You know that corny phrase that says “a picture is worth a thousand words”? In terms of social media, that phrase hits it right on the head. We’ve seen the rise of social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest explode because of this notion. I’ve seen first hand the effect that a good photo can have on customer engagement and awareness. Many marketers have this idea that a picture added to a post is seemingly unneeded or a minor supplement to having a strong social media presence. These are the type of people who give marketers a bad name.
I’m not going to sit here and say that the content of the message isn’t important, because it’s crucial to getting your desired message out. But any time you’ve been on Facebook, what is it that grabs your attention? A photo. This is what we have previously called “shiny object syndrome.” In the case of social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, these “shiny objects” are attention grabbing photos. These photos can be funny, beautiful, touching, or whatever else your target market really wants to see. A boring photo with good content is like a creepy, bald guy with a mustache, but a really good personality. This works both ways as well. A great picture without important content does nothing for your company besides grabbing the attention of the customer to then have them forget what you do or why they should care. The best combination is a worthwhile picture that grabs the readers attention, along with a related and effective message that drives conversation, builds the brand image, and, overall, benefits the bottom line.
Here are some of the most common mistakes that social media marketers make when posting pictures:
1. Image is of poor quality – There is always a time or two where you find an image that perfectly emulates what you are trying to say, but unfortunately it’s blurry or too small. One crucial piece of advice to note is that there is always another fish in the sea. You should NEVER settle on a poor quality image just because it is convenient.
2. Image doesn’t reflect the post – Taking the extra 5 minutes to find a picture relevant to your message is worth it, trust me. Even if the picture is of good quality, if it is irrelevant to the product or the post itself, it will diminish the content of the message. One more piece of advice is to never post a picture of a competing brand because it is the only picture you could find! This seems like a no brainer but it happens more than you think.
3. Stealing images without giving credit – This is one of the most common mistakes that inexperienced social media teams make. Taking an image from “google” or off of another companies website without giving credit is ILLEGAL. In Nebraska, the penalty for copyright infringement is $8,000! There are plenty of free stock image websites available for your use without having to give them credit.
4. No pictures of the actual product or service – Stock images are great for when you need to find a picture of a sunset or a cat playing with a ball of yarn. But how is the customer supposed to know what the product looks like unless you show them? This mistake of not taking enough pictures of your own products is made over and over again by managers and marketers everywhere.
You might ask, how do I make this happen? With copyright laws it makes the search for the perfect photo a challenge. But a worthwhile challenge. There are a few websites out there that offer free stock images with a very wide variety of categories. It is very important to understand not only how to navigate these websites, but when you’ve found the right one.
So if there is one thing to take away from this rant it is this. Spend the extra amount of time on finding the perfect image because it will pay dividends to the success and popularity of your social media pages!