There are many tools available, but have you considered using PowerPoint to create your social media content? PowerPoint can create more than just presentations, and includes image editing, graphics creation, and typography features.
We all know the business benefits of a strong social media presence – and these have been proven time and time again. A 2016 study by the Social Media Examiner found that 90% of marketers said social media is important to their business, while 89% said it had helped gain exposure for their brand. In this post, we’ll explain how PowerPoint’s versatility and accessibility can make it the backbone of your social media strategy.
Social media marketing isn’t just about posting updates and sharing articles. Visual content is the leader in today’s market, a fact supported by data from the SME study among many others. For example, visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared or reposted than text-based content. If you do want to share an article, adding a feature image will make readers 80% more inclined to read it.
Common types of visual content include images, graphics, infographics, and videos. And with its increase in popularity, free graphic design tools and platforms are popping up everywhere – one example being Canva. The thing is, these tools tend to be buggy and unintuitive, and it’s not long before you discover all the best design options require a premium (paid) subscription.
More importantly, why waste time learning your way around a new application when our old friend PowerPoint can do all of this and more?
Three examples of using PowerPoint for social media campaigns:
1. Save slides as image files
You’ll often find that individual presentation slides, such as quotes, can be impactful all on their own. Saving your slides as image files makes it easy to share only those slides – as images.
It’s as simple as going to the File menu and selecting “Save as Pictures” in the file type dropdown (we recommend PNG files for the best quality). You can even choose to save individual slides instead of the whole presentation.
Instagram is the first social media platform that springs to mind when we think of images, but they can also be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and the rest.
2. Create an infographic
Anyone searching for infographic creators online will find themselves quite spoiled for choice. Again though, why bother when PowerPoint is already available and much easier to use? Infographics can be quite tricky to put together, there’s no point in making things even more difficult by trying to create them on a platform you’re not familiar with.
Many users don’t realise it but PowerPoint is a great graphics editor, with features including shapes, lines, icons, SmartArt, and even drawing tools. That’s not to mention all the colour, shading, and 3D options. When you’ve created an infographic, follow the steps above to save it as an image file for social media sharing.
3. Share on SlideShare
Back to PowerPoint’s chief purpose – presentations themselves can also be shared! For those not in the know, SlideShare is a LinkedIn-owned presentation-sharing platform that allows users to upload, view, rate, comment on, and share slide decks.
You can upload your presentations in PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF, and OpenDocument formats, and add SEO attributes to make sure other users can find your content easily. In addition, the URL of your SlideShare can be used to share your presentation on other social media channels.
Twitter and Pinterest are the key platforms here, as both allow users to view SlideShare decks without leaving their feed. You can’t have too much exposure, though, so don’t be afraid to share the link on Facebook etc. too.
Even if your social media feeds are up-to-date with engaging content, it makes sense to save and store away any slides you create that have marketing potential. This way you build a library of ready-made content to support your current and future social media campaigns.
Need some design help with your presentation or infographic? Contact us to find out how we can help you create stunning visual content using Powerpoint for social media posts.
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