As a designer, you know that having a social media presence is important. It’s a great way to show off your work, connect with potential clients, and learn from other designers. But which social media platform should you choose? This can be a difficult decision, especially since each platform has its own unique set of features for showcasing your work portfolio.
One of the possible usages of social media for designers is creating a portfolio. However, though these days they are quite easy to use, you may still have some doubts about how to craft the portfolio. And it’s no surprise, there are so many things you should consider: which style to choose, what to write there and many others. In case you need a step-by-step guide on how to create your portfolio, you can find out more in this article.
In this blog post, we will compare the three most popular social media platforms for designers: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each platform so that you can decide which one is right for you!
1. Instagram
In many ways, Instagram is the ideal social networking platform for designers. It is so mainly because this service is image-based. You may submit photographs of your work to the mobile photo-sharing site and then tag them to give your arts the most exposure possible through search and the “Explore” button.
These tools also assist you in finding like-minded designers and inspiration. You may be more creative with your postings by including videos of making your design or a scrollable gallery of several arts. Plus, Instagram enables you to publish to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr all at once, allowing you to manage your social media presence from a single location.
2. Twitter
The advantages of Twitter generally revolve around reaching the audience. And it’s a particularly excellent platform for designers given that tweets with images are likely to receive three times as much engagement as text-based posts. As a hub of cultural discourse, Twitter is a popular social media for artists to showcase their personalities and sense of humor.
It’s a place where people can go to learn more about you, which is crucial for your freelancing clients. So, if your main purpose for using social media is to find a new client base, Twitter may become your helping hand to achieve such a goal.
3. Facebook
Facebook is a crucial platform for designers due to its enormous popularity as the most widely used social network with close to two billion users worldwide. You may engage with followers and potential customers by setting up a page for your graphic design company and sharing updates on your work. You can also post tutorials yourself or find the ones of other creative minds.
Facebook, in contrast to Instagram, provides a more detailed profile and easy link sharing, allowing you to direct viewers to your online portfolio or official website. You may join groups for professionals in your field, making it a wonderful platform for networking professionally.
4. Tumblr
Tumblr, which is owned by Yahoo, is a huge source of design ideas and a great way to stand out to companies and agencies looking to hire freelancers and new employees. The majority of the content is visual, and the blog format enables designers to publish a variety of information about the designer to demonstrate their breadth to potential clients.
It’s really simple to create content on your mobile device. Tumblr might be your personal website or just a blog for your different thoughts. To demonstrate your web design abilities, you may also alter the layout of your blog, submit new themes, or build your own ones.
Those who are really engaged on the platform may potentially have access to a completely new client base. In order to create unique material for marketing campaigns, businesses work with designers and artists on Tumblr through the Creatrs network.
5. Pinterest
Pinterest isn’t the most popular social media among designers, but there are still chances to get noticed there. Actually, using it to plan wedding or kitchen renovation is similar to using it as a designer. The strength is in the pins since they are simple to see, change, share, and organize.
Pinterest may be utilized to complement your Behance or Dribbble portfolio or to showcase your individuality in order to get new followers. It’s a simple method to showcase your work and a quick way to gather ideas from the Internet at large — a nice tool when you’re beginning a new project.
6. Behance
Behance is the social network that became the number one choice of many independent creative minds. It is a free portfolio builder that can also be converted into a fully functional website for a monthly charge.
In addition to utilizing it to showcase your abilities, you get a chance to find a job in a creative field and look through carefully chosen galleries of photography, illustration, motion graphics, and much more. In the ten years since its start, Behance has grown enormously, today producing more than six million project applications and an average of 82 million project views each month, so this social media will be ideal for getting new customers.
7. Dribbble
Dribbble is another image-based network. Unlike Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, its sole purpose is to help you land a job. Potential clients who pay the yearly fee may explore the For Hire area to discover a designer who suits their needs. Designers can post what they’re working on and see what their colleagues are up to across the world to get inspired.
However, posting your work on the site needs an invitation from an existing Dribbble community member, unless you’re a member of a design team or firm that has paid for an account. And Dribbble warns its users, that getting new customers may take time, so be patient.
8. LinkedIn
Despite the fact that over 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find new hires, including agencies and brand marketers searching for creatives, it may not seem visually appealing to a designer. The site truly has it all, allowing you to post your resume, connect to examples of your work, and compile glowing testimonials and endorsements that clients can see while they browse prospects. You can use LinkedIn only to find a job, so if you want something more creative and fun, you should go for another social media.
Though LinkedIn isn’t as eye-catching as the platforms I mentioned, it’s a great place to collect your projects, collaborations and achievements. This way the major figures of the market can notice you. In case your portfolio is filled with many works and you update it on a regular basis, you may get new offers almost daily.