Social media has become an increasingly visual experience with the advent of new, elegant image-sharing apps and tools.
Here’s why:
The brain processes visuals faster than written text. In fact, about 90% of the information that is transmitted to the brain is visual. These are also processed 60,000X faster than written text.
Businesses that use infographics experience a 12% increase in traffic on average.
Within social media, image posts receive more clicks and higher engagement than those without. In fact, photo albums on Facebook actually have 180% more engagement compared to posts without photos and posts that have images receive 94% more visits.
Detailed images carry more weight than customer ratings or product information. 67% of consumers actually think that detailed images say more about a company or brand than their customer ratings or the information they print out. This is because it serves as an evidence of the brand’s attention to detail, something that would translate to their performance as well.
It is so important that you leverage new technology to make your social brand as visually engaging as possible. Here are a few tools to help you do so:
Canva – Free/Paid versions
A great tool for creating great images is Canva. Choose from lots of free and paid stock images and then add text for a little more visual punch. It is also a great tool for making simple infographics.
Aviary – Free
This is a great tool for editing photos that you have taken yourself. Use this to brighten up the details of any image and make them more appealing.
Pablo – Free
A new tool by Buffer (which I’m clearly a fan of) that prides itself on being able to make beautiful images in about 30 seconds. The newest comer of the group, but an early favorite of mine.
PicMonkey – Paid (30-day free trial)
A little more advanced in its technical abilities, it is for your very serious social campaigns that require highly detailed imagery.
It’s now time to start using the tools at your disposal to share high quality, original images on social media. This will help you improve your results and cement your personal or business brand in the minds of your community, in the most effective way possible.
Thanks for the tools, Reade. I need to do this more in the future.
Of course! It used to be a real pain to find images that conveyed the message I was going for. These make the job a lot easier.
Some very interesting statistics here on photos –
“Businesses that use infographics experience a 12% increase in traffic on average.
Within social media, image posts receive more clicks and higher engagement than those without. In fact, photo albums on Facebook actually have 180% more engagement compared to posts without photos and posts that have images receive 94% more visits.
Detailed images carry more weight than customer ratings or product information. 67% of consumers actually think that detailed images say more about a company or brand than their customer ratings or the information they print out. This is because it serves as an evidence of the brand’s attention to detail, something that would translate to their performance as well.”
Wow!
Thanks for the different resources as well. I have never used any of them, but it may be time to start.
Hey, Reade. This is the first post of yours I’ve read here. Good stuff. And by extension, a profile image says a lot, as well. What does yours say? Well, a lot of things, but among them, “I’m the quiet type who’s secretly planning to do some elaborate prank.”