You’ve heard that a picture may be worth a thousand words. But it may also be worth a thousand likes! With screens becoming bigger, better, and more prevalent, social media has gotten more visual than ever before. And many of the world’s top brands are capitalizing on the trend by creating high quality images that catch the eye and drive engagement. Here’s why you should too:
Your Audience Gets Involved
Imagine scrolling through your social media feed and coming to a giant block of text. Do you stop and read it or do you continue scrolling? Studies have shown that, no matter how informative that post is, most people will scroll right by. But if you include an image, that number changes dramatically. In fact, social media posts with pictures receive a whopping 94% more views!
And that’s not all. People are 40x more likely to share a post with their friends if it includes a visual element. Using good images ensures that more people are viewing your content, and more people are passing it on to their friends. That’s what good social media marketing is all about.
It Makes Communication Easier
Imagery gives you more flexibility for communicating with your customers. Not only is text limited in what it can convey, but it is often literally limited by social media platforms. Twitter only gives you 280 characters, Facebook only lets you type so much before it hides everything else under a “See more” button. Why struggle with these limitations when one image can say everything you need?
Does your restaurant have a new dish that you want people to get excited about? A good photo can build more interest than text ever could.
Do you have a tricky concept that you need to explain to your customers? A well-designed infographic can break it down in an easily digestible format for your readers.
Communication is the key to developing a good relationship with your customers and images allow you to communicate in many new and exciting ways.
It Builds Brand Awareness
It’s tough to get noticed on social media. Customers are bombarded with hundreds of images every day, so getting them to stop on yours can be a real challenge. One of the most important things you can do to stand out is to create a strong and consistent brand image.
Sometimes this is as simple as having a good logo. Sometimes you may need to develop a distinct style for your social media posts. Through quality images and consistency, your customers will begin to recognize a post from you before they’ve even read the content. Once they can pick you out of the crowd, it becomes a lot easier to get them to engage and share your content.
With good images, you can take your social media marketing to a whole new level. According to research, people retain 80% of the information they see and only 20% of the information they hear. Isn’t it time to bring your numbers up?