Using Visual Content Can Up Your Social Media Game

By Kelsey Whitmeyer, Event & Account Associate

We all know that to be considered “cool” nowadays you need to be active on social media. At least, at Foster Marketing, we have a running joke: “All the cool kids are in digital.”

Being social media savvy means continually making an effort to be more engaging. How can this headline grab my online audience’s attention? What hashtag can I use for promotion of this industry conference? And, of course, how can this visual be exciting and engaging?

The beauty of visual content creation is being able to show the social media world how creative you are. Visuals are a great way to demonstrate your brand’s personality. Like pictures, visuals are worth a thousand words. And like humans, every brand has a unique personality that is worth showing off.

So … how can you become more visually engaging to your online audience?

Here are a few tips from our super-savvy digital team.

VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO

It’s now the norm to watch hours and hours of video on social media (guilty).

According to a Statista survey, in 2020, 22 percent of Americans spent one or two hours weekly watching videos on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. In addition, 18 percent of U.S. adults watched online videos for two to five hours each week.

Needless to say, there’s an argument for why your business needs social media video marketing as part of its strategy. Social media algorithms even appreciate video content. For those who’ve made LinkedIn a main social media focus, LinkedIn loves videos – mostly because they’re low in usage on the platform.

According to Awario, here are some pro tips for using video marketing for social media:

• Enticing. Your newsfeed can be cluttered. Videos grab an audience’s attention better than regular posts with copy and photos.
• Multi-purposed. While video is huge for B2C companies, it also works well for B2B, as there are a variety of video types and formats.
• Extremely social. A video feature exists on every social platform, which means users are ready to be entertained by this type of content (and look forward to it).
• Genuine. What better way to showcase a new product than with video? It can also show the emotions of people who use a product or service and build trust between a brand and user.

In a typical new business situation, people ultimately choose to do business with people, companies and brands they like. Which is why social media sets the table for potential prospects and buyers. Imagine what doing a video campaign featuring the faces of your company could do for your business. Include c-suite level leaders, the women behind the brand, manufacturing hands of your brand, etc. Video campaigns can set a tone and showcase your people, products and company in a positive light, even before you ever book a meeting.

Thankfully, there are several avenues for video which don’t require a big spend. While most people believe there are huge budgets behind all successful video marketing efforts, Apple has made that easier for us marketers with the iPhone. Camera quality is just as good, and there are plenty of affordable online options for a stabilizer for iPhone, mic set and other handheld video tools.

Set your goals, assign topics and interviewees and start recording!

WHAT ABOUT POST-PRODUCTION WORK?

There are many video production tools on the market today, from high-end training-required options such as Premiere Pro to easy-to-use online tools such as Canva.

Animoto is our quick go-to for social videos. And, there are free options for using this video tool, if you want to test it out first. You can easily upload a video, add an effective hook, captions, visuals, sound effects, graphics and a closing slide directing viewers to your website. You can even create a video solely using photos and still images.

ADD A THEME TO YOUR SOCIAL PARTY

Consider using themes month-to-month or week-to-week in your social planning. Mix things up using recurring themes or topics: people-focused, safety, product and self-promotion posts or paid-event registration. How are you mixing up your messaging between proving information to your followers (sharing and resharing) and going for a soft or hard sell?

Don’t be afraid to acknowledge digital successes of your company!

Ultimately, you need to know your audience: who they are, where they live, what they are interested in, etc. Identify when an industry article reshare is appropriate; and when an attention-grabbing product demo video is needed mid-week as a pick-me-up post.

BE TASTEFUL WITH TEXT

When it comes to word count, less is always more – whether for quote images, stylized typography or text overlays. Also, text should always improve – not obscure – your creative.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when including text in images, thanks to Hootsuite:

• Triple check spelling and grammar.
• Choose type wisely. Font can affect both tone and legibility.
• If you need to mix fonts, pair a serif with a sans serif.
• Avoid green and red or blue and yellow color combos. According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCGA), they’re more difficult to read.
• Keep line length short.
• Look out for orphan words, called a “widow.” Leaving one word on the last line can look odd.
• Animate text to make it stand out.

Less is always more is important to remember for mobile-user purposes, too. You want to ensure text size is legible via a user’s mobile phone.

FREE, FREE, FREE

Lastly, take advantage of the FREE tools and resources out there! There is a lot to work with that is meant to help you be more digitally engaging.

While not always necessary, stock imagery can be helpful. Pixabay has more than 2.4 million high-quality stock images.

Sprout Social also has proven to be helpful for the digitally savvy – especially when it comes to keeping up-to-date with everchanging social media video and photo specifications: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-specs-guide/.

Like most tasks, effective and engaging digital campaigns require a plan and a goal.

At Foster Marketing, it’s our job to help our clients think of ways to create a more engaging presence. Contact us today to see how we can help with your next marketing campaign. Let’s get to engaging!

We’re here to help. Call us at 281-448-3435, contact us online or connect with us on LinkedIn.