Alyssa N. Coulter
COMPILED BY
A GUIDE TO
Utilizing Typography in Social Media Marketing
A Guide to Utilizing Typography in Social Media Marketing Complied by: Alyssa N. Coulter
University of Nevada Las Vegas June 2018
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What is SMM? Elements Typographical Elements Type as Body Language Choosing the Right Type #Trending
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If you’re not speaking directly to your audience through social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you’re missing out.
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Social media marketing, or SMM, is the process of using social media platforms to gain traďŹƒc, reach prospects, and grab attention. It can be used to promote a product, service, initiative, event, etc. SMM is comprised of activities such as posting text, images, videos, and and other content that encourages audience engagement. First of all, nearly 90% of marketers claim that social media marketing has greatly increased their business exposure. SMM can help with increasing website traďŹƒ c, building conversations, raising brand awareness, creating a solid brand identity and a positive brand association. Most importantly, it helps foster interaction with major audiences. No matter the business, chances are your customers are active on social media. Marketing via social media helps you directly connect and engage with your audience.
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ypography has the potential to encompass each of these elements. It can evoke certain emotions in your audience (e.g., sadness, fear, excitement). The color of your type can also trigger an emotional response - what will certain viewers be attracted to? Your type should also be relevant to your topic and relevant to the times. Your hashtags and body text should reect that relevance.
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Your image should suit both your niche and your audience. It should be an important topic that interests your current and potential audience.
If your readers feel they are connected or even invested in your image, they will share it. Evoking a response is key to good social posts.
Your words, phrases, and #s are your ways of interaction with your audience, so they are important regarding users’ likeliness to share.
Using the right colors will help you achieve maximum shares. Specifi c colors can be more visually attractive than others. Colors have different meanings.
Your posts should stand out among a sea of countless others. Having a creative aesthetic will help appeal to varieties of audiences.
The typography of an image will tie an entire piece together. Its what stands out and speaks to the audience. It will say what you’re trying to say.
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hese are additional elements that I deemed important enough to include. Simplicity, size, and style are all major things to consider when selecting a typeface.
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The attention spans of humans have never been smaller than since the dawn of the internet. You should convey what you need to in your post, without giving too much away. Keep the audience wanting more. One of the biggest user complaints is that text is too small to read. While the standard size for print may be 11pt and below, the standard for web type should be 16pt. There has been no conclusive evidence that proves whether sans serif or serif fonts are better for screens. So experiment! But make sure the style of your type falls in line with the content and message.
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Let’s move on to the really important stuff - how to use typography to your advantage in SMM efforts. Now, it may seem like a realitvely simple concept, but trust me, it is anything but simple. You’ll need time, research, and an eye for good typographic design.
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Typography is the presentation of a story. Typefaces represent the voice of an atmosphere� -Cyrus Highsmith
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Typography is the body language of your image and it will reveal more than you think. It can convey emotion, remain relevant, vary in color, and effect your hashtags and textual content. It will speak for you. No one likes long, drawn-out, no-endin-sight, face-to-face conversations. So why would they want to read one? Your type’s body language should read as short, simple. and approachable. Especially since, according to Harald Weinreich & Jakob Nielson, most users only scroll halfway through a page with long content. Evidence has shown that as word count increases, the percentage of people reading decreases.
The major typeface used in this very book, Helvetica Neue, is friendly, clean, and readable. It makes you, the reader, want to take my advice seriously, right? Its modern and sharp, and creates a bold contrast between the page headers and the body text. It is important to keep this in mind when you are choosing a typeface. Your type choice will provide a clear image of the vibe, theme, and mood you are trying to convey. Selecting the wrong typeface could just as well destory the integrity and power of your message or image. So think it through, and take your time.
But if you’re content is going to be fairly long, Otherwise, who really cares? Why should they? Additionally, your typeface choice can determine what kind of mood you give off to your viewers. For example, people are more likely to take your message seriously when you use a timeless typeface like Baskerville. They will probably thing you are joking, or creating a kid-friendly atmosphere if you use say, comic sans.
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n order to choose the right font, you need to think beyond just the words. You need to think about what the words mean and which font will match what you’re trying to say. Remember, don’t let the text overpower your imagery.
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hen desiging logos or brand identities, artists are typically discouraged from following trends. But the rules are totally dierent when it comes to SMM. Users love trends, and as long as you keep up, they’ll be sure to remember you.
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When in comes to remaining relevant on social media, its important to do your research - basically, But also remember to keep it on-brand. For instance, this year (2018), is raging over handwritten type. This can be a great niche for several businesses. Places like bakeries, beauty brands, or artisinal markets would fair well with a delicate handwritten font, where say a mechanic shop might do well with a thicker, rustic handwritten type. Best part about handwritten type is its exibility. Some of this year’s most trending fonts for SMM include:
CUSTOM HANDWRITTEN FONTS
Integrating a custom font with your SMM immediately sets you apart.
MODERN SERIF FONTS
Most people associate modernity with sans-serif fonts. But apparently serifs are back and better than ever.
BOLD SANS-SERIF FONTS
2018 is full of bold typography. In this oversaturated
visual world, brands need to do whatever it takes to grab and keep your attention.
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Information presented in this book was complied from the following sources. Majority of materials were derived and summarized from online research. pg 5
Social Media Marketing for Businesses. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www. wordstream.com/social-media-marketing
pg 7
Johnson, J. (2016, January 28). The Best Fonts & Colors in the Most Share-
able Social Media Images. Retrieved from https://blog.bufferapp.com/howto-create-shareable-social-media-images pg 13
Walker, T. (2014, March 17). The Effects of Typography on User Experience
and Conversions. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/effects-typography-user-experience-and-conversions pg 17
Henneghan, K. (2017, January 24). 12 Great Fonts For Social Media Posts. Retrieved from https://becoming.instafamous.pro/fonts-social-media-posts/
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