In today’s social media world, visual content is on the rise. Instagram and YouTube are some of the fastest growing social media platforms, and meme’s are pretty much everywhere now. Videos are being used more for campaigns and infographics are the new way to present information.

All of this though is no surprise. We are visual people. Our brains process images faster than text and we remember over 80% of what we see, as opposed to 20% of what we read. So with this in mind, it is important to use more imagery on your social media to increase engagement with your target audience.

Read on for some top tips on how to use images the right way on your social media and increase engagement…

How to Grab their Attention?

While using images is great for engagement, you need to make sure you have good images. Similar to what we have discussed with content marketing, an image needs to be creative, and it needs to make a personal connection with the audience. If it has no relevance to your audience, what are the chances they’ll stay and keep looking?

So make sure your images are relevant to your audience, make them stand out and tell a story, are you a fun, crazy company? Or are you a serious company? Are you into modern designs, or are you more shabby chic? Remember, your audience and branding are the most important things to consider, so make sure you think about these when choosing images to share.

What Kind of Images to Post?

There are many types of images you can post but depending on your brand and business, posting every single type is a great idea. Below are different types you can use:

1. Product shots: if you are a retailer and have a lot of products to show off, then these are great. However, you don’t want to just post a bog standard product shot. Make it engaging. For example, if you are a makeup clothing brand you can post the product on a model.
2. BTS Shots: aka, behind the scene photos. Showing behind the scene footage is a great way of showing customers how you operate and making you seem more personable and human like. Who is the team behind the company? How do you get the work done? Etc. photos could include behind the scene photo shoots for clothing companies, putting the finishing touches in a restaurant, or even packing orders for e-commerce companies.
3. Put a Spotlight on your Followers: A great way to increase engagement is to share photos of your followers. This will show you appreciate them, make your account more personal and help increase a stronger brand relationship.
4. Fun or informational posts: As well as normal pictures, you can share information posts, such as statistic or fact, in a fun way, or share quotes that can inspire your audience

Top Tips for Better Images

So as we mention, you can’t just share any old image. There needs to be some thought put into it. Now you know what type of photo to post, it is good to know how to create them. Here are a few tips:

• Make sure the image is a high resolution - the last thing you want is to share a grainy image, especially in these days where even a mobile phone has good cameras!
• Improve your images: If you have an image you really like but it is a bit dull, you can still edit it to improve how it looks. Many social media apps have editing tools within them where you can change the contrast or brightness, or even add a filter, or you can download different photo editing apps to help.
• Jazz up your images: If you want to share fun quotes, infographics or just jazz up your images with offers, then there are plenty of easy tools out there that let you do this. Canva, Easelly and Wordswag are great tools that allow you to make images for different social media platforms with fun font styles, borders and more.
• Stick to a theme: If you are using Pinterest or Instagram and want to convey a strong image, then make sure you are consistent with your images. Stick to similar colours in your image, have your branding colours in the images, or if you are going to use a filter, try and stick to the same one so that your images have the same feel.  
• Use the correct image size: different social media platforms have different image sizes and it is important that you stick to these to make sure you images are optimised. Below are the sizes for the popular social media platforms:

Facebook

• Profile picture: 180px x 180px
• Cover image: 851px x 315px

Twitter

• Profile picture: 400px x 400px
• Cover image: 1500px x 500px

Instagram

• Profile picture: 110px x 110px
• Shared content image: 640px x 640px

Pinterest

• Profile picture: 165px X 165px
• Cover image: 215px x 145px
• Shared content image: 735px x unlimited (Expanded Pin)

So that is that when it comes to sharing images. While it may seem like a lot, in the long run it can do so much for your social media and how people see your brand and business.
Happy Snapping!