How to Use Visuals to Boost Engagement, 4 Ways

By: | February 7, 2017 | Tags: , , , , , |

#Bloggers can boost engagement on social media and the blog when they use visuals

4 Ways Visual Content Boosts Social Media Results

By Sarah Watson

Are you looking for better engagement from your social media campaigns and blog activity?

Do you know that Meme’s (pictures with words on them) outperform video as it relates to what people enjoy sharing on their social media channels?  It makes sense; before a video is shared, many people would want to watch it.  With a meme, you see everything up close and personal so you know exactly what you do and do not want to share.

Visual content goes a long way in supporting messaging and communication by making it easier for you to grab your audience’s attention. Read on to learn how visual content will boost your social media results.

Use Visuals to Boost Social Media Engagement – 4 Ways

  1. Drive Clicks and Interest

Your followers on social media are primarily looking to see if you can provide them with content that is easy to understand and relate to. This concept is clearly demonstrated by the Travel Channel through their Daily Escape series on Facebook.

To draw fans in, they post stunning destination photos with brief descriptions with the location being targeted.  As you will see, the Travel Channel does not post full URLs on their blog posts. Instead, they post Bit.ly links that will not draw the audience’s attention away from the short descriptions.

In the same way, instead of using many words, just post amazing images and let them do the work on your behalf. Today, you can easily create stunning images on your own and use them to speak directly to your followers.

#Marketers can use visuals to boost engagement and #MakeMoneyOnline

  1. Use Visuals– Many

You can also sustain the interest of your viewers if you use visuals. The goal of social media marketing is to use messaging from your blog sites and elsewhere in ways that amplify the brand being promoted.

To this end, you must work on creating content that will spark an interest in your viewing audience and, thus, get them talking. This is best achieved using a wide variety of visual content.

Target, for instance, has achieved this through their Facebook page. Here, they have a great mix of sales alerts, partnership announcements, videos, and recipes. Their Pinterest account is also organized and designed to provide the audience with a wealth of high-quality ideas visually.

  1. Capitalize on Fan Photos

After creating visual content for each of your social channels, you need a strategy to get people to pay attention. Successful brands understand their markets and audiences. Harley-Davidson, to this end, encourages its fans to share photos and videos of their Harleys on social media before posting them to their Facebook page.

You can achieve the same by understanding your Facebook Insights. Check the location, age, and gender of your followers. Do the same on Instagram by creating a business account. Then encourage your followers to share their content with you. Similarly, understand when and where they are most likely to interact with the visual content you post.

  1. Be Relevant

Another of the ways you can use visual content to boost social media results is by creating relevance with events, holidays, movie premieres, newsbreaks, special days, and trends.  Then, tie your messaging to anything that is relevant now. Of course, the content you send should be as visually pleasing as possible.

For example, when do most businesses begin their holiday promotions?  In the summer?  Perhaps as it relates to the planning of the events that is true.

However, when it comes to reaching your desired audience, it is far better to release content when it is pertinent to your audience’s interest. Pictures of designer shorts in the middle of winter are not likely to go very far in your online outreach.

With time and consistency, you will start getting positive results.

Concluding Thoughts About Social Media Marketing with Visuals

To create visual content that is as compelling as it is interactive, you need to combine the skills of a detective, journalist, psychologist, producer and a designer all into one package. After you have taken the time to identify the message to convey, find ways to present it in a visual way.

Soon, you will have created a consistent look that will make your brand more recognizable while boosting your social media results.  Be careful to stay connected to your message else create confusion and chaos instead of a high-impact visual sales machine.

Author bio: Sarah Watson is a social media marketer with over a decade of experience in the online world. She has learned what elements make the perfect posts and wants to share this knowledge with fellow marketers everywhere.

Host blogger’s comments:

Readers, many bloggers have goals to monetize. Sarah’s tips recommend you use visuals with your social media so potential customers will be more engaged.

Please share so others who hope to monetize their blogs have the benefit of Sarah’s ideas.

Which tip did you feel was the best? Mostly Blogging has never suggested using memes before. I felt that idea was novel. Those are my views. I look forward to your views in the comments section.

Related Posts:

This is How to Make Engaged Readers, 10 New Ways

8 Social Media Hacks That Every Blogger Needs To Know

How You Can Smarten Up Your Social Media Strategy

This Will Make You Get More Blog Traffic at These Social Media Sites

Are You Wasting Your Time Promoting at Social Media Sites?

How to Grow Your Social Media Presence in 30 Days and Pay Zero

6 Ways Unique Social Media Tactics Can Make You See New Readers

Photo Credit:

Google Images

  1. John Doe

    Thank you for reinforcing how important visual content is in relation to social media

    • Sarah Watson

      Thank you for the comment! Yes, in the crowded world of social media, visuals are the best way to stand out and make your content pop.

  2. Darrell Harris

    Hello Janice and Sarah
    Great post ! It was very informative and very insightful,quite a lot of useful information once implemented will help my website and social media soar. I was definitely aware that we need visual content in our post but what you taught me was memes out perform videos, now that was astounding. Thanks for sharing these useful and proven techniques and have a great evening.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Darrell,
      I was shocked to read memes outperform video as well. I have dipped my toes into video’s waters, but I’ve never made a meme. Have you?
      Janice

    • Sarah Watson

      Hello Darrell,

      Thanks for reading and commenting! I’ve always been a big fan of memes for their comedic value. If you can make someone laugh, then you’ve got their attention!

      Here’s one I made for you:

      https://i.imgflip.com/1kyg9s.jpg

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Italian Belly,
      Thank you for the kind words about my blog. I’m glad you liked my guest author’s article.
      Janice

    • Sarah Watson

      Hello Italian Betty,

      Absolutely, you’re quite welcome! Actionable content is the best kind of content. Thanks for the comment!

  3. Melinda Mitchell

    Thanks, Sarah for the 4 tips to boost engagement.
    BBFFJ, where do you consistently find these excellent guest posters??
    BBFFM

    • Janice Wald

      Hi BBFFM,
      To be honest, many write me and ask if they can guest author. Thanks for writing us.
      BBFFJ

    • Sarah Watson

      Hello Melinda,

      Thanks for the comment and the kind words! I usually look for guest post opportunities on the blogs that I regularly follow myself. If you make it simple and easy for people to find your guidelines and submit posts/pitches, then the talent will start rolling in!

  4. Kathleen - Bloggers Lifestyle

    Thanks for this sound advice Sarah. Aiming to put it into practice.

    Kathleen

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Kathleen,
      I’ve never made a meme. Have you?Thanks for coming by. Linking to you tomorrow.
      Janice

    • Sarah Watson

      Hello Kathleen,

      Thank you for the comment! I find that making memes is really easy if you use the right tools. You can find free sites like Imgflip or Meme Generator online. Personally, I love using the Meme Generator smartphone app, which is also free. It provides good examples of how to create a meme that sticks to the theme of the image.

      it’s also easy to share the finished image from your phone straight to your social media profiles! Thanks again for reading!

  5. Andria Perry

    I am about to get my blogs up and running for money, I have had them for sometime. I can use all the advice I can get.

  6. Loretta

    Fan and reader created content is so often overlooked in social media strategies, which is a shame because it’s often some of the best stuff out there.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Loretta,
      I find your strategy intriguing. Can you offer an example? Do you mean like when readers ask questions on blogs? Or, do you mean guest posting? I don’t think I’ve heard the phrase reader created content or fan created content. Thank you.
      Janice

      • Loretta

        Both really. Submitted questions make for great blog posts on any topic in any niche, just having a contact form and encouraging those is usually nice.

        As a quick example, I have a cross stitch site and use fan submitted photos (people using the patterns I offer), reader submitted questions, and guest posts. Sometimes just re-sharing a photo from someone else on Facebook gets more engagement than if I had posted my own photo. The questions submitted turn into some of my most visited blog posts and sometimes the topics aren’t ones I would have come to naturally without being asked about them.

    • Sarah Watson

      Hello Loretta,

      You make an excellent point! User generated content is a great strategy for engaging your audience. Simply asking a question or running a contest are both great ways to encourage users to participate and engage with your brand.

  7. Lisa P. Sicard

    Hi Sarah and Janice,
    I know I love the meme’s. I had one made of me but I don’t use it often. Got me thinking on that one! Video’s are sometimes hard to watch or listen to when around others, etc. It is amazing how much visuals matter today with all the social networks.
    Thanks for sharing the info on this one along with the stats.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Lisa,
      Great to see you. As far as videos being hard to watch or listen to when around others, I agree. Fortunately, I always carry headphones!
      From what I read, visuals will matter more and more. I need to make sure my blog post articles reflect that.
      Janice

    • Sarah Watson

      Hello Lisa,

      Thank you so much for the comment and the feedback! Yes, memes are a great way to make someone laugh or capture their attention without requiring them to stop and watch or listen to a video. A happy middle ground to be sure!

  8. MUKESH MAJUMDER

    Awesome article,
    Your article really helps to boost my site through social media,
    keep writing and helping people.

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