Social media: the power of images and videos

Images and visual content has been used in traditional marketing for years in the form of posters, billboard, TV ads etc. This hasn’t changed, we’re just working in a digital world now and there are places for you to share your images.

As humans, it’s in our nature to communicate visually and we connect emotionally with images more than video, audio or text. Images process quickly and people are drawn to visual stimulus. It’s not hard to see the value in images on social media when you look at the statistics:

• In August 2012, Instagram passed Twitter for daily active mobile users.
• 80% of your online visitors will watch a video whilst only 20% will take the time to read your content.
• Photos in Facebook posts get more than 150% of the likes than posts without images.
• Between 65% and 85% of people describe themselves as ‘visual learners’ meaning that they organise thoughts and generate meanings based on visual stimulus.
• Instagram has 10 times more engagement from users than Facebook.
• Pinterest is now the second largest referrer of online traffic.
• 93% of the most engaging posts on Facebook are photos.

Overlaying quotes onto images has also proved very popular. Tools such as Canva, PicMonkey and Pixlr are great places to get started with editing your own images. Infographics also have ‘shareable’ power and you can easily create them yourself with lots of online tools.

So if you want to start capitalising on the power of pictures, here are some easy tips to take away:

• If you can show your message rather than tell it then do! This can be through infographics, pictures, graphics, animations etc.
• Engage fans with your social media channels so they keep sharing your content.
• Add some words back in; overlay messages, add in links to your website and add in hashtags. This will add value to the visuals you’re sharing.
• Don’t forget images on channels that aren’t image specific ie/ post images on Facebook and Twitter as well as Instagram and Pinterest.
• Don’t insert random images as a last thought, use boring or irrelevant photos, or overused stock photos because these tactics won’t have the same effect.

In a later post, we’ll discuss the social media platforms specifically targeting images; Pinterest, Snapchat and Instagram. But for now, don’t forget to start sharing image-based content on social media and watch your reach rise, and make sure you take the time to source or create relevant images and videos to include in your social media content plan .