10 Types of Visual Social Media Posts That Get Shared Like Crazy

 

 

By Anna Guerrero

Do you want double your social engagement and get your content shared like crazy? For small businesses and brands everywhere, posting multiple images on social media has been proven to have massive traction. It seems simple right? But if it was so easy wouldn’t everybody do it?

 

Like most good things, in life – there’s a catch. And it isn’t not needing a huge budget or incredible graphic design skills.

 

When it comes to content creation, many people make this simple mistake: they add more visuals just for the sake of it. This is a basic approach. Smart content marketers create a visual content strategy that reaches people’s emotions – content with real psychological impact.

 

If you’re not a graphic designer or artist, don’t worry. I’m going to walk you through you ten types of powerful visuals that are easy to create and can double your social media engagement. Let’s get started.

 

1. High quality stock photography

Beware: your fans will smell a cheesy stock photo from a million miles away. Not only will it lead them to discredit your professionalism as a brand, but will deter them from wanting to share your post.

 

On the other hand, high quality stock photography can do the complete opposite. As well as making your brand seem more credible, high quality and relevant images help establish your brand’s reputation and boost engagement. If you’re looking for original content, check out this handy article that lists and rates over 70 free stock photography websites.

Image: Elite Daily

 

Take a look at this post on Elite Daily’s Facebook page. By using relevant and high quality stock photography, the band achieves a “wow factor” which immediately tempts the viewer to click through to the blog.

 

After all, everything your audience shares on social media will reflect back on themselves. You can’t blame them for wanting to look good, but you can choose the right images to make it possible.

 

2. Screenshots

You’ve probably heard the old adage “seeing is believing.” In terms of visual content, the psychological lesson here is that when people can see something for themselves, they’re more likely to trust the source – which develops its credibility.



Image: Buffer

 

In this Twitter post Buffer gauges interest around one of its growth experiments by showing two screenshots of an A/B tested email. By doing so, Buffer is able to immediately impress the viewer, intriguing them to read on.

 

The text used to accompany the post is short yet effective: providing a hook for the article but letting the image become the compelling factor.

 

3. Infographics

The most basic way to understand why visual content is so effective on social media is to consider that the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. When we’re scrolling through hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of posts, tweets and updates – images are simply easier to digest.

 

Infographics take this concept to the next level, allowing brands to capture complex pieces of information and turn them into engaging social media posts.

 

Notice how Charity World Vision have created a Pinterest board dedicated solely to its infographics. By doing so, they’re able to share large chunks of information in a single visual post.



Image: World Vision

 

By following design guidelines to ensure your infographics are easily readable and visually engaging, this is a great opportunity to increase impact beyond what a single image could achieve.

 

4. Personal photographs

The best way to connect with your audience on a deeply authentic level is to show them that you’re human, no matter how successful you are. If your business or brand doesn’t have a human face, people will find it hard to relate to.

 

To execute this personal element in your visual social posts, add snaps of your CEO or management staff. In this example taken from fashion retailer Nastygal’s Instagram, the brand’s CEO Sophia Amoruso is seen at a book signing of her recent book #GIRLBOSS.

 

Not only does this boost interest around the book, it builds the authenticity of the brand. Look at her: she’s a boss!

 



Image: Nastygal



5. Behind the scenes shots of your workplace

Another way to connect people to the human aspect of your brand is to show behind the scenes shots of your workplace. This exclusive insight fosters a personal connection with your fans and strengthens their brand loyalty.

 

This particular type of imagery is more suitable for Instagram and Facebook, which are often considered the more “social” mediums. Designer Jen Gotch does this well on her instagram account by regularly featuring quirky shots of team activities.

Image: Jen Gotch

 

These images show the “real people” behind the brand and even encourage fans to consider Jen as a friend.

 

6. Quote graphics

A throwback to those motivational posters in your school counselor’s office – a quote graphic is still very beloved, and highly sharable. In fact, quote graphics work on every social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

 

The three things to consider with a quote graphic are the quote, the font, and the imagery. Go for a short quote with words that are easily digestible. Consider a font that’s readable on smaller screens because a lot more people are viewing through mobile devices.

 

Be sure to find an image that captures the spirit of the quote without competing with it for attention. The image should serve as a meditation space for the mind to go while its considering the quote.

 



Image: Canva Quotes

 

7. Original designs

Branding your images is essential in order to build recognition on social media – a goal that should always be at the forefront of your visual content creation.

 

Also consider that generic images are rehashed over and over again, so creating unique content gives you a much greater chance of becoming memorable.

 

When designing your own images, always create a style guide to ensure brand consistency. This means determining rules for your fonts, color scheme, and image personality. The goal: you want your brand to be instantly recognizable.

 

Take a look at how Amanda Fuller, creator of Kaleidoscope Blog, uses a simple yet original design over and over in her posts on Pinterest. Whenever I see a pin from the Kaleidoscope Blog on my Pinterest feed, I know exactly who its from based on this unique calling card design.

 



Image: Kaleidoscope

 

8. Images that reflect the essence of your brand

If you want to create images that impact your target audience always consider: what made them choose you over your competitors?

 

The answer to this question is your unique selling point. By choosing images based around it, you’ll be strengthening the foundations of brand loyalty.

 

Consider VOSS Water. Propelled by brand values of purity, distinction, and social responsibility, VOSS Water’s visual social media posts always reinforce one (or more) of these ideals.

 

In the Facebook examples below, you’ll find the distinctive VOSS Water bottle featured prominently as anchor branding. Both images convey a sense of nature/natural living, and the fruit infusions look fresh and healthy, right on target with branding.

 



Image: Voss

 

9. Action shots

Stimulate the imagination of your audience with an action or experience shot. Nothing is quite as convincing as a still photo that captures a moment in time.

 

Charity: Water engages its audience with this vibrant image of clean water and outreached hands. Without reading, you instantly get the visual: What’s a bigger need than clean water? And what’s a great joy than having access to it?



Image: Charity Water

While you may not be providing clean water to those in need, you can still use this type of visual social media post to inspire your followers to feel good about you and themselves, also, for following you.

Share images of your product or service in its ideal use. There’s a reason why, depending on the brand, beer ads show customers partying at the hottest club or lounging on the beach – that’s the desired experience.

Whatever you’re selling, you want a product shot of your ideal customer actively reaping the benefits of it.

10. Images with a striking color palette

Colors can depict and elevate mood. Whether you’re looking to compel or commiserate, colors play a huge role in human psychology. Consider: what are the feelings you want to evoke from your social media audience? Try and replicate that feeling with the colors you choose.

 

An easy way to do this is to use a color picker tool to extract colors from your favorite images. Before you start designing, you should always set out to limit yourself to four main colors – this will help establish a theme or feeling for your designs and increase their impact.

Now it’s your turn!

Adding visual content to your social media strategy is a no-brainer, but using visual content that reaches your fans emotions and catches their eye is the smart marketer’s approach. Whether you’re creating original content, sourcing photographs or shooting your own, always consider how it will impact your audience.

 

To view the original article please visit: NewsCred

 

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Five Ways Fashion Brands Can Succeed at Instagram

By: Macala Wright

Monday, December 29 2014

 

 

It’s the old adage that we’ve all heard before: a picture is worth a thousand words.

What if that picture was on Instagram featuring a fabulous model flaunting a Michael Kors handbag? For fashion brands, that picture could be worth thousands of dollars in revenue. Over the last three and a half years, a dramatic shift has taken place in the e-commerce landscape. The rise of visual social networks has allowed consumers to naturally interact with products, thus creating a new wave of influence and revenue opportunities for brands and retailers on Instagram.
 

 

Do you think you can afford to discard Instagram from your overall marketing strategy? Think again. Here are the picture-perfect facts:

• According to Piqora, Instagram now has  200M members and an engagement rate that is 25% higher than any other social platform.
• Instagram users spend an average of 3.7 hours on the app every month. When it comes to fashion, an L2 research study revealed that Instagram users spend an average of 257 minutes on the platform each month. That is over two days per year!
• That same study also showed that Instagram ads helped retailers increase ad recall by 32% and brand message lifts by 10%.
• Millennials trust user-generated content 50% more than other media, according to Mashable.
• eMarketer’s latest forecast predicts that by the end of 2014, almost 25% of US smart phone users will upload a photo to Instagram on a monthly basis.

Inspire Your Customers

Piqora wrote, “Instagram is a platform to build emotional bonds – an opportunity for brands to show their values, personalities, passions and ethos.”  For footwear brands, Instagram is the perfect platform for your brand to show (and not tell), which is why several companies inspire their customers every day on the rapidly growing photo-sharing platform.

Nike is the perfect example of a brand that sets the bar for Instagram inspiration. Nike will feature several beautiful photos of an athlete overcoming a huge hurdle or accomplishing a great feat with the hashtag #justdoit. When brands inspire, customers engage – and they are showing it with dollars! Social collaborations may also be a great way to inspire fans while humanizing your brand by leveraging the power of influencers.

Humanize Your Brand

Customers want to know more about your brand – beyond the latest product launch. It is about the connection. Customers are curious about the people behind the designs, your company values and role in the community. If your company is Made in America, upload a behind-the-scenes photo of where your products are crafted. If your designer has an incredible story, upload a picture of your designer creating sketches. Giving your customers visual context through Instagram allows them to connect to your brand on a much deeper level.

Humanizing your brand relates to engaging your audience. This summer, Marc by Marc Jacobs turned model casting calls into a social media contest on Instagram. The #CastMeMarc campaign asked users to take pictures and tag them #CastMeMarc. The week-long contest received nearly 70,000 submissions. Nine lucky winners appeared in the Marc by Marc Jacobs fall campaign, which launched in August of 2014.  70,000 submissions resulted in millions of social impressions, PR coverage, and most of all, visual fan engagement through “hearts” and comments.

Enable Widgets + Virtual Styling

Engaging your customers with unique website widgets has the potential to drive consumer sales and increase your site’s conversion rate. Brands like Steve Madden, Puma, Cole Haan, Brooks and Sperry Top Sider found incredible success with Olapic, a tool that helps increase sales by pulling consumer photos from Instagram (usually via hashtag) into the e-commerce experience where it is featured with the product for sale. When consumers engage with these types of widgets, the conversion rate is much higher compared to consumers who do not engage with these widgets. According to Olapic’s research, 9.6% of visitors who interact with customer photos convert. This technology allows brands to become content curators of the most authentic asset available to their brand: user-generated content.

Often women have a hard time styling an outfit, how many times have you asked a friend if something looked good? Using social recommendation behavior, footwear retailer Zappos created Glance, and developed a creative way to shop Instagram with #nextOOTD. With it, Instagram users shoot an outfit and tag it with #nextOOTD. Anyone who does this will recieve personalized shopping recommendations based on their Instagram history and style.

Create a Virtual Storefront

If you’re a smaller brand or retailer without an established e-commerce site, start with Instagram. Snap and upload pictures of your products and include product descriptions in the photo caption. Then, you can finalize sales with tools like PayPal. Opening your storefront on Instagram is a fun, easy and cost effective way to provide visually rich content that increases consumer purchase intent. While Instagram does not yet allow clickable external links, that does not stop retailers from leveraging the power of this application. A creative tip from smaller retailers is to create a check-in location for your store or company with the purchase URL in the description.




Establish Platform Goals and Metrics

Due to its visual nature, Instagram audiences for brands hold the highest engagement rates (4.21%) of all social media platforms, including Twitter (.03%) and Facebook (.07%). So in essence, Instagram is your brand’s story in pictures and video. It is as diverse and dynamic as you want it to be. As you tell your story, you need to set concrete goals to measure and benchmark your marketing efforts against.
●If you want to build brand awareness, look at the type of content your users are interacting with the most.
●If you want to drive sales traffic, look at how you are optimizing pictures for that.  For instance, are Soldsie, Keep or Like2Buy part of your strategy?
By following the above steps, you will be able to put Instagram to work for you in order to drive brand success.

More Tools For Success

There are numerous free, cost effective solutions to help any marketer develop their Instragram marketing strategies. Piqoura offers an online webinar and a marketing guide for all fashion brands. If you want to find brands to follow and receive inspiration from, check out Totems. Simply Measured also offer free Instagram assessment tools and blog posts on how to be competitive with your visual content.
Do you have resources for Instagram marketing success? Share them with us @FNPlatform on Twitter or Instagram!

To view the original article please visit: http://magicblog.magiconline.com/content/five-ways-fashion-brands-can-succeed-instagram

Connect with Your Customers Using Social Media

Peter Pishko VP of Operations at One Step Retail Solutions

Recently while researching a prospect, I visited their web site and read an interesting time line on the origins of the company. It was very witty and clearly demonstrated the lifestyle of the founders and accurately portrayed the atmosphere of the company, namely fun. It was quite a read, but the timeline stopped in 2006. Now, I know that the company still exists and is in very healthy shape (kudos these days) but the company history on their website was incomplete. I wanted to know more and was interested in the more recent history. As we all gravitate towards these new marketing tools, that is exactly what they are on a personal and business level, it is important they are updated regularly. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter are great methods of keeping in communication with your customers, but they must be maintained.

Think of it this way, a customer takes the time to become a fan of your business or sign up on Facebook because they are interested in what's new and exciting with your operation. As you are opening boxes and merchandising new product on your sales floor, send out alerts, let them know. Add photos of your staff modeling the new assortment, your staff will love it. We used to send out direct mail to our best customers and it was tough to be timely. We had to schedule and print postcards and mail them out to ensure that the customer received the notification with enough notice so they could attend the trunk show etc. E-mail blasts were a great alternative until the SPAM gods came along and made it very difficult to stay out of the spam filter especially when attachments are involved. Now you can give notice of an upcoming event and remind them multiple times. Just as your customers have shown you a commitment by signing up for your information updates, show interest in them by maintaining and continuing the exchange of communication. Customer service is all about commitment, so assign a dedicated individual to maintain your social networking site and reap the benefits of this instant and free communication with your most valuable of assets.