentiate Ben’s Beers from the competition. With a couple of minor changes that took 15 minutes, Ben’s Beers 2.0:
The changes aren’t drastic, but they’ll end up making a big impact. Images aren’t pixelated. Typefaces match. Colors are cohesive. Most importantly, I’ve called out something special about Ben’s Beers by showcasing one of its best products.
Some of the best businesses in town have lackluster visuals on their social media platforms, and I’m not totally sure why. Sure, a bad Twitter header isn’t going to singlehandedly destroy a business, however, a good one can mean the difference between gaining a new customer or losing them to a competitor who simply looks better.
