Did you know 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual and this is processed 60,000 faster than text?

So it can’t have escaped your attention that visual content remains important in the world of social media and the continuing rapid growth of visual platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat. This phenomenon has been called The Visual Shift and this blog will give you links to some free resources to help you with your own Visual Shift.

The annual Venngage study on visual content marketing statistics provided some insights into the importance of visuals:

• 71% said that visual content was very or quite important to their marketing strategy and 0% said it was not at all important
• 40% used stock photos and yet they stated these only helped achieve 13% of their goals
• 34% used original graphics which helped them achieve 40% of their goals
• Over 40% said they found it hard to create visual content consistently

So there is no doubt that visuals will help you create engaging content and capture that all-important attention of your time-poor customers. Here are some ideas on how to create a variety of quality visuals in your social media marketing – even on a shoestring!

Photographs

Do make sure these are high quality and relevant. If you can use original images so much the better – you (of course), your products, behind-the-scenes, staff, displays and where you are visiting/working. It might be a good idea to book a brand shoot with a professional photographer so you have a bank of high-quality images. Don’t be tempted to download images from the internet or other people’s social media, you could end up paying dearly for breaching copyright.  There are many free images that you can use under a Creative Commons license on sites like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Good stock images are essential for websites and brochures but perhaps a little pricey for everyday social media, the best-known one is probably Shutterstock

If you don’t have photogenic products or services, you can create your own images for free on packages like Canva and Pablo. You can overlay words onto pictures, and create event notices, posters, blog headers etc.  So there really is no excuse not to have some sort of image if you are posting on social media. This is one I use on Facebook, and Twitter and then printed into a postcard-sized flyer.

SlideShare

As part of LinkedIn, SlideShare allows you to create and share professional presentations and tutorials. It is a great way to add media to your LinkedIn profile and is also a great source of information for learning. You simply upload your files to create a presentation in a word, PowerPoint or pdf format before uploading. For example, you could break a blog down into a number of pages with visuals for each key point. Try to make them high on design and visuals rather than lots of text which means that longer presentations can quickly be flicked through.

Quotes

Another good way of breaking up posts about your own business is to post a relevant, motivational or funny quote within an image. There are lots of sites out there such as Brainy Quote and PostQuotes– why not save the ones you like to Pinterest or OneNote so you can access them later? Before posting always make sure you can share them by checking the website, crediting the originator or including any credit in the image rather than cropping it out. Or to avoid copyright issues you can create your own branded quotes in packages like Canva.

 

Infographics

Similar to SlideShare, these are great for presenting complex or factual information such as the key results from some research in a highly visual manner. These are getting easier to create with packages like Canva, Infogram and Piktochart which have great templates (this was the first infographic I produced) or if you have access to a graphic designer you could ask them to create one.

Memes/Fun Images

Memes are images (often the same image over and over again) that are accompanied by humorous captions. Memes are not just for youngsters, they can be a great way to lighten up your content but make sure they are relevant to your business and not offensive.  You can also upload your own image at sites like this one via Meme Generator. Or if you want to use your face or words inserted into a fun image try PhotoFunia.

 

GIFs

A GIF, or Graphical Interchange Format, is an animated image format that is easy to share, again they might not be suitable for all businesses but it can show a bit of your personality if you use them on social media. For example to thank or congratulate someone, or for a Friday afternoon or weekend post.  You can find a GIF for more or less any topic using websites like Giphy which is free to share.

Video

Video is the fastest growing content that is shared on social media – and it’s not just YouTube but short (less than 15-second clips) across all platforms including live streaming and live video. There are some fantastic resources out there, far too many for this blog but you could start with Facebook Live, video editing apps on your phone, Windows Movie Maker, or video-creating tools like HiFlipagram tFilmExpress or Powtoon.

Re-Sizing

Promo and Websiteplant have a great free platform for re-sizing your images for social media. Shutterstock also has a very simple free version.

Creating that Impact

According to Mammoth Infographics, one of the leaders in visual marketing your visuals can:

• make complex information easier to understand
• give you immediate impact
• make your content easy to share
• support improved brand awareness
• increase engagement
• convey the benefits of your product or service
• increase website traffic and SEO ranking

Do you like to use visual tools in your social media marketing? Or, if you’re not using visuals in your marketing you need to think about why!! If you need help on creating effective images for social media or one to one training on Canva get in touch.

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