One of the simplest ways to share an idea with the public is through the use of infographics, and many companies that are trying to build a social media presence are turning to micrographics as a way to stimulate greater user engagement. These are small, postcard-style graphics that have simple messages. These images are easy for visitors to share with their friends on social media, and they allow companies and their fans greater reach in spreading a message. They're also more likely to be shared on non-traditional platforms, including sites like Reddit or Pinterest, rather than the mainstream social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. With a little bit of planning, it is possible to create highly engaging micrographics that your social media followers will love to share with others.
The folks at Salesforce have data that shows that the negative effects of social media are strong. Their data also shows that social media followers discuss poor customer service experiences with almost three times as many people as folks not on any social websites. That's a lot of incentive for companies to be directly engaged with followers in order to make sure that a positive message is floating around the Internet. This is one reason why the company uses micrographics to encourage sharing through social media, and they claim that each postcard-style image they post generates around 250 shares. These graphics are designed to be simple and easy to understand. They're posted by the company directly to major social media sites, and followers can readily click the share button in order to push them further along the pipeline to their own friends and followers.
Another site that does social media sharing of micrographics well is ForRent. They have social media sharing built right into the images that are posted with each blog article, andthis allows visitors to quickly reuse and share the pictures. These images are cute and very stylized, and they also feature fairly generic themes that facilitate quick reuse through social shares.
Original content isn't always a must for social media sharing. Many websites already post a "quote of the day," and this format readily translates to social media. Simply take the existing quote of the day and repurpose it in a postcard-style image, and you can then post the picture to your social media stream. Followers enjoy sharing these quotes with their friends, and the links provided can help a company raise its social media profile. These messages are typically life-affirming, thoughtful or challenging, and they can also allow a company to demonstrate to followers that it understands how they feel about the world. That allows a company to use its social media presence to engage in brand management rather than simply trying to drive traffic.
Just how big is the impact of social media sharing? According to an article published by AdWeek, a social media presence with more than 1,000 followers should be able to drive 800 new visitors to a website per month. Those new visitors can also be converted into additional social media followers, allowing a company to compound the value of its social presence over time. All a website operator has to do is properly incorporate social media links into the site's template design in order to remind those new visitors how they found the site in the first place.
Given a bit of forethought, it is possible for a company to generate greater engagement by using micrographics on social media. These images offer quick snippets of data or wisdom, and followers love to share them. A company can bank a number of these small, creative items for use as part of a long-term campaign. Over time, a company may find that its micrographics have become one of the things that customers value most about the relationship.