Images: guaranteed social kickstarter
Looking to gain followers, boost engagement, and have an overall stronger social media presence? By now you know that this involves finding your voice, researching your audience, and being patient. But you can also draw on another guaranteed social kickstarter: images.
It’s a given that images dominate social media platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest. But studies show that social media’s image obsession doesn’t stop there. A recent report by Twitter discovered that image-based tweets are shared 35% more times than those without. If that doesn’t make you salivate, eMarketer recently noted that 75% percent of all content shared on Facebook contains a photo.
Twitter engagement
— USE IMAGES EFFECTIVELY
So how can you get on the engagement bandwagon and incorporate images into your social media effectively? MIT’s Stephanie Hatch suggests that images should trigger 1 of 3 responses from your audience.
Emotional: Pick an image that elicits an emotional response. A laugh, shock, a tug at the heartstrings—whatever you’re aiming for.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 11.16.24 PM
Mental: Use an image to educate or provide insight for your audience—try to prompt some outside-the-box thinking.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 11.07.02 PM
Social: Include an image that requires your followers to have a grasp of pop culture to fully understand and appreciate.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 11.11.40 PM
ADD SOME POLISH
Need to take your social media images up a notch visually? Photoshop isn’t the only answer. Luckily, a host of free photo editing programs are out there: try Canva and Pixlr for starters.
REMEMBER RIGHTS!
One final note: when you post images to your social accounts, remember to use only original images that you’ve created or images that you have the right to publish. Ignoring this can lead to copyright infringements and even get you in legal trouble.
Time to get started! What images do you find most effective in your own social media? Read more here
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