The key to successful social media marketing is engagement, and while content certainly still is king, long-form articles have given way to sound bite posts and images. Images draw in users much more easily than text, and image and video marketing have become the leading forces in successful online campaigns.

Why are images so important?

It’s no exaggeration to say that photos are the holy-grail of social media engagement. Images psychologically resonate with Internet users. For example, on Facebook, photos are by far the most engaging type of content, with an 87% interaction rate from fans. Considering no other post type receives more than a 4% interaction rate on average, that percentage is astronomically high. Photos similarly delight users on other social media channels such as Twitter, and, of course, on photo-based social media websites like Pinterest and Instagram. Why are we so attracted to images? There are several reasons.

The first has to do with human psychology. For whatever reason, images have a powerful emotional pull on us. As the saying goes, a photo is worth a thousand words. The second reason has a lot to do with modernization and the advent of the 24/7 media cycle. We are all bombarded by content every single day, and, consequently, our attention spans have gotten shorter. We are overwhelmed with a content overload, and we get bored easily. We prefer what we can consume quickly.

For any company wishing to really connect with their audience it’s clear that images are the way to go. Follow these tips to learn how to create social media images that truly resonate with your audience, gaining you greater online follower-ship and tangible results.

Use Infographics

The brain is capable of processing visual content 60,000 times more quickly than text. No wonder images work so well with audiences! If you are trying to convey statistical information or data to an audience, try incorporating it into an infographic. Infographics are fun to “read,” aesthetically pleasing, and are easily shareable. If your infographic is particularly informative, you’ll find the infographic will quickly make the rounds on the world-wide web.

Go Behind the Scenes

Audiences love getting a glimpse of companies behind the scenes. Instagram in particular is a great place to showcase sneak-peeks, behind-the-scenes pics, and similar content. Another good idea is to connect with fans on a personal level by introducing them to the faces behind your brand. Profile your PR Manager or interview an employee. Whatever you can think of to humanize your business!

Take Action Shots

Make images more dynamic and exciting by featuring action shots of your product. Gatorade, for example, frequently showcases photographs of Gatorade being spilled from the bottle. This invites audiences to imagine the series of events that led up to that moment (what caused the bottle to spill), as well as the events that follow (the splatter of liquid, the color, smell, taste, etc.) It’s well worth your dime to hire a professional photographer who can snap action shots for your brand.

Craft Unique Content

Don’t simply plaster stock images on your social media channels, or share articles and content everyone else is spreading around. Take the time to craft unique images. There are many online tools you can use to create original graphics. Design from templates or hire a graphic designer to make you custom images from Photoshop. Be sure to mark your content with your company’s logo, so that if your content is shared, it links back to your page.

Be Bold

Don’t be afraid to mix and match color palettes. Go for things that pop, contrast, and really stand out. When it comes to images, being bold and unique is what will attract users to comment on and share your images. Experiment with a variety of different fonts within one image, as well as colors and patterns.

Consult the Professionals

If you need assistance with your social media marketing efforts, contact the experts. Servistree offers a variety of full social media management packages for small to large businesses. Our packages include weekly post curation, custom graphics, comment monitoring, and more! Visit us at www.servistree.com for more information.