If you’ve joined Flocksy, you’re probably hoping to streamline your marketing processes and make your life easier. Luckily, Flocksy integrates with Zapier, a popular tool used to automate common processes and cut time-consuming tasks to mere seconds. 

How Does Zapier Work?

Zapier, an online automation tool, connects commonly used apps and services to automate repetitive tasks, streamlining your workflows. Here’s a breakdown of how Zapier works:

• Zaps: Zaps are the basic building blocks in Zapier. A Zap is an automated process that connects two or more apps. Zaps comprise a trigger and one or more actions, which we will explain further below.

• Triggers: A trigger is the event that puts a Zap into motion. For example, a new email in Gmail or a new row added to a Google Sheets spreadsheet can be triggers. When the specified event occurs, it triggers the Zap to run.

• Actions: An action is the event that the Zap performs after it is triggered. For example, creating a new contact in Salesforce, sending a message in Slack, or updating a row in Google Sheets.

• Multi-step Zaps: Zaps can include multiple actions, allowing you to build complex workflows. For example, when a new email arrives, you might add the sender to a Google Sheets spreadsheet, send a Slack message, and create a task in Trello.

• Filters: Filters can be used to set conditions for when actions should run. For example, you can specify that actions only run if the email subject contains certain keywords.

• Paths: Paths allow for branching logic within a Zap, similar to “if/then” statements. Depending on the conditions met, different actions can be taken.

• Integrations: Zapier integrates with over 3,000 apps, including popular tools like Google Drive, Slack, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Trello, and more. This allows you to connect almost any combination of tools you use.

• Templates: Zapier provides pre-made templates for common workflows, which can be used as a starting point. These templates help users quickly set up Zaps without having to build them from scratch.

Here are the steps to signing up for Zapier and connecting it to your Flocksy account! 

Step 1: Sign up for Zapier

1. Go to Zapier.com.

2. Use your email or Google account to start a Zapier account.

Step 2: Find Flocksy Zaps

1. Once you’ve signed up, you can go to the main dropdown menu on the left side. 

2. Click the “Zaps” option. In the search bar at the top of that page, search for “Flocksy.”

3. Click “connect” to add your Flocksy account. 

There are also lots of existing Zaps you can use to make your workflow more automatic. 

For example, you can use Zapier to send your Flocksy project files to Google Drive automatically. Let’s walk through that next! 

Step 3: Connect your Flocksy account

1. Click to sign in to your Flocksy account.

2. Zapier will ask you for permission to access your Flocksy account. Click “authorize.” 

3. Click “Continue” to keep setting up your Zap to send your Flocksy project files to Google Drive automatically.

Step 4: Connect Your Google Drive Account

1. Next, connect your Google Drive account where you want files to be uploaded.

2. Adjust the settings, such as the folder to upload them to, the file format, etc.

3. Zapier will send a test file to your Google Drive. Make sure that works, and then you should be ready to go!

Hit “publish,” and you’ve just automated a step in your Flocksy process! Congratulations! 

What is Field Mapping?

Field mapping in Zapier is the process of connecting specific fields from a trigger app to corresponding fields in an action app. It involves selecting and aligning the data from the trigger to the appropriate fields in the action, ensuring the correct information is transferred. This step, which can be confusing for new Zapier users, is crucial for ensuring that the automated workflow accurately reflects the intended data transfer and operations.

When you establish your Zap’s action, you can include either static or dynamic values in the procedure’s fields.

Static values: Enter a value into an action field or choose an option from a dropdown menu so the Zap delivers the same data to your action app every time it runs.

Dynamic values: Link an input from one step to another step in your Zap so the Zap provides an alternate outcome to the second step every time it runs. 

The action of utilizing dynamic values is known as field mapping When you map fields, the information provided in the second step changes dependent on data from the prior stage.

How to Map Fields in Zapier

• When you are setting up a Zap, and you want to map fields, first click on the field you want to establish. 

• In the dropdown menu, pick one or more fields from a previous step that has the information you want to use.

Limitations

You can only map fields from one stage to the next. Fields cannot be mapped from a later phase to a prior step.

If you rearrange or duplicate action steps or pathways inside a Zap or copy and paste triggers and actions across Zaps, you must re-map your fields in those steps.

When a step fails, it does not provide any output.

Any fields in succeeding stages that are mapped to the failed step will not receive any data, including error handlers. 

The post Flocksy + Zapier – how to use appeared first on Flocksy.

Learn more about our Virtual Assistant Services and how you can use them to help you complete administrative tasks.

Flocksy’s Virtual Assistants will dedicate a daily block of time to completing the specific tasks you request in your project briefs.

Your Virtual Assistants Can:

• Complete a simple single-part task per project during a dedicated block of time
  • One hour per day for US-based Virtual Assistants (VAs) 
  • Two hours per day for International-based Virtual Assistants (VAs) 
• Complete more complex, multi-part tasks if the instruction required to perform the task can be taught by the client and learned by the VA within one session at the start of the project
• Perform non-specialized general administrative tasks 
• Assist with a variety of simple projects (simple projects can be completed without industry knowledge, topic-specific education, or extensive research)
• Work on project briefs as long as the request is made clear in one paragraph or less

The post All About Your Flocksy Virtual Assistant appeared first on Flocksy.

In the fast-evolving landscape of digital marketing, staying ahead requires a commitment to cutting-edge technology. At Flocksy, we understand the pivotal role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays in driving efficiency and innovation. We seamlessly integrate AI into our operations to enhance the capabilities of our graphic design, copywriting, video editing, and web design teams— while always ensuring all of our content has a human touch.

Continuous Learning and Adaptation

At the heart of our commitment is a dedication to staying at the forefront of AI advancements. Our teams undergo regular training and skill development sessions to harness the power of the latest AI tools. This ensures that we are equipped with the knowledge and expertise needed to propel your projects to new heights.

Flocksy’s AI-Powered Tools for Creativity

Graphic Design & Illustration On Demand

When requested, our graphic design team will utilize AI-driven design tools that enhance creativity and streamline workflows. From automated layout suggestions to image enhancement, these tools empower our designers to focus on ideation and conceptualization.

• Recraft to create vector graphics
• Generative fill on Photoshop to make super-fast edits on images
• Ideogram for exciting typography 
• Bing for lightening fast image generation
• Recraft to find logo inspiration and assets
• Vectorizer.ai to quickly convert images to vectors

AI-Powered Copywriting In Half The Time

AI-powered content generation tools assist our copywriting team in brainstorming ideas, optimizing content for SEO, and ensuring grammatical precision. These tools serve as valuable assistants, allowing our writers to concentrate on crafting compelling narratives.

Upon client request, we will use AI to create social media captions, blog posts, articles, and more — but our AI-created content is ALWAYS reviewed by our copy team and re-written as needed to ensure it’s factually correct, flows well, and engaging.

• ChatGPT to create scripts, social media captions, or complete research quickly
• Grammarly for accuracy, content suggestions

Cutting Edge Video Editing & Motion Graphics

At Flocksy, our video production is elevated through AI-driven editing tools, enabling our video editing team to enhance visual elements, automate repetitive tasks, and deliver high-quality content in record time. This synergy of human creativity and AI efficiency results in visually stunning videos. When a client needs social media content, animated ads, or video content quickly and efficiently — they can request that our team use programs like Veed and Opus to speed up our already quick turnaround times.

• Capcut and Opus to animate subtitles and captions
• Veed to create audiograms and voiceovers
• LeiaPix to animate images
• Lexica to create AI images and backgrounds.

Modern and Efficient Web Design

Our web design team can also use AI tools that expedite tasks such as prototyping, layout optimization, and coding. This not only accelerates the web development process but also ensures a seamless user experience across various platforms. Our clients love getting their landing pages and coded content back two times faster when they request AI programs get used to complete projects!

• HTML to design: This tool allows you to transform an existing web page into components that can be used in Figma

The Human Touch

While AI brings efficiency and speed to our projects, we understand the irreplaceable value of the human touch. Every design, piece of content, video, and website we create is infused with the unique perspectives and creativity of our talented teams. Our commitment to maintaining the essence of your brand is unwavering, as we believe that a harmonious blend of technology and human intuition produces truly exceptional results.

Flocksy Soars into the Future with AI-Powered Marketing Magic!

At Flocksy, we don’t just keep pace with AI advancements; we lead the way in integrating these technologies to enhance our creative capabilities. Our commitment to excellence is rooted in the seamless fusion of AI-driven efficiency and the unparalleled touch of human creativity, ensuring that every project we undertake is not just on trend but uniquely and unmistakably on brand. Welcome to the future of creative collaboration at Flocksy.

The post Revolutionizing Creativity: Flocksy’s AI Integration Unleashes the Power of Smart Marketing Solutions! appeared first on Flocksy.

Though the first digital book came online back in the 1970s, it took another 4 decades for the concept to really catch on. The advent of Sony’s Libre E-book reader, followed by Amazon’s first Kindle in the early 2000s started the ball rolling and the genre has grown. In the last decade, e-book sales have increased threefold from sales of 69 million e-books in 2010 to 191 million in 2020. While the e-book market has largely leveled off over the past several years it still represents a solid 25 – 30% of the adult population who say they read at least one e-book in a year. 

E-books continue to garner somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 billion in market share every year, and more and more people are beginning to recognize the unique opportunities and benefits offered by this type of publication. There are far fewer barriers to creating and publishing an e-book as compared to publishing a traditional printed book or magazine. This has increased the number of both aspiring authors and savvy business people self-publishing e-books in the hopes of achieving their goals. 

Why Create An E-Book?

The e-book universe has come a long way from the simple PDF or EPUB rendering of a print book hastily thrown up on the internet to expand access to a particular book or author. Today, people are creating e-books for a wide range of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with selling books. 

Business Marketing & Promotion

E-books make a fantastic marketing tool and giveaway bonus all in one. Depending on your business type, you can create an e-book teaching potential customers about some aspect of your business or industry. You could use an e-book to provide an in-depth introduction to a new service or tool that is just too complicated or novel to explain in a simple social media announcement or webpage. A professional e-book that provides valuable and timely information to your target audience can be a great “freebie” to give away in exchange for your visitor’s contact information as well.

Income Opportunity

E-books are also excellent at generating an income all on their own. This field is becoming more crowded, but with the right subject matter, valuable and fresh information, and a top-notch design, an e-book can easily bring in a solid side income.  A library of e-books may even generate a full-time income allowing you to ditch that nine-to-five for good.   

Build An Audience

Finally, e-books are still an excellent way for fledgling authors to dip their toes in the water and test out their potential as an author. The ease of publishing and growing popularity of e-books on sites like Amazon, Blinkist, Chirp, and more make it easier than ever for aspiring authors to reach a wide range of eager readers. This exposure can help authors build an audience and gain name recognition with or without a traditional publishing deal.

Modern E-Book Design Expectations

The modern e-book market has created a wealth of opportunities for novice writers, entrepreneurs, and businesses to publish their ideas, products, and services. Of course, with increased opportunity comes increased competition and increased expectations. A simple PSF document uploaded to a sharing site isn’t going to get any attention today. You will likely be either promoting your e-book on your own website and social media posts or publishing it through one of the major e-book subscription services. Either way, your e-book will need to look and read like a full-fledged virtual version of a print book complete with a book cover, chapters, illustrations or images, and readable engaging text. 

Keep reading to learn our expert tips on creating a professional e-book design that will stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Secrets To Superb E-Book Design

There is no hard and fast rule for what makes a good e-book design. Much will depend on the subject matter of your e-book, the preferences of your target audience, and your own personal design style. That being said, there are a few tips that can be applied to any e-book design to ensure maximum readability and maximum engagement with your readers.

Design With A Purpose

Though good e-book design principles are largely universal, you will need to start with a solid knowledge of how much-written content your book will contain, how many and what type of images you will include, and the overall style for your project.

Proper Orientation

Once you have a general idea for your e-book style in mind you will need to make your first big design decision: Landscape or portrait orientation. Both orientations have their pros and cons and the best choice will depend on the structure of your book.  Landscape orientation can be a better option for e-books that contain a large amount of content as the wider pages allow for two columns and more layout options. However, there are some devices that do not support landscape orientation so you will want to consider both your e-book structure and which devices it is most likely to be viewed on. 

Portrait orientation is the more traditional book layout and works well for e-books that are more word-focused and intended to read like a traditional novel. 

Text Dos & Don’ts

Take some extra care choosing your fonts for your e-book. This seemingly small choice can make a massive difference in the readability and professional appearance of your book. There are several important factors that will all need to be taken into consideration. 

1. Branded Fonts

If you are promoting a business or brand, or attempting to build a following, consider using your branded fonts to maintain a sense of continuity and familiarity between your brand’s website, social media, and e-book content.

2. Simple, Readable Fonts

Use simple smooth fonts that are easy on the eyes to make your e-book easy to read on any device, by any reader. Stick with medium-sized standard fonts that will be available and render properly on all devices. When in doubt, choose a  tried and true sans serif font like Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial, or Open Sans.

3. Black Text/Light Background

Stick with black or very dark font color for the entire text body and all, or most, headings. Color text can be used sparingly for accent or emphasis but you should be aware it may not render in color on the reader’s device.

4. Avoid In-Line Text Formatting

In-line text formatting like bolded text, italic, text, underlines, and strikethroughs, should be avoided as this type of formatting often renders in unexpected, and unreadable ways on electronic devices. 

5. Avoid Script, Handwriting, & Decorative Fonts

Keep in mind that you are writing a book at the end of the day. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the marketing or design aspects of an e-book and forget that it is still a book, intended to convey knowledge or information in written format. This is not the place for decorative novelty fonts, handwriting, or scripted fonts that look stunning but are nearly impossible to read.

6. Format Content Using H1, H2, & H3 Headings & Subheadings

Because your e-book is digital, it can be indexed by search engines just like a blog post or article. Make sure your e-book is SEO-ready by formatting chapter headings and subheadings with the standard H1, H2, H3, etc. formatting. Your body content should generally be sized between 10 – 14 px for maximum readability.

7. Break Up Large Blocks Of Text

Keep your readers engaged by breaking up large blocks of text to prevent eye strain and mental fatigue. Remember that they will be reading on a computer or mobile device screen or e-reader which is already a bit more cumbersome of a reading environment than a standard book. Make their reading experience as enjoyable as possible by splitting large chunks of text into 3 – 4 line paragraphs. You may also consider popping out key excerpts or quotes from the text and featuring them in between blocks of text to break up the monotony while emphasizing key ideas.

8. Use Uniform Text & Formatting Throughout E-book

No matter the font and text design you ultimately choose, keep it consistent throughout your e-book. 

E-Book Cover Design

The layout, and text of your e-book are certainly important, but no one will ever get to see your amazing content if they aren’t convinced to buy your book in the first place. That is where your cover design comes in. An attention-grabbing cover is every bit as important for an e-book as it is for a traditional book, and yes, your book will be judged by its cover first.

Your e-book cover design should send a clear message about your book’s subject matter. Remember that, unlike traditional books, your potential readers are likely to be viewing a small thumbnail-size image of your book cover amongst a gallery of your closest competitors on an electronic device screen. With this in mind, your book cover imagery and typography should be designed to grab attention. 

Imagery

Custom illustrations, or photographic images are one of the most compelling ways to convey information and emotion. A picture is worth 1000 words as they say, and a well-designed cover image can be the quickest way to convey the tone of your e-book, the subject matter, and what your reader can expect to gain from choosing your book over the competition.

Typography

Your cover typography should be easy to read. The title, and subtitle (if used) should be large enough to be read quickly, and ideally, the key details should be clearly legible even when rendered as a thumbnail image.

Size

Last but not least, the size of your cover design can play an important role in how easily you are able to publish your ebook to different platforms, and how professional it appears on the various sites. The most popular e-book publishing platforms recommend a range of cover design sizes that vary quite a bit from a maximum size of 50MB on Amazon Kindle to 5MB for Barnes & Noble. Be sure to check the specific size and format details for the platform you intend to publish your ebook on to ensure proper sizing for the best quality rendering.

Where To Find Help Designing Your E-Book

If you are feeling overwhelmed at this point, don’t worry. The good news is, you don’t have to do any of this alone. The recent increase in amateur e-book publishing has given rise to a large selection of templates, and e-book design tools that will provide as much or as little assistance as you desire. You can easily find ready-made e-book templates on sites like Canva, and other design element apps, that will allow you to simply drag and drop your own content into a polished, pre-made design. 

You can also use one of the online or software-based e-book creation tools that will walk you through the creation of your e-book one design choice at a time.

Looking for an even easier solution? Let Flocksy’s professional designers create your e-book design for you. 

Creating An Awesome E-Book Design With Flocksy

Flocksy’s unlimited flat-rate design subscription makes it easy and affordable to get a professional e-book design guaranteed to get noticed on any e-book distribution platform. 

If you opt for this “done for you” option, you can concentrate all of your energy on creating the ultimate content. You provide our design team with the book’s details and let us know what you are looking for in terms of visual imagery, illustrations, infographics, diagrams, and cover art. Our talented artists will tackle each design project from your e-book cover design to all of your e-book illustrations delivering everything you need to create a high-quality e-book on any of the top publishing platforms. The best part about Flocksy’s unlimited creative services? You aren’t limited to just one type of project. Our team of graphic designers, illustrators, and copywriters can help you with every aspect of your e-book project including writing or proofreading your written content.

Check out our unlimited design packages now, and let’s get you from an aspiring to a published author.  

The post The Secret To Creating An E-Book Design That Sells appeared first on Flocksy.

Want to know when and how you’ll receive your custom illustrations? We can help! Read on to see how we complete every custom illustration request in record time.

General Estimates

Our illustration turnaround times at a glance:

• We measure illustration projects in parts — dividing the project up into manageable chunks for your professional illustration artists to power through daily. This ensures fast illustration services and that your creatives deliver high-quality, bespoke illustration designs consistent with your branding every time.  
• You’ll receive daily updates on all your Flocksy projects, so you’ll always be in the loop
• Unlimited edits mean it’s easy to quickly get  high-quality custom art, and revisions don’t hold up any progress on other projects in your queue

Our illustration team can create beautiful illustrations for marketing in many different styles to suit all brands. Depending on the request, most illustrations are typically delivered in one to three parts. Your Flocksy illustrator will always provide daily updates on your illustrations, so you’ll never be in the dark about their progress along the way. The best part? All creative illustration services come with previews, so you can see the progression of the illustration firsthand and make sure it’s on track. Even after your illustration is completed, you’re able to make unlimited edits to make sure it’s perfect.

How To Start A Custom Illustration Project

Request Your Project

Flocksy’s talented illustrators are eager to bring your vision to life. It doesn’t matter if you have loads of references or if you’re not sure what the final design should look like! Give us some details and we’ll work up some concepts. Our illustration team can deliver everything you need from storybook illustrations to custom brand illustrations for merch or social media!

Review The Proof

Your illustrator will send you a concept or draft for your approval before beginning the more complex aspects. Feel free to request revisions! Our rapid turnaround times ensure you’ll always be impressed, regardless of whether you make some changes along the way or not.

Enjoy Your Custom Illustration On Demand

Once you’ve signed off on the design, your custom illustration is yours to do with as you please! All files will be sent to you in whichever formats are needed— SVG, JPG, PDF, or AI to name a few. Flocksy is your source of efficient illustration turnarounds and high-quality custom art, whenever you need them.

**Note: the more complex the request, the longer the final deliverables can take to complete. Any turnaround times provided are only estimates as project timelines can change based on specific requirements and details required for your illustration.

The post Custom Illustration Service & Time Estimates appeared first on Flocksy.

The time management industry has always been popular in the United States. For decades, we have been snapping up every journal, gadget, and software program that promised to help us finally get a handle on our daily productivity.

When the global pandemic hit in 2019, creating a mass exodus of workers from job sites, and cubicles all over the country, employers found themselves scrambling to find a practical time-tracking solution to manage their suddenly remote staff. 

If the workers were no longer willing to come into the office, managers and team leaders were going to need to figure out how to facilitate collaboration between team members who were miles away from one another. 

This unprecedented moment of uncertainty led to a surge of new technology flooding the market to help reassure anxious employers that a shift to remote work would not spell the end of employee productivity and the demise of their business. 

These tools covered a whole range of functions with some focused on monitoring employee activity to ease the anxious minds of managers uncomfortable with not being able to personally observe workers. Others had a greater depth of trust in their employees, but they were having trouble keeping complex team projects on schedule and coordinating work with everyone working from different locations. As the pandemic stretched on, companies began to realize they were going to have to buckle down and develop a permanent solution to manage these new challenges for the long term.

Perfecting Project & Time Management

Today, there are time trackers designed to meet the specific needs of construction crews, there are others for workers who travel to various locations throughout their workday, and there is still another for large corporations with multiple teams located in different areas.

There are several popular time-tracking platforms, like Toggl Track, that have created an all-in-one workforce management suite where users have the ability to track a dizzying array of different metrics. 

However, scrolling through all of the brightly colored bars, graphs, timers, and alerts on many of these platforms can feel a little like trying to navigate a busy Las Vegas casino on New Year’s Eve after a few too many glasses of bubbly. In a sea of overly engineered and overly complicated time-tracking solutions, there is a growing demand for a solid, reliable, and simple tool that provides only the functions that you truly need. 

The new Daybeam time tracker just might be that elusive “Goldilocks” time and task management solution.

What Is Daybeam?

Daybeam is one of the newest time-tracking platforms to hit the market. The program is still in its launch and beta-testing phase but so far it certainly appears to be a solid time-tracking and task-management solution that looks as if it may be able to give some of the market’s current top picks a bit of healthy competition.

Daybeam’s strength lies in its simplicity and its focus on developing the core functions that actually provide tangible value and clearing out the clutter and distraction of those that don’t. The result is a rock-solid time clock app with advanced project and task-tracking functions that provide a clear picture of how much time is being spent on specific tasks and what each task or project ultimately costs. 

How Does Daybeam Work?

Daybeam is currently available as a web-based app and Google Chrome extension. The app is designed to be as straightforward and practical as possible, so getting started is relatively painless

Create A New Daybeam Account

Follow the instructions provided on the Daybeam dashboard, and provide any requested information to create your Daybeam time tracking account. Keep in mind, Daybeam is intended for use by businesses, organizations, and teams, so the initial account registration and set-up will need to be completed by the appropriate individual. This account will become the main user and will have the responsibility of doling out all of the various permissions and granting or restricting access to features for other users.  Once you have registered, you can begin exploring the platform and welcoming your team aboard.

Invite Your Team

While the team onboarding process is not implicitly detailed on the Daybeam website, it will likely use the same email invitation method that is the universal standard across the team tracking and collaboration market. The main account user will generally need to supply the email address for each team member. An email will then be generated and sent to the individual’s inbox making them aware that they have been invited to join the team Daybeam account and provide the steps they will need to follow to create their own sub-user account.

Configure Your Team Account

Once you have on boarded your team, you will need to devote time to configuring your Daybeam account to ensure that the app delivers the results that you need to make the most informed business management decisions. 

This is the area where Daybeam shows the most promise. Daybeam was designed to allow businesses and teams to track multiple factors related to a particular task or project. The goal is to generate usable data that will allow leaders to quickly identify tasks that are stretching the budget, and provide them with enough granular detail to make informed decisions about needed productivity improvements.

As the main user you will have the ability to configure Daybeam to sort users tracking data into any combination of groups and sub-groups that you choose. You can group users by department, role, pay rate, project, task, or any other classification system that makes sense for your business.

Start Tracking Time

Once you have configured Daybeam, you can begin entering your first tasks into the system. Each new task entry will prompt you to provide a brief description of the work that team members will be working on for that task. Once the tasks have been entered into the tool, your employees will be able to simply click on the task and start tracking their time working.

Daybeam Pricing

Users can take full advantage of all the standard Daybeam features completly free of charge. Larger organizations looking for more advanced features, or access to the Daybeam API, can contact the  Daybeam team to discuss pricing for a premium Daybeam account configured to meet their unique needs. 

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Daybeam?

The rush to capitalize on the mass shift to remote work and international teams created a surge of new time management, worker surveillance, and collaboration apps, programs, and tools. The intense demand for rapid innovation produced some awesome tools, and a whole lot of clunkers with great marketing and graphics but no real substance.

Daybeam entered the market just as the wave was ebbing, but waning demand certainly didn’t damper client enthusiasm. Daybeam’s unique ability to deliver detailed reporting, and valuable task-level productivity insights has set it apart from the standard time trackers. So far, Daybeam looks like it should have no trouble exceeding customer expectations. 

That being said, no product or service is a perfect fit for every business or team. So let’s look at why Daybeam might be an excellent choice for your business, or why it may not be the best fit for youe unique business or agency needs.  

Pros: Simple, Focused & Practical

• A strong focus on the specific factors that impact business costs
• Streamlined user interface screens allow users to switch tasks or find information quickly
• Advanced task and project tracking and reporting functions that are able to analyze pay rates alongside labor time and costs to offer a “big picture” view of individual and team productivity. 

Cons: Not An All-In-One Platform

• Daybeam was designed with a couple of core functions in mind. Daybeam’s creators focused on creating a time tracker that could double as project management tool able to focus on the smallest detail and analyze productivity at the task level for each individual. The choice was made to do one specialized activity perfectly rather than try to provide a generic suite of all-purpose tools. If you are looking for an all-in-one solution with accounting, payroll, inventory management, and other types of featuresDaybeam may not be the right choice.

Alternatives To Daybeam

Daybeam is a solid time-tracking solution designed to highlight inefficiencies and provide valuable insights into areas where performance could be improved. While Daybeam is likely to become the top choice for some business owners, others may find its analytics-based functions limiting. 

If Daybeam does not sound like a great fit for your business, you may prefer one of these popular alternatives.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track could fairly be described as the opposite of Daybeam in nearly every way. Toggl Track is the time tracking module that is integrated into the larger Toggl Suite alongside dozens of other tools and functions from invoicing to scheduling to monitoring and more. The Toggl Suite of tools was designed to provide every business administration tool a business owner might need, in one bundled package. Those looking for a feature-packed option with additional administration tools bundled into one package may find Toggl Track a better match.

Clockify

The free version of the popular Clockify time tracker is very similar to Daybeam in terms of both design and straightforward functionality. However, Clockify offers a tiered pricing plan that allows users to turn the basic Clockify dashboard into a full-featured business management suite. Clockify’s user interface and overall design are not as streamlined and polished as Daybeam’s, and navigating through the tools’ multiple screens, and add-on features can be a bit awkward and frustrating until you get the steps memorized. Clockify is a solid option for those who are looking for a more feature-packed option than Daybeam but aren’t in the market for a full business suite like Toggl.

Is Daybeam Worth It?

Ultimately, the value of Daybeam, or any other time management tool will be determined by its ability to provide the specific functions that your business scenario requires.

Daybeam is a solid time-tracking tool with advanced task-based analysis and reporting features designed to track and report the specific metrics that have the biggest impact on business efficiency. If you are looking for a time-tracking tool that offers these features then Daybeam is an excellent choice.

If you are looking for a full-service business administration tool that is able to handle all of your invoicing, payroll processing, and scheduling from one central hub, then Daybeam may not be the right fit for your business.

Daybeam Review: A Recap

As one of the newest entrants in the time tracking realm, Daybeam offers a solid, task-focused tool with a user-friendly design that makes it easy to track individual user productivity or view your entire team’s current work progress at a glance. Advanced reporting functions provide a clear picture of how long specific tasks or projects are taking to complete and how that is impacting the project budget. Daybeam takes a serious quality-over-quantity approach to time tracking. Daybeam opts to perfect their performance and deliver amazing value in one core area: project and task management and granular reporting options. Users will need to use a seperate tool for their scheduling, invoicing, and payroll activity. Daybeam’s ability to offer users access to the  comprehensive reporting and actionable insights that will help them improve their productivity is making it well-worth the trade-off for many early clients. 

The post Daybeam Review (Updated 2023) appeared first on Flocksy.

What’s more, because they are smaller and less thick, they take less paper and ink to create, making them an affordable option as well.

When you need to convey your message quickly and in a visually appealing way, the tri-fold brochure is a classic choice that can be tailored to your unique needs.

Let’s talk more about how the tri-fold brochure can work for your brand.

What Are Tri-Fold Brochures Used For?

Tri-fold brochures can do a lot of things very well. Their primary purpose is to guide and inform.

Reach Potential Customers

The primary purpose of a tri-fold brochure is to educate potential clients, customers, backers, or partners about your offerings, whether that’s products, services, education, or employment. For example, you could detail your product packages, describe what your school/college can provide to students, list out new updates and product launches, give the low down on real estate projects, and more.

Offer Valuable Information About Your Brand Or Company

To drive inquiries about your brand or company, you can use a professional tri-fold brochure to spark interest by providing intriguing details about your product, service, or program. These can work well no matter what industry you’re in, which makes them particularly useful.

Tri-fold brochures can easily replace most (or all) of your current brochures inventory. The larger size is perfect for information-dense educational brochures, and sales brochures for prospective clients.  The folded design offers a natural organization to the design. Print a different topic on each folded section or, print all over detail.

Here are some tips for using brochures effectively.

Here Are Some Tips For Using Brochures Effectively.

Because of the tri-fold nature, you’ll have six panels to fill with information and images. It can be tempting to stuff content into every available spot. But, a little design restraint and balanced space will net will take you far with this brochure and ensure that your brochure content is easy to read.   

Here are a few suggestions that can help ensure your brochure is easy to digest and looks great:

• Try to stick to just two or three fonts/typefaces.
• You can offer clients a couple of different header fonts/designs to provide visual interest, and a third incorporated into the body text to break up  any large chunks of words
• Fonts should be legible and not too small.
• We strongly recommend making liberal use of high-quality graphics, illustrations, or photographs throughout the brochure 
• Display your most vital data in bulleted or numbered list to make it easy for viewers to see the most information at a glance 

Pro Tip: Always Check The Folds After Printing

The complexity of the formatting and the design of the tri-fold brochure can cause occasional printing mishaps to occur. If you are using a high-quality design and printing service you are not as likely to have problems but it is a good idea to develop the habit of doing a test fold before you leave the printer with a fresh box of brochures. Simply take one brochure out of the new box, and fold it as you would for distribution. Pay close attention to how the design fits in each section of the folded brochure. There should be even padding, and the design shouldn’t overlay any creases. 

The Natural Order Of Panels

Brochures like this tend to have a typical layout and order. Text and design should be used sparingly on the front and back panels. Keeping these panels free of excessive content will give your folded brochure a clean, professional appearance.

Typically, the interior panels offer ample space to print all of the important information about your products, program, or service, whereas the front and back panels offer just a quick title and contact information respectively. Try to concentrate your most vital details on the two left-most interior panels, as people tend to stop reading before that last panel.

Back Panel Design Consideration

It is perfectly acceptable to leave the back panel completely blank, it is actually fairly standard practice for tri-fold brochures. The back panel can also be the perfect place for quick data, in the form of a small contact text block with your business address, phone number, etc. Add a clever call to action and your social media page links to finish off this page.  

Interior Panels: Alternative Design Options

Rather than using the three interior panels as three columns of your most important information, you could instead use them as a story reading from left to right. Start your title page on the inner, left-most panel, and continue with the body content moving across the panels to the right. Imagery blending across two or three panels can also create a striking look that enhances the visual appeal.

How To Get Tri-Fold Brochure Designs For Your Brand

Getting brochure design services for your brand can be a challenge when you’re a smaller business, entrepreneur, or startup because graphic design services can very well be outside your budget. Large companies often hire in-house artists, but that’s not always possible for smaller brands and organizations.

Brochures can be such a useful tool that you’ll want to take advantage of them, but if the design is poor, they do just as much harm as good for your brand appeal. Resolution, format, and size are all important considerations, and crafting something that meets your requirements while still being nice to look at is a balancing act. So, doing it yourself usually won’t be a great option, and templated designs lack personality.

Freelance marketplaces offer artists who can work on your brochures, but vetting quality and turnaround times are usually areas where a lot of users experience consistent frustration. Also, if you need several different brochure designs or develop a need for them down the line, ensuring that they’re all consistent can be a challenge with the interchanging freelancers you’ll work with.

Another big issue with using marketplaces is the limited number of revisions. Getting more than the allotted revisions can cost a fair amount, and settling for work you don’t love is unacceptable.

The good news is that you can get professional tri-fold brochures designed and formatted, as well as many other graphic and content assets, by subscribing to Flocksy’s monthly no-contract service.

We provide a team of talented creative services professionals who can design all the assets you need for consistent, high-quality marketing materials, including brochure designs, social media posts, business cards, flyers, posters, ads, logo designs, web page design, copywriting, video editing, web development, and much more.

All in one place. 

For a flat monthly fee that doesn’t yo-yo up and down, we’ll handle your creative projects, so you can focus on running your business. The team will always be available through the Flocksy dashboard, and you’ll have a project manager to guide you and help with each project you run.

And did we mention a 24 to 48-hour turnaround time on most projects? Oh, yeah.

Getting Tri-Fold Brochures Designed By Flocksy

Starting a tri-fold brochure project is easy. First, go to the intuitive dashboard to request your designs from our graphics team, and then follow the simple steps below. 

One, select “Create new project” and pick the “graphic design project” option. This will open the requests page. Two, find “tri-fold brochure design” among the several available options. Three, give us the details about what needs to be in the brochure and what style you like, and click “start project.”

What should you include in the instructions? Provide your brand kit, including things like colors, fonts, etc., and any references you want the artist to use. You’ll also want to provide the necessary details to display, AKA the text, the dimensions and type of paper the designs will go on, and any other important information you feel the artist needs to “get” your brand.

Your designer will create your brochure design and ensure that it looks professional and presents your brand, organization, or business in the best possible light. They can also provide help with designing your brand kit or logo, content writing for the interior, or other printed marketing material designs

You can also work with the same designer over and over again, and thanks to the strong working relationship you’ll create with your artists and creative professionals, your results will be that much better and faster. 

Whatever creative assets you need, our team is at the ready to create something that’s beautiful, informative, and engaging. 

Start your tri-fold brochure design project now by signing up or visiting the project creation page!

The post Mastering The Tri-Fold Brochure Design Process appeared first on Flocksy.

Studies have shown us that the average American spends around 5 hours each day interacting with the apps on their smartphone, and US citizens certainly aren’t alone in our obsession with our phones. Whether it’s messaging, checking out the latest social posts, or gaming, these devices and the information, and entertainment they deliver have become a significant facet of modern life all over the globe.

It makes sense that so many people have felt inspired to try their hands at developing the next awesome app. Who wouldn’t want to create a product marketed to a global audience of entranced users? Of course, this means that competition is incredibly fierce in this corner of the development world. The opportunity to see an app you created move into the trending and featured app categories is certainly an outcome worth striving for.

If you want to find your way into that winner’s circle you are going to have to go the extra mile to ensure that every aspect of your app looks as great as it functions. You will need to find a surefire way to make certain that everyone gets a chance to see your vision the way that you see it. That means you are going to have to do more than simply create an awesome app, you will need to find a way to make sure that your app clearly stands out from the dozens of similar apps in the App Store or Playstore. 

This means spending some time focusing on your app design to ensure that your app looks as good as it functions. Poor app design has been the downfall of countless awesome apps. App developers naturally want to focus intensely on making sure the core function of their app is solid, but this often leads them to neglect the design aspects of the project. Often, the rationalization behind this common mistake is a belief that the app’s function is so awesome that nobody will care what the app looks like.

The truth is, it won’t matter how innovative and cool your app’s features are if nobody ever gets a chance to use them, and a poorly designed home screen and menus are enough to keep users from ever seeing what your app is capable of.

Smartphones are often operated while we are out and on the move, or distracted by the events happening around us. That means that mobile apps need to be easy to operate on the go. A poorly designed menu screen can easily be enough to have the user uninstalling the app without ever seeing its greatness.  

Success takes more than just a massive surge of post-launch downloads, you will need people to use your app, fall in love with it, and tell all their friends that they have to have it. If the initial “new app” hype fades into frustration with an awkward layout and a confusing home screen, you are going to lose out on a lot of this second stage.

Now that we have shown how the aesthetics of your app can make or break its success, what can you do to be certain that your app design won’t get in the way of success? 

We just happen to have a sure-fire way to create an app design that blends seamlessly with your app’s functions. Let’s get started.

What Is The Purpose Of Your App?

Before you start looking at wireframe tools or sketching out a look, it’s important to understand why you’re making the app in the first place. What is the purpose of the app, and what are you trying to accomplish?

This sounds like a deep philosophical question at first, but we promise it is really pretty simple. In fact, all you need to do is sit down and jot down your answers to a few questions. Your answers to these questions will illuminate the direction you need to go with your design, based on the way you hope to make your users feel when they try your app.

• What does your app do? This one should be easy to answer, after all, it is why you made the app in the first place. 
• What problem or feeling does your app improve for the user? 
• How exactly does your app solve the problem you identified above?
• Why is your app’s solution better than other apps that were designed for similar reasons?
• Name at least one specific factor that makes your app different from other similar apps. This should be a distinct benefit or positive feature that the other apps lack. 

Answering these questions thoughtfully helps you to develop a clear concept of what your app is, and what makes it special, with this in mind it will be much easier for you to make design choices because you will know what you want your user to experience when using your app.

Make A Plan

Before you head over to the computer or digital tool, you’ve got a bit more planning to do. This next bit of homework is going to help create a tangible connection between the answers that you expressed in words, and what those answers mean for the design of your app.

While those answers are fresh in your mind, take a moment to create a rough sketch of the various functions you will want your app to perform and what you envision the screen, menus, buttons, and other details looking like. Try to be as thorough as possible, now, while the vision is still clear in your mind. This simple exercise creates a visual pathway leading from your abstract concepts to the practical manifestation in the real world.

Know Your Niche & Competitors

Now, it’s time to hit the web to start scoping out how you stack up with the competition. The professional term for this important activity is “conducting market research”, but the details are the same.  The goal is to immerse yourself into the virtual conversations taking place among members of your target audience in order to fully understand their challenges, what they like, what they loathe, and any other insight you are able to glean. 

In a selling environment as crowded as the app stores, a deep understanding of your target audience’s needs and wants, can be a game-changer. 

The best way you can differentiate yourself from the competition is by demonstrating your understanding of the challenges that your audience struggles with the most, and positioning you app as a positive antidote to those problems, even if it is only in the form of entertainment and temporary escape. 

You’ll also want to look at consumer reviews. What do people using the currently available apps like? What do they hate? How will your app present a better experience?

Take this information back to your sketched-out plan and update it accordingly. Maybe little will need to be adjusted, or you may have to do some serious overhaul to get your app going in the right direction.

Flesh Out Your App Design Plan

At this stage, you should have most of what you need to begin pulling it all together into a mockup design that will allow you to make any eleventh-hour adjustments if something doesn’t turn out quite as you imagined. This is a crucial step and it is the last opportunity that you will likely have to make any significant changes. Take your time and examine every detail of every page on your app. You want to discover those blindingly obvious errors now, while they can be fixed quickly, rather than the day after launch when your messenger boxes are flooded with frustrated users.

You will need to make any final decisions regarding your color palette, fonts, and use of other design elements during this stage as well. By now you should be able to see the finish line, but there are still a few more details to consider.

App Design Tips – Things To Consider During The App Design Process

It can be tempting to tackle the design process yourself, but this final step requires an expert eye for fine details, and if you don’t have those credentials, it is best to leave this type of project to professional graphic designers with the know-how to handle it.

Easy Navigation

Unless your app is easy to navigate, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. Navigation is crucial. It is foolish to imagine that your user will sit down, free up both of their hands to securely maneuver the smartphone, and devote their full focus to determining the series of steps needed to gain access to your app when they need to use it.  That is simply not how we use smartphones. Your app should be able to be opened and used by someone who is attempting to open the app with the thumb of one hand whilst holding a fresh, hot Starbucks coffee in the other. That is a common scenario that we witness (or play the leading role) in every day. Keep this in mind when determining how users will navigate your app.

Familiar Native-Style Icons

The navigation drawer is especially important when designing for Android. To ensure a seamless user experience, it needs to be easy to find. Learning how to use a new app, even if it is a fun interactive app, can spark frustration quickly, especially if we are engaged in another activity or conversation at the same time.

Providing an always visible, familiar control can help to subconsciously dial down the anxiety. This small button is instantly recognizable and while the rest of the app may be complex, your user will have one button with a predictable function. While the inclusion of the navigation tab is the most vital, you should try to use familiar Android or iOS-themed icons and buttons when possible. 

You’ll also want to ensure the design is finger-friendly. If buttons and links are too small, people won’t be able to use them, and navigation will come to a halt.

Minimalist Simplicity

Minimalist design and a crisp white background provide the ideal viewing conditions for your users. Our minds are already conditioned to focus on contrasting words against the unobtrusive white pages of a book. A simple layout pared down to only what is needed. Additionally, much like the navigation bar above, it is not a bad idea to opt for a typography similar to the device default and use similar labels on tools and icons.

Color Palettes & Fonts

If you have already created a brand logo, or if you have an established brand guide then this section will be easy, you would ideally want to feature your brand colors as much as possible, and then use complimentary colors where needed. This helps users immediately associate the new app with your brand right from the start. 

If you do not have a branding guide or logo then you will likely be starting from scratch, so you have no pre-set restrictions. Of course, this also means that if you achieve your goal of creating the next “must-have” app, the color and font choices you make now will be associated with your brand, and would essentially become your brand guide for future projects. With that in mind, make sure that you choose a color palette and font styles that you can see yourself using on future projects as well.

Color can be very subjective, so you should absolutely let your unique personal or professional personality guide this choice. That being said, you will also need to keep your goal in mind when making your selections. After all, you didn’t design this app for yourself. Your goal is to get as many users as possible to get excited about your app. With that goal in mind, you will want to incorporate some of the proven marketing design secrets into your final selection. 

For example, marketers often rely on the theory that we have a strong emotional and cognitive reaction to colors, associating each with specific emotions and activities, and feelings. This theory is at play in the common choice to use green shades for companies that want to be seen as “natural” or “organic” and use navy blues and crisp whites for brands that want to be seen as serious and authoritative.

Visual Hierarchy & Weight

Visual hierarchy and visual weight are a pair of fancy design jargon terms that refer to the way in which the core elements of a design are displayed in relation to the secondary or background elements. 

A designer creates a visual hierarchy by adjusting the size and perhaps the color, or opacity of their focal element, while simultaneously making secondary elements smaller in comparison, or moving them further back in the scene. These small adjustments make the focus item stand out and appear more substantial than the other elements making it clear where the focus should be directed. 

A designer uses the visual weight technique to balance the various elements that appear on the page. Visual weight decisions are similar to those you might make when formatting a report in a document. In the document, you might assign a larger header format to your main headings, and then a smaller size to your sub-headers. The visual weight theory works the same way. The most important elements of your page would be rendered in a larger size than the secondary or lesser objects on each page.

Be Consistent

Design consistency keeps things looking sleek and professional. Consistency in your colors, fonts, and other design elements goes a long way toward creating a smooth and positive user experience.

Mobile apps are made up of many layers of tools, functions, integrations, widgets, buttons, labels, and countless other features that your end user is likely to interact with at some point in their journey. 

If you can provide a seamless experience by making the extra effort to build visual and functional consistency into each of these layers, you can make your user feel comfortable right from the start and greatly increase the odds that they will continue using your app.

How To Get Apps Designed For Your Business

Creating an app is a lot of work, you will definitely want to make an honest assessment of your skill level before you get started and make sure you are up for the challenge.  If you are feeling confident about the technical aspects of mobile app creation but feel a little out of your comfort zone when it comes to the design aspects, you could consider hiring a graphic designer to collaborate and provide the design end of the equation.

Professional graphic design agencies are the priciest option and are generally out of reach for most fledgling app designers. Freelance marketplaces offer more affordable graphic design services but you will need to take your time and use caution when selecting an artist to work with. There are some amazing artists on these platforms, but there are also a lot of unskilled talent and outright scammers. With so many creatives from all over the world on one platform, there is simply no way to vet quality so you are definitely going to want to have a  “buyer beware” mindset. 

You do have another alternative to the pricey agencies and risky mega-websites. A monthly unlimited design subscription from Flocksy can cover all of your mobile app design needs and tackle any marketing and promotion needs you might have after your app is launched.

The unlimited service means that you pay one low price and request as many design projects as you want across a range of categories from app design, to web development and video editing, to blog post writing.

You can feel confident handing over the creation of your app design assets to the professional team at Flocksy. You will be able to monitor the status of your project and communicate with your team right from the centralized dashboard. The chat function is built into the dashboard and sends an alert to your designer as soon as you send them a message. During business hours you can expect a reply in less than an hour, usually in a matter of minutes. A dedicated project manager adds an additional layer of support to your account. You can contact your project manager any time you have questions or concerns.

Getting App Design At Flocksy

If you choose to work with Flocksy, you are going to be amazed at how easy the whole process is. You can start your app design project from your account dashboard by clicking the “Create new project” button to open the project request page. Now, select the “graphic design project” option and use the drop-down menu to find the option for “app design.” In the brief, give your designer everything they need to know about what your app is, what its goals are, etc., and you’ll see results in no time.

You can refer back to this post when creating your project brief if you need a reminder of all of the different elements to list. Include any references your designer should use, all the text you want to be displayed, your brand style guide (or the fonts and colors you want), and a detailed description or sketch of what the overall interface should be like.

Your graphic artist will produce a professional app design that you will be able to test to ensure that it looks and functions exactly as you envisioned. If there are some adjustments that need to be made your designer will work with you to revise the design as many times as it takes to make it perfect. 

A Flocksy subscription will also give you the ability to work with the same designer on future projects. This is an excellent way to build consistency into any future apps or accessory packs. 

Flocksy makes it easy to stop daydreaming about launching the next big mobile app, and just do it! Start your app design project today!

The post Your Guide To Getting Amazing App Design appeared first on Flocksy.

Consumer shopping habits have been steadily shifting toward a preference for online interactions for more than two decades. Judging by the latest consumer behavior data, the transition is picking up the pace. Gen Z and Millennials are driving the acceleration with both cohorts stating that they were most likely to find new products to buy through social media, and in Gen Z’s case, they are buying products through their social channels as well. 

Brands can no longer afford to treat social media as optional. Businesses that hope to stay competitive in the coming years are going to need to re-evaluate their social media strategy and consider ways to dramatically increase their online engagement with their customer base.

Depending on the current state of your brand’s social media marketing strategy, many marketing teams could be finding themselves in the nail-biting scenario of having to ramp up their brand’s social media presence from crickets to crushing it in the next year. That is no small feat, and making it happen will mean overhauling the company’s social media profiles, and releasing a steady stream of fresh and engaging content across their target audience’s favorite social platforms. It will likely require bringing on designers or contracting with a design team to craft the new social media design assets that will be needed for each platform, and every content type in the company’s social media strategy.

If you happen to be one of these marketers, we can’t stress enough…enlist help to get the designs you need so you can get started now.

No matter where you are with your social media outreach, a professional social media designer can improve your performance by crafting a seamless cohesive design theme across all social channels. This cohesive design coupled with attention-grabbing visual content is the fastest way to maximize your social engagement.

So, what do you need to look for when you’re searching for an artist to help you with social media design? There are several things to consider, so let’s dive right in.

Social Media Design Inspires Action 

Good social media design used to be judged on its ability to grab the audience by the heart and get them to share the post or video with their contact list. These “viral videos” didn’t need to have any connection to the brand or its customers; they simply needed to entertain enough to get shared. Those days are gone.

Today, the quality of any social media design is measured by its ability to reinforce brand recognition, establish and nurture a trusting relationship between the business and its audience, and compel consumers to deepen their engagement with the brand. Funny cat MEMEs just won’t cut it anymore. To compete effectively in today’s market, social media design must carefully weave the brand identity into every design asset, with consistent styles and messaging. Modern social media design should also be carefully tailored to speak to the unique preferences and needs of the brand’s target audience. Essentially, quality has overtaken quantity when it comes to rating the value of a social media design. Again, this is one of those times when enlisting the help of a professional design team may be necessary if you need a large number of designs, and they need to be carefully branded, and consistently high-quality.

We have put together a brief guide to help demystify the collaboration process for those who are new to requesting design assets from outside sources. These tips will help you develop and communicate a clear design goal to your designer.

Build A Clear Visual Strategy

Posting random, if beautiful, imagery does not make a cohesive strategy. You will need a well-thought-out strategy if you want to achieve your marketing goals. You can post stunning photos, and engaging videos across your social channels, and your viewers may even watch and share them, but turning viewers into customers will require a clear purpose, compelling narrative, and strategic timing. 

Building a visual strategy for your brand requires evaluating every single social media channel where your brand has a presence. Your goal will be the unification of all of these social media designs to create a strong overarching brand identity. When done well, users should be able to recognize your brand in every social media design, regardless of where they encounter the content. 

Incorporate the following concepts and best practices into your social media designs to boost your visual strategy.

Know Your Audience

Spend the time and effort to identify and understand your target audience so you can focus your social media design on content that is most likely to resonate with your base. 

Create A Reference

If you don’t have a branding guide for your business, now is the time to make one. A branding guide promotes consistency by providing a quick reference with all the details for your color pallet, logos, fonts, and any other design elements associated with your brand.

A Unifying Theme

One of the main goals of this strategy is to achieve universal brand recognition on every social media channel where the company maintains an active presence. Users should be able to instantly identify any one of your social media designs as belonging to your brand. Incorporating a common element in every design across all categories and social media channels is a great way to unify disparate forms of content.

Mind The Customs

While the modern social media design best practices focus heavily on including the same design elements in all design assets to build brand identity, this tip addresses the one area where you will need to be unique. It is a bad form to repurpose a video or design asset from one social media channel to another. Social media channels have very specific formats and styles, and your audience will absolutely know that you have recycled your YouTube short video and called it a TikTok, so don’t do it. Make the effort to make the correct video for each channel.

Start Using An Event Calendar

Maximize the impact of every social media design by doing some research into the usage patterns of the social media channels you will be targeting in your campaign. You will want to determine the peak traffic times, and note any events or holidays that would offer great engagement opportunities. Develop the habit of making a content calendar, and use the data you have learned to connect social media designs to the best release day for each.

The Fundamentals Of Digital Design

When it comes to the practical requirements for creating effective social media designs, there are no universal laws. As with any creative endeavor, good design often involves striking the ideal balance between incorporating design rules’ and providing a fresh, and unique design.

Social media design is at its core digital art and it is subject to the same fundamental rules that represent the baseline for most creative design projects.

The guidelines below should be familiar to anyone who has attended an art school. These are the baseline rules for the creation of most design styles.

A Clear Focus

If you will be featuring a photo in your post, choose carefully. Ideally, the image you select should have one obvious focal point with no distracting backgrounds or people.

Create Visual Interest

The old standard “rule of thirds” technique for positioning and scaling a subject in a photograph is still considered the most appropriate technique today. This rule dictates that your subject should not be lined up in the center of your photo, but rather slightly to one side or the other to create more visual interest.

Master Daytime Outdoor Photography

Master the art of taking photos in natural sunlight. This creates the best lighting effects but it can be a steep learning curve to find that perfect time where you will have plenty of light but not so much that your images are overexposed.

Boost Visibility With High Contrast

Remember, your social media designs will likely appear crowded on your viewers smartphone screen with countless other posts and advertisements. Choose high-contrast colors and designs for maximum visibility to make the most out of conditions.

Images Should Mirror Post Message

Don’t add images just for the sake of having beautiful photography. Good social media design is focused on telling a story, creating a narrative, and ultimately building brand recognition and increasing sales. Every element must work alone and together toward that goal.

Less Is More

Leave the beauty and specialty filters in the niche shops. Those effects have limited value in professional design and they will make your designs appear amateurish. Light edits are fine but subtly is key.

Follow Platform Formatting Guidelines

The majority of the top social media platforms each have their own unique formatting systems. Photographs and videos that are created for Instagram, cannot be uploaded to TikTok without being properly resized. Some platforms will reject photos and videos that are not properly formatted for the site, while others will allow you to upload them, only to discover much later that your gorgeous design has been cropped and distorted into a pixelated blob.

Don’t cut corners, it is not worth it. Take the time to make sure your images and videos are sized and formatted properly for the social media channel that you will be uploading them to.

Skip The Novelty Fonts

When you are looking to get attention on social media, it can be tempting to layer on dramatic typography and text overlays. Resist this urge. Too many competing design elements can make your post harder to read, and many social platform users will just scroll to the next post rather than make the effort.

Instead, aim to maximize readability by choosing a straightforward, bold, and relatively short font style. You are not limited to using the traditional black font, social media is the perfect place to add an eye-catching jolt of color. Just take care to choose a high-contrast color palette to ensure that your message stands out from the background.

When you’re using text in your image, remember:

• Choose a simple font style that is easy to read on any computer or device 
• Your font choice should match the overall tone of your post
• Be mindful of compatibility issues when using more than one font style in the same post. Some styles can look very awkward when placed close to one another 
• Pay attention to the color of your text against the color of your background. Some combos are very difficult for the human eye to read. Green on red, and blue on yellow are the worst combos.
• Write content in short concise sentences to make it easy to read in a narrow social media feed.
• Consider replacing the static text with dynamic animated text to boost engagement

Representation Matters

Language evolves to keep pace with the changes in society. Using the common vernacular of a decade or two ago will not only make you sound out of touch, but it also runs the risk of unintentionally offending your readers.

It is good practice to check your words for any biased language that may have snuck into your writing. The visuals you choose for your social media posts are equally important. While there are fewer ways to accidentally offend with most image choices, it is still worth making the extra effort to post images that are inclusive and represent the audience demographics.

Taking care to include everyone in your banners and posts is a great way to build rapport with potential customers too. We all want to feel like we can imagine ourselves in the appealing situations you’re promoting. You’ll need to consider your target audience’s unique demographic profile, of course, but by promoting diversity in your social media posts you could introduce a whole new audience to your brand, expanding your target audience and your revenue. 

Supporting diversity doesn’t need to be difficult. It simply means being more mindful of gender or racial biases in your posts and making a conscious effort to include minorities of all shapes and sizes in your advertising imagery. This goes beyond just your posts too. Diversify your team, and bring as many perspectives to the table as possible. 

Lastly, when you’re launching a longer campaign, get feedback from as many voices as possible and have different people look it over for sensitivity and prejudice issues.

Always Consider Accessibility

Along with representation, accessibility matters. People process information differently. All too often, advertisers and the brands they represent fail to consider the many social media users who live with a disability which makes it difficult to truly enjoy most social media content. 

Think how chaotic social media can get at times, we are willing to bet you have felt overwhelmed by all of the constant motion, combined with a small screen, and less-than-ideal speakers. Now imagine, that rather than a one-off bad experience on a busy day, that was how you experienced social media all of the time.

The most recent CDC statistics report that 1 in 4 Americans live with some type of disability. Approximately 10% of the population has a sight or hearing impairment, while around 12% report cognitive difficulties, which can lead to confusion in loud, or hectic environments. 

There are regulations for social media, requiring that accessibility measures be made available. Unfortunately, there are no practical means of enforcing these rules, and for most social media content the onus is actually on the individual creator to incorporate the proper accessibility tools into their content.

That means that access to social media content for all rests on your shoulders, along with your fellow creators, yet very few are aware of this responsibility and even fewer would know what was needed. 

Alt-Text Descriptions

Most accessibility tools revolve around making social media content easier to read, or hear for those with vision and hearing deficits. The visually impaired use devices known as screen readers to “read” content off of the computer, and smart devices. 

Smart readers rely on small alt-text descriptions, small snippets of data that are supposed to be embedded in imagery and media. The smart reader gathers info about the media from the alt-text description and relays this to the visually impaired user so that they can understand what is happening without being able to see the content. If these alt-text descriptions are missing the screen reader is unable to provide any information leaving large gaps in the information provided to the reader. All content creators should be making it a priority to update all of their content to include alt-text descriptions and commit to putting them in all new content going forward.

Descriptive Captions

Additionally, your social media video content should always offer the option to view subtitles or captions. Content creators have a better track record in this arena. We have known for some time that many users want access to closed captions for reasons that extend beyond hearing difficulties. Most content creators are already providing captions, however, it is worth checking your settings to ensure you are generating descriptive captions. Descriptive captions provide brief descriptions of activities that are important to the story but do not have spoken dialogue. Finally, make certain that you are using dyslexia-friendly fonts and hashtag tools to further increase accessibility.

What Are The Different Types Of Social Media Design Services?

Social media design applies to several services, from social media posts and banners to headers and covers to thumbnail designs. It also includes advertising assets like social media ads, e-commerce, lead generation, and app growth images. Designers will work on the backgrounds and graphics incorporated into social media posts as well.

How To Get Social Media For Your Brand

Getting social media design services for your brand can be challenging if you’re a smaller business, entrepreneur, or startup. Chances are you don’t have the same budget as a large company that you can use to hire an in-house team of graphic artists.

Good social media design is important and needs to be eye-catching in order to stand out from the sea of other posts out there. You also need to ensure that it’s done in the best resolution, format, and size. Both of these things can make going the do-it-yourself route an issue.

Your brand could also go with a freelance marketplace and look for someone to design social images for you. However, vetting quality and knowing when exactly you’ll get your designs is often troublesome. And with the revolving door of freelancers that usually happens when you take this route, guaranteeing social media design consistency is nearly impossible.

Plus, what if you need several versions for simultaneous campaigns? What if you need several revisions, and the freelancer limits how many you can ask for?

The good news is that there is a fantastic option that can not only take the load off of getting social designs but other graphic and content assets as well.

So, what is it? An affordable flat-rate subscription service with Flocksy.

When you choose Flocksy, you can work with a team of talented creative services professionals to ensure your company gets everything they need to produce consistent, high-quality marketing materials, including social media design and ads, web page design, copywriting, video editing, illustrations, and web development. 

And it’s all on one creative service platform. 

A Flocksy flat-rate subscription is yours for a monthly fee that doesn’t change or hold you into a contract. While we handle your creative projects, you can focus on all the other important aspects of running your business.

No more juggling a bunch of freelancers because your entire team will all be available through the Flocksy dashboard and just a message away. Plus, you’ll have a project manager there to help you with any questions throughout your entire time with us.

Getting Social Media Design At Flocksy

With Flocksy graphic design services, getting your social media design is simple.

Go to the intuitive dashboard to request your social posts or ads from our graphics team, and you’ll get results in as little as 24 to 48 hours. How do you put in a request? Follow the steps below.

One, click on the “Create new project” button on the dashboard and choose the “Graphic design project” option from the requests page. Two, find the option for “social media design.” Three, fill in the details about what you need in the social design and click start.

When you’re starting your social media design project, include what you need from the design and how you’ll be using them, including any references, the necessary info to display, the dimensions and social platform the images will be going on, and your brand style guide or the fonts and colors to use.

With all this information on your brand’s purpose, style, and personality, your designer can create social media designs that encourage action through a CTA or textual statement, create a lasting impression on your target audience, and offer brand consistency as you work with the same designer over and over again. All you need to do is upload them to your social accounts and enjoy the results. (We can even help with the copywriting for each social post.)

Start your social media design project today!

The post Getting Successful Social Media Graphics For Your Brand appeared first on Flocksy.

Anyone coming of age between 2002 and 2008 would have been familiar with MySpace. Considered one of the first social media platforms (and an introduction to coding for most millennials) — MySpace was loved by teens, musicians, and anyone looking to meet people and share ideas. Ultimately, the platform fizzled out (thanks to poor spending, stiff competition, and a faulty interface), and a brand new platform took center stage — Facebook. Unlike MySpace, Facebook went from a small invite-only platform for college students to one of the top social media platforms in the world, with 2.98 billion active monthly users in 2023.

Photo by Lance Reis on Unsplash

While other apps like TikTok and Instagram have surged in popularity recently, every business still needs a solid Facebook marketing strategy to reach a worldwide audience. At Flocksy, our team of creatives can create professional, exciting Facebook content to grow your reach.

4 Advantages Of Facebook Marketing For Your Business

Facebook is one site that functions as a variety of marketing platforms businesses can use. Companies can promote themselves to a large and diverse audience with a Facebook page, generate leads through targeted ads, or create groups to foster community around their brand. Here are the 4 reasons your business should use Facebook.

1. Target Your Ideal Customer With Facebook Ads

Facebook has a highly detailed ad targeting system. Their ad targeting criteria let you pinpoint specific groups of people based on gender, age, location, interests, behaviors, recent purchases, and more. These targeted ads allow you to create an ad campaign around your customers or specific marketing goals instead of promoting your ad to a general audience. 

Not only can you generate leads with Facebook ads, but Facebook’s “Insights” provide in-depth analytics on your free and paid posts. The platform gathers information on page visitors, giving you a better understanding of your user base and helping you to determine if you’re targeting the right people for your products. The Insights section can also help you customize your posts, tone, and content to appeal to your target audience more specifically.

2. Facebook Has A Wide Variety Of Ad Types

Facebook Advertising offers ad types other social media channels don’t. You can market your business through photos, videos, stories, messaging, carousel ads, slideshows, ad collections, and even playable demos.

While most social media platforms allow images and videos — messenger ads, collections, and playables are unique to Facebook. You can reach consumers by having your ads appear during Facebook Messenger conversations, allow users to click through to a collection of products through a single collection ad, or create an interactive demo people can play to advertise an app or game.

With Facebook for business, there is much more flexibility than other platforms regarding the type of ads you can create, but ensuring your content looks professional is important for your brand image (especially when promoting your ads to a wide audience). Hiring a professional graphic designer or video editor ensures your Facebook business page is informative, eye-catching, and full of high-quality content. At Flocksy, our creative team can provide your business with on-brand graphics and designs that are sure to create new customers.

3. Facebook Increases Your Brand Visibility

Facebook was the first social media network to gain mainstream success, and as such is one of the most recognizable platforms in the world. Not only are there almost 3 billion active users on the platform, but Facebook is the third-most-visited website in the world. This means you can reach customers internationally and grow your brand visibility tenfold with the right content and ad targeting.

Along with increasing your brand visibility on the platform, Facebook also contributes to your SEO by increasing your brand’s visibility on the web. When you create a public business page, any links you post can be picked up by search engines —  creating better organic traffic to your website and page.

Your Facebook page and interactions with users also provide social proof. Social proof is the concept that people are influenced by those they trust and typically adopt friends’ and family’s opinions or actions. But where does Facebook fit into all of this? Well, Facebook allows people to ‘like’ or rate your business page; when they do, your site will appear on their friend’s newsfeeds. This will encourage others to visit your page and maybe even purchase your products (especially if they see a family member or friend interacting with your content). Users can also like and comment on your pictures, participate in surveys, and ask questions on your page — providing you even more opportunities to create a community, build your brand image, and interact with your target audience.

4. Facebook Is Easy To Use & Affordable

It costs $0 to create a Facebook page for your business. This means Facebook is a cost-effective way to market your business and get your name out there. Besides the free account, the platform also offers a wide range of paid advertising options. You can customize your ad spending by length of time, total budget, and more. Facebook’s average cost-per-click is $1.72 — providing you with an almost guaranteed return on your investment.

If you’re unsure how to market your newest ad campaign, you can test your ads with a $1 daily budget for as long as you want to see what works for your brand. The affordable options Facebook offers are also easy to navigate and user-friendly. Facebook even offers online marketing courses for anyone interested in learning the ins and outs of the platform.

Flocksy Can Create Eye-Catching Facebook Content For Your Business In 24 Hours

We know how time-consuming it can be to create content. Not only do you need to post regularly, but you also need to make sure you’re posting high-quality content that represents your brand well and captures users’ attention.

Our creative team at Flocksy can create Facebook ads, stories, carousel posts, and whatever else you need to grow your reach on Facebook. The more high-quality content you post – the more engagement you will see. We can quickly create the content you need that your audience will love.

It’s easy to create a project on Flocksy. Simply choose your plan, click “Start a new project,” and choose the “Facebook ad or post” subcategory under graphic design. Need a video or video ad edited? No worries! Simply choose the “Video editing” category, and our creatives will deliver high-resolution videos to your inbox in less than 2 days. Now that Flocksy is on your side, you’ll easily reach Facebook’s extensive audience.

The post Why Facebook Marketing Is Still Important In 2023 appeared first on Flocksy.