Allen Klein, an award-winning expert keynote speaker, once remarked that 80% of what people learn is through social media posts.
We all know that social media images are a vital element of any blog or social media post.
Besides the fact that they might be compulsory in some formats, they also make your post more charming and attractive.
They are a crucial part of content marketing, as people tend to look at the image first and then decide if they will read your headline (and what else comes after it).
We live in the age of the “camera in everyone’s pocket.”
With more than 2.5 billion camera phones in use, we are entering a new dynamic era around image creation and content.
Marketing firm MDG Advertising discovered that content paired with an image attracted 94% more views on average than content without visuals.
To get such a result, you need to edit photos. This involves tweaking colors, saturation, brightness, shadows, and other parameters.
Also, a picture is still worth a thousand words, but today it’s also worth a thousand pins on Pinterest or hearts on Instagram.
Today, people have a concentration span of fewer than nine seconds or even less than a goldfish.
As a result, social media images are more powerful than ever.
After analyzing 8,000 different posts from B2C and B2B companies, Hubspot also reported that Facebook statuses with images had 53% more likes and 104% more comments than statuses that were text only.
A huge part of the brain is directed on social media visual processing, allowing humans to treat images at an incredible speed.
The human brain can remember a familiar object in only 100 milliseconds, making images the ideal way to communicate in today’s short-attention world.
Every day, 300 million pictures are uploaded to Facebook. Instagram has an average of 95 million photos uploaded daily.
First, let’s discuss the big: WHY?
Why Are Images Important for Social Media Posts?
Using relevant social media images allows you to earn attention, build loyalty, deliver vital information, and improve engagement.
If you desire to stand out, develop a social media visuals brand identity as accurately as you prepare your sales pitches.
When you stay constant and connect images with your marketing message, your brand will have more staying power.
Images Get Your Audience’s Attention
Because our brains reply quickly to pictures and color in contrast to other types of information, an image is an almost invincible draw on social media.
Of course, to get the concentration you want, you have to share images that matter to your target audience.
You need to find out what social media visuals matter to your followers and fans.
Varied Images Keep Audiences Interested
When you switch image types from time to time, you dodge having a social media feed that shouts “same old, same old.”
You won’t control the risk of losing fans due to monotony and repetition.
Whatever you do, avoid selfies.
Your social media demeanor should be about your audience, not about yourself!
Images Help Your Audience Remember Your Message
Research shows that people only remember 10% of what they learn once 72 hours have passed.
However, if you pair a fitting image with your content, people can retain 65% of the information after three days.
Now for the big: HOW?
How are Social Media Posts Important for Marketing Strategy?
If the social media images you add don’t look expert level, they’ll hurt your brand image.
That’s why I distinguished these seven tips to increase your social media visuals marketing photos.
Love Grid Lines
The precept of thirds is one of the most basic photography crafts you should know.
This method will improve the style of your photos and create balanced, visually appealing images.
You should put your subject and anything worthy in your photo where those lines cross.
Symmetry
Symmetry is another visual detail we are naturally drawn to.
If you have the possibility to capture symmetry in social media images that you plan on using, you should clearly do so.
It’s simple, but it serves.
Your pictures demand to stand out to draw the consideration of your followers.
If it resembles as if a learner is taking the photos, it will exhibit poorly on your brand.
We both understand you don’t want that to happen.
Crop – Don’t Zoom
Another rookie mistake I see businesses make all the time is practicing the zoom feature.
Manually zooming on a point is a big no, unless you’re utilizing a professional camera.
But as I said earlier, that type of equipment is useless.
Your smartphone will take pictures that are good enough to post on social media.
However, once you begin zooming, you will ruin the quality of the photo.
Instead of zooming, get more adjacent to your subject. If that’s not feasible, don’t worry about it.
Take the photo from where you are, and use the rule of thirds to enhance the composition.
Repeating Patterns
Just like balance, patterns are another excellent way to capture the attention of your followers.
Sometimes, getting the right pattern is all about asking from the right angle and perspective.
The subject may still be consistent enough and usable for your social media visuals marketing campaign, but it can be enhanced by using this strategy.
Find a New Prospect
You don’t want your social media marketing pictures to look like everyone else’s.
Your brand requires you to come up with new scenes to separate yourself from the crowd.
Just like the image; it is a spiral staircase but the new perspective that it portrays is that it can be taken as an eye too.
Get Abstract
Think outside the box.
I am certain you realize how many pictures are overflowing the timelines of your fans daily.
If your marketing images don’t jump off the page at them, they’ll utterly keep on scrolling.
At an initial glance, a social media user might not even apprehend what they’re looking at.
But it’s positively enough to stop them in their tracks for additional examination.
Be Funny
Okay, certain companies need to be more serious than others. If your company practices in services such as commercial investments or funerals, you probably shouldn’t be breaking jokes on social media.
But those kinds of brands are rare.
If your company markets products or services to a mark-out audience that can enjoy some humor, don’t be scared to take a funny photo for your social media campaigns.
Like the picture above, it can easily be used to market sunglasses, and who doesn’t like doggos. They’re ADORABUBBLE!
Stop taking yourself seriously.
In fact, 36% of customers are prompted to acquire after seeing a funny post from a brand on social media.
Posting a humorous image can do much more for you than just encourage engagement. This strategy can directly lead to sales.
Just make sure you stay away from controversial subjects.
Get visual!
Use royalty-free incredible images to ensure that your social media content is always performing its level best!
How Can Social Champ Help?
Posting on Instagram – The world of images.
Use Social Champ to schedule your content on Instagram and make your Insta-profile lively and fun!
The most basic level of sharing on Instagram is to offer your audience continuous content! In a busy life today, not everybody has the time or tool to post content every day.
This is where the Social Champ app steps in to make your work easy!
Higher Reach For Twitter Using Hashtags
Adding hashtags (#) is a great way to get new followers and share your photos with more people.
If you want your post to reach a wider audience, use 5 to 10 relevant hashtags, avoiding the most common or mainstream ones.
Social Champ offers a variety of hashtags relevant to your content through the software!
Royalty-Free Images For Facebook Posts
You don’t have to go through the hustle of downloading images to add them to your posts to schedule on Facebook.
Social Champ provides you with a large range of royalty-free images (without a watermark) and makes your work easier by every second through a single platform!
Fill Your Board With Creatives on Pinterest
Social Champ lets you keep your board fresh and attractive and keeps your audience interested in your content while being a Pinterest scheduling tool.
Drive Traffic to Your Blog Through Direct Links on the Pins
Social Champ lets you link your pins directly to your blog.
So the link will directly pop up when the pin is clicked, instead of going through the link in the bio of the pin!
Featured Article: 10 Steps to Create an Epic Social Media Campaign
Just a Little Help With Social Media Posts
Get Images for Free
There are plenty of online sources where you can find great images for free. And all that you will need to do is to search for it in their library and download your favorites. Here are some options for you:
- MorgueFile
- Pixabay
- StockSnap.io
- Unsplash
- Visual Hunt
- Picjumbo
- LifeofPix
- SplitShire
- Negative Space
- Creative Commons Licence on Flickr
- Reusable Images in Google’s repository
Despite the fact that they are free, you might be asked to credit the photographer or digital artist who creates the image, for your social media posts. So read the instructions carefully and check if any attribution is required, so as not to infringe anybody’s copyright.
Paying for Images
If you are looking for professionally taken/created images, or if you need a high number of them, you might have to consider a paid stock images service instead. There are many online companies offering great options for you, such as:
- Fotolia
- iStock
- Getty Images
- Shutterstock
- Desygner
- Dreamstime stock
- DepositPhotos
- Bigstock
- Corbis Image
- 123RF
On these websites, you will find high-resolution social media images to use. You can either pay for those you need or buy a subscription if you think you will need to have access to new options regularly. We highly recommend going through these suggestions by expert designers to make the most out of stock images!
Creating Your Own Images
If you already have something to start with, such as your own pictures, you can try to use one of the online and offline tools and software available to make the necessary adjustments, so they look more professional:
- GIMP
- Canva
- PicMonkey
- Visme
- Fotojet
- Snappa
- Piktochart
All the options above are very intuitive and come with several features free of charge.
Conclusion
If you want to manage a successful social media image campaign, you need to converge more attention on the quality of your marketing photos.
All you require is some necessary photography skills to get you started on the right path.
After that, decide what types of photos will speak to your target audience on these platforms.
Use this guide as an inspiration for your future marketing photos.
