Picture perfect: Choosing imagery for social media
Speak producer Ellie Gascoigne on why comms teams shouldn’t underestimate the payoff of investing time and budget into making sure content makes a visual impact on social media.
In the age of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, brands are competing with one another to get audiences’ attention as they scroll through their social feeds – and it’s no secret that visuals play a vital role in helping them to stand out from the crowd. Research suggests that tweets including visual content (such as images, videos and GIFs) are three times more likely to be engaged with. Meanwhile LinkedIn posts with images have, on average, a 98% higher comment rate.
However, it’s not enough to assume that adding an image will attract an audience. It’s essential for comms teams to ensure that they’re considering user behaviours and sticking to social best practice when sharing their newsroom content across channels.
So why are so many corporates still resorting to forgettable stock photography, bland headshots and shoe-horning copy into tired templates?
Worth a thousand words?
Don’t underestimate the payoff of investing time and budget into making sure the content you share makes a visual impact on every single channel. This might mean designing carefully considered infographics, going beyond to-camera portrait shots or looking outside your usual stock image library options.
On social media, visuals typically take centre stage. As with editorial lead images, you may be relying on a single photograph or graphic to capture the narrative of an entire article at a glance. If so, ask yourself if your chosen option will stop scrollers – while still capturing the themes, focus and tone of the content package as a whole.
It’s important to make sure each post forms part of a recognisable campaign, but social content should act as an extension of an article, not just a repetition. Think about the user’s journey from social post to site. Is there a feeling of cohesion between the post and the onsite content? Does it feel too repetitive? Making use of mediums such as short-form video or infographics can add a whole new dimension and layer of colour to a content package while maintaining visual consistency.
Each social platform will offer different visual opportunities, and audiences will engage with them in varying ways. As a channel dedicated to ‘the world’s professionals’, LinkedIn is a hub for employees, new talent and industry stakeholders. Close-up, authentic shots of colleagues going about their day-to-day activities are likely to perform better here than they would on Instagram – where a collection of bold visuals gathered together in a carousel may attract more attention.
Research nonprofit organisation Rand Corporation takes a creative approach to infographics for this Instagram carousel post.
Here at Speak, we have a team of expert producers, art directors, photographers, designers and video editors to help enhance your social media output, drawing on the best references and latest visual trends to share their newsroom content in the most effective way possible.
Ultimately, elevating the imagery you use on your brand’s social platforms won’t just help to engage your viewers. By encouraging interactions, you’ll further the reach of your content and open the doors to an even wider audience.
Newsroom content, imagery and socials: 3 things to think about
Where are you sharing your content? Have you tailored the approach to the platform and its users?
Does the image you’ve chosen capture the themes, focus and tone of the content package?
Will the imagery you’ve used stand out in a feed?
Want to find out how to implement a best-in-class editorial strategy that connects your organisation with your always-on audience?
Contact Gabrielle from our client services team: gabriellebridle@speakmedia.co.uk