Social Media Gold: How to Make the Ultimate Social Media Kit for Your Brand

How to Make a Social Media Kit: What to Expect

Are you tired of spending hours searching for the perfect images and graphics to use on your social media accounts?

Do you find it difficult to consistently maintain a cohesive and on-brand image across your social media channels?

If so, it’s time to create a social media kit.

A well-designed social media kit is essential in helping your brand stand out. It’s one of the most powerful business tools for delivering an engaging message on social media.

This guide breaks down everything you need to know about social media kits, including five steps for how to put one together.

By the end of this guide, you’ll understand how to effectively promote your brand on social media and improve your SEO.

Here’s what’s covered:

What Is a Social Media Kit?

A social media kit is a collection of customized marketing materials, including logos, graphics, written content, and images, that a business uses to promote its brand on different social media platforms.

When you share your content across various channels on social media, it can be challenging to maintain a consistent look and feel that highlights your brand.

Having a social media kit helps to ensure that your content is on-brand, cohesive, and visually appealing on all relevant platforms and devices.

This can help strengthen a brand’s image and increase consumer recognition.

What Is Included in a Social Media Kit?

A social media kit intends to provide relevant and share-worthy information about a company or brand to its target audience on social media.

It typically includes a company overview, photos, videos, contact information, social media links, hashtags, a digital logo, sample posts, and any other content that highlights a brand’s best features and benefits.

Here’s a breakdown of what you should include in your kit:

Profile and cover photos:

Images on your social media profiles, such as your profile picture and header image.

Logos:

Visual symbols that represent your brand and can be used in various contexts, including social media posts, website graphics, and marketing materials.

Brand guidelines:

A description of how your brand should be presented and used, including color palettes, typography, and tone of voice.

Templates:

You can use pre-designed layouts to create social media posts, such as Instagram story templates or Twitter header templates. This makes it faster and easier to customize your assets.

Graphics and images:

Visual elements that you can use to add interest and appeal to your social media posts, such as photographs, illustrations, and infographics.

Written content:

This can include social media captions, hashtags, and bios, as well as any other written content you might use on your social media profiles.

Why Do You Need a Social Media Kit?

Instead of searching for or creating new materials each time you want to share something on social media, you can use the assets included in your social media kit.

This can save time and ensure you can consistently share high-quality content on social media.

This is an essential benefit for any business or organization looking to promote itself on social media effectively.

If used correctly, social media kits forge positive consumer perceptions, brand recognition, and customer loyalty.

This, in turn, significantly improves website traffic, sales, and market visibility.

What Is a Social Media Kit Template?

A social media kit template is a pre-designed set of materials used as a starting point for creating a social media kit.

The template aims to help you gather and organize the necessary information. Bloggers and influencers can gain a business advantage from using these templates to post numbers on social media.

Most importantly, using a social media kit template saves a ton of time and streamlines the creation of a ‘distribution-ready’ kit.

This is particularly helpful if you don’t have much time or resources to create a social media kit from scratch.

Additionally, templates make creating and publishing social media posts smoother and quicker.

How To Make a Social Media Kit in 5 Steps

STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR BRAND IDENTITY

Before you can create a social media kit, you must have a clear understanding of your brand.

This includes your brand’s:

• Values
• Mission
• Vision
• Target audience, and
• Unique selling proposition (what do you offer that differentiates you from your competitors?)

A strong brand identity will help you create consistent and cohesive messaging across your social media channels.

Once you know your brand identity, you can focus on creating content and images that reinforce this identity.

STEP 2: CREATE BRANDED CONTENT

At a minimum, a social media kit should include a selection of branded graphics and images, such as logos, banner images, product photos, and other visual elements that help to promote your brand.

There are various tools and services to help with creating great branded content.

Here are three methods that will leave you with attractive and professional designs:

The DIY Method

Research and try out a full-featured user-friendly design tool that you can use yourself. Look for a product that is reputable, easy to use, and cost-effective.

One of the most popular and highly-rated tools on the design market is Canva.

Canva offers a repository of 250,000+ free templates and 100+ design types, leaving users spoiled for choices. It’s simple to use and can help you create quality designs in an instant. The simple drag-and-drop interface makes customization easy.

Design Contests

Launching a design contest is a fail-safe method of getting great designs from extensively vetted professionals.

One of the most popular tools in this space is 99designs. 99designs makes it super easy to access and work with professional, creative experts worldwide.

The best part?

Talented graphic designers compete to present you with design options, so you get the luxury of picking from various options. In addition, you can continue working with your favorite designer until you get branded assets that you love.

Freelancers & Professional Designers

If you want to work exclusively with a top notch designer to meet your needs, then look for trusted marketplaces that have validated and tested the quality of their design professionals.

Two of the most popular freelancing marketplaces are Upwork and Fiverr.

Upwork is the world’s largest network of independent professionals. You can Interview potential fits for your job, negotiate rates, and only pay for work you approve.

Fiverr is great for finding talented branding and design freelancers to complete quick tasks for budget-friendly fixed prices.

Both Fiverr and Upwork provide critical information, such as ratings, reviews, design experience, and a portfolio of work. By reviewing the work samples and other visuals, you can quickly get a sense of whose style you like.

STEP 3: GATHER YOUR BRAND’S HASHTAGS

Hashtags help increase your posts’ reach and make it easier for people to find and engage with your content.

They are essential to social media marketing and should be included in your social media kit.

Here are three tips for developing a set of hashtags:

• Determining your target audience (e.g., who you are trying to reach with your social media content?)
• Use tools like Hashtagify, HashtagsForLikes, and Keyhole to search for popular hashtags related to your industry or topic. These tools show how often a hashtag is used and who is using it.
• Take a look at what hashtags your competitors are using and see how well they are performing. This will give you an idea of what is already working in your industry and what you may want to avoid.

STEP 4: DRAFT YOUR BRAND GUIDELINES

Brand guidelines outline how a brand should be represented across its marketing and communication channels.

These guidelines ensure consistency across social media and include your brand voice and tone and any specific messaging or language you want to use.

Here are some steps you can follow to write your brand guidelines:

• Describe your brand’s mission, values, personality, and target audience
• Determine the tone and voice that your brand will use when communicating with its audience. This could be formal, casual, friendly, professional, etc.
• Identify the colors, fonts, and imagery that best represent your brand
• Determine the types of content to share on your brand’s social media channels and the frequency for sharing it
• Create a style guide that outlines the rules for punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and other language-related issues.

STEP 5: ASSEMBLE AND POLISH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA KIT

Once you have all your social media kit elements, the next step is to consolidate them into a single document or folder that you can reference when creating social media content.

Consider gathering a set of templates or examples you can use as a starting point for your posts.

Make sure your templates match different social media platforms’ size and color requirements.

Lastly, use your brand’s unique look and feel through a distinct color palette and typography. Your goal is to ensure that the design is tight and the visuals are compelling and authentic to your brand.

And, don’t forget to use high-resolution images that complement your brand’s aesthetic and bring out its essence.

Three Mistakes To Avoid With Social Media Branding Kits

After you’ve created your social media kit, take some time to double-check for these common mistakes:

Using Pixelated or Out-of-Focus Graphics

A negative first impression among your prospective clients can be disastrous for business. One easy way to avoid this is to ensure that your images come across as clear and high quality by optimizing them for all different device types (mobile, tablet and desktop.)

For example, if you use a small image file for a platform that requires bigger sizes, your photos will appear pixelated, stretched, or blurry. Instead, use large, high-resolution images which adapt themselves appropriately on handheld devices and desktops.

Using Inconsistent Image Style and Colors

Every day, myriads of brands compete for consumer attention. It’s essential to be recognized amongst the crowd. This is why keeping the image style and colors for your brand uniform is so important. Additionally, consistency helps customers to recall your identity whether they see your posts on Instagram, Facebook, or any other platform.

Lack of Positive Testimonials

Take advantage of every opportunity to showcase a happy customer on your online platforms and derive business leverage.

In the age of social media, people are influenced by the purchase experiences of their friends and family. Therefore, if someone has had a positive buying experience and shares it on social media with their friends and followers, this builds social proof and trust.

Takeaway

By following the steps in this guide, you can quickly and effectively design a kit that best represents your brand.

A social media kit helps you promote a consistent message on social media, improves brand recognition, and builds a loyal audience.

Now that you have an understanding of what a social media kit is and how to create one, get started with building yours today.

FAQ

About the Author | Shane Barker

Shane Barker is a top digital marketing consultant, keynote speaker, and influencer. He specializes in influencer marketing, product launches, sales funnels, targeted traffic, and website conversions. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities. To learn more about Shane, check out his Natfluence interview feature.