A picture is worth a thousand words. If you are a digital marketer, you know this better. The moment you add an image with your post, it enhances the appeal and reach. And this is true for each and every social network. Let's take Twitter and Facebook for example.
According to Jeff Bullas, "Engagement rate on Facebook for photos averages 0.37% where text only is 0.27%. This translates to a 37% higher level of engagement for photos over text." The same is true for Twitter. Tweets with image links get double the engagement than those without, per The Huffington Post. No wonder the popularity of Pinterest and Instagram is gradually rising.
However, when it comes to image marketing, it's definitely harder than it sounds, only if you want to do it effectively. It's not just posting a random image from your kitty and expecting great responses. Like any other marketing effort, images too need your special attention.
Here are 3 pillars of image marketing that you must include in you strategy.
Double-check the quality: The images, we are talking about, have to be great in quality and resolution. This is the first condition of successful image marketing. They should catch your audience's attention the moment they see it. So, if you are not a photographer and a designer, hire the professionals. The spending would be worth.
The space available for images is unique in every social network. Make sure you utilize the most of the space available. For instance, square images work well on Facebook while on Pinterest the taller images get more engagement. So, keep each network in mind while creating visual content.
Be creative. Obviously, it's nothing new. But you need to do something new if you want to overshadow your competitors. Let's face it. Everyone is trying to woo their target audience. What's your USP that would attract your target group to your brand and not to others? Think differently. Here is an example from Kohl.
They offer suggestions and tips in the form of images. They know their target audience and creatively formulize their images.
Add call to action: This brings us to the next pointer, adding call to action to each image. Make it as clear as possible, but stay away from making a direct sales pitch. Instead, you should do it in a subtle way. Give your audience a hint of what you are expecting them to do and how they would be benefitted from the action. In other others, manipulate your readers' thoughts, just like Yogurtland.
Isn't it an excellent way to catch both parents' and kids' eyeballs in one shot?
To do it perfectly, you must understand your audience. There is no room for industry jargons. Remember, your target audience may not belong to your industry. Go with the trend just like Terry Shipman. Do you remember his story? Followed by the Ellen DeGeneres's famous Oscar selfie, Shipman tweeted his selfie with his two pet dogs. He made a light-hearted attempt to beat a celeb's selfie and the rest is history.
Stick to your niche: This is the most obvious but at the same time the most important factor for image marketing. Even if you are creating user-generated content, control the subject. For example, if you belong to the fashion industry, be creative with your graphics but it has to feed your fashion-conscious audience, else it would appear irrelevant.
Follow the way Zomato does it. They belong to the food industry. So, they make sure that whatever they create, it redirects their audience to the website.
And how entertaining their graphics are!
Of course there is no hard and fast rule that you cannot post images that don't belong to your niche. You always can take the liberty to talk about anything, but stay away from overdoing it and hurting anyone. For example, during the Football World Cup almost every business went gaga over the event, irrespective of their niche.
Conclusion: So the bottom line is, your images need to be good, they should appear relevant to your audience and they must have a clear call-to-action. Not at all difficult! A little planning and preparation and off you go!