10 Instagram Rules Every Business Needs to Know Before Posting

Instagram is a visual social platform (with over 150 million active users), where users capture, customize, and share photos and videos with their followers. While some people think Instagram is nothing more than “selfies”, “what I ate for lunch”, and “look at this sunset through a cool filter”, its potential business reach is substantial. Below are 10 ways that you can optimize your Instagram business account. 

1. Complete your profile

This is the best place to leave a first impression; the place to showcase who you are and what you do. Make sure you fill in all the sections on your profile. Leave a link to your Facebook page, twitter page, and website. Your prospects will want to check out your various profiles to find out more about your services/products. This will lead to more followers on your other platforms.

2. Find your customers by using hashtags

Search for people already talking about your business or your field. Find people in your city (#Indianapolis) or people that share your interest (#health). These are your potential customers. Find them, follow them, like their posts, and engage them.

3. Engage, engage, and engage

Tag others, talk to others, check in to other businesses, and use your location. Adding layers to your posts gives people a better feel for who you are and increases the reach of your message. Instagram is now the media outlet for users to “check-in” (sorry to say foursquare).

4. Be consistent with posts

Post frequently, but do not bombard your followers with thousands of pictures. Consistency keeps your followers engaged. Depending on the type of business you run, 1-2 posts a day is a typically the limit.

5. Show off your products

Everyone loves to browse products, so use Instagram to allow your followers to do some window-shopping. Show off a collection of the products you offer or share a photo of a new or lesser-known product.  Extreme close-ups can also be an interesting and unique way to engage for your followers. Having your followers interested and engaged will fully maximize the potential of Instagram.

6. Introduce your employees

Humanize your brand by using Instagram to introduce your fans to the people behind your company. It’s a great way to show your the personality of your brand. This is an opportunity to have a little fun, in that you can share candid photos of your employees. Use Instagram to portray your company's "behind-the-scenes" as one that is fun and lively. Perhaps you are taking your employees on a company excursion. Use that as an opportunity to show your company outside of the typical work environment. 

7. Take your followers with you

If you are going to a trade-show or conference, use that opportunity to take your fans with you by sharing interesting photographs. Show off any new developments or styles in the field. Your fans might not be able to attend, but through you, they will be better able to share the experience. 

8. Encourage Instagram contests

Businesses often run Instagram photo contests by organizing submissions with a custom hashtag. Come up with a unique hashtag, and encourage fans to share photos. Optimize these contests by integrating them into your other social media pages. Facebook has simplified their restrictions on contests/giveaways, so take advantage of this by running a multi-platform contest. 

9. Take relevant photos

Whether they are photos of your company, employees, or current events, make certain that they are relevant and current. Every photo you take isn’t going to fit with the identity of your company. Make sure that you are taking and posting the right type of pictures that accurately reflect your brand.

10. Take great photos

Using a cool filter cannot fix a bad photograph. Pictures should be in focus and balanced.  There should never be wasted space, utilize the proper lighting, and apply the rule of thirds for most pictures. 

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In Summary

Instagram is a great way to visually connect with followers. You can search out potential customers and express what your company represents visually. This is an opportunity for you to flex your creative muscles as well as extend your brand. Photography is just like any hobby, practice makes perfect. 

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5 Ways Businesses Are Using Visual Storytelling on Facebook

Brands have been posting images on Facebook for years, but how many of them are using photos or videos to tell visual stories? Companies have so many great stories to tell – the stories of their brand heritage, the stories of internal innovation, their customers’ stories – but very few of them are presenting them effectively through Facebook.

It’s already well-established that posting images can help increase engagement and shares on Facebook: photo posts account for 93% of the most engaging posts on Facebook, and can get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs on links than text-based posts 

Let’s take a look at some of the imaginative ways brands are using visuals to tell compelling stories on Facebook – and how they are generating real engagement.

1. Clever photo collections that inspire engagement

The first thing you notice about American Express’ Facebook page is that it is strikingly visual. The financial services company has invested in their images to give a strong visual representation of their brand – which is particularly impressive for a service-based company as showing what you do visually is always more challenging.

American Express likes to photograph collections of images to ask questions, reflect a mood or stimulate discussion. Recently, the weather has got everyone talking, so American Express put out this simple – but hugely descriptive – visual on their Facebook timeline to sum up their attitude to the freezing weather.

It says it all right there: “It’s a day unlike any other, you’re probably having a snow day, and all you need is your American Express card in case you need to order pizza/download a movie/do some online shopping without braving the weather.” The post quickly received 105 likes and 15 shares; they certainly captured the mood of their fans.

The company uses the same technique to engage followers by asking questions too, and this image posted on December 23^rd brings together some intriguing clues:

The post asks: “Guess whose holiday essentials these are?” It’s a clever alternative to the in-your-face holiday posts that have been doing the rounds, and invites plenty of discussion and good-natured responses. Hey, doesn’t everyone need a credit card? Those reindeer vet bills sure do add up.

Tip: photographing your product together with everyday objects or in a live setting can tell a fun visual story and spark the emotional connection. These visuals communicate relevancy: show why a customer might welcome your product, how (s)he would use it, or communicate the benefits that your product can brings to their lives.

2. Creative backstory that sparks emotional connection

Sometimes, a company’s marketing gimmick can take on a life of its own. Several years ago UK-based insurance comparison site www.comparethemarket.com created a campaign based on the idea that ‘market’ sounds just a little bit like ‘meerkat’, those cute little African mammals that stand on their hind legs to look around. Despite having nothing to do with the actual company, Aleksandr Orlov, the meerkat who has a Russian accent and is of an aristocratic heritage, along with his family and friends, was a huge hit. Although the company comparethemarket.com isn’t actually on Facebook, its little mascot Aleksandr does have his own page, with more than 800,000 likes.

The story of Aleksandr, his friends and his family (including the new baby, Oleg) is played out on this fun and interactive page – which drives traffic back to the main company page with its clever use of storytelling and merchandising (a free meerkat toy with every purchase through the site) from its cute mascot.

Tip: if you don’t have a mascot, why not tell the story behind your logo, choice of location or something else that makes your company unique? Your fans will always look for a human connection with your brand and your people: they want to peak behind the scenes and explore your culture, understand your mission, how you produce your product, what inspires your innovation. Marketing is not about B2B or B2C anymore, it’s about P2P (people to people).

3. The story of your brand’s mission and values that invites your customers to be a part of something bigger

Many businesses make a point of giving back to their community, but TOMS shoes go far further than this: the entire company was founded on the ethical concept that for every pair of shoes they sold (and eyeglasses too, more recently), they would donate a pair to children in poverty around the globe.

Telling the story of your brand’s values works really well in a visual sense. On their Facebook page, TOMS shows how company’s products (shoes and glasses) are helping communities around the world, and celebrating how their customers are a central part of that. It’s one thing to know that a company has a strong ethical background, but showing the actual people who are being helped day-to-day makes their fans feel more connected with the company and their journey to make the world a better place, one pair of shoes at a time. TOMS shows plenty of more regular updates about new products and company updates, but there are consistent posts about the communities the company is connected with too, which reinforces their importance in the everyday life of the brand.

Tip: showing what your company is passionate about can tell the story of its core values in an appealing way. No matter how boring you think your brand or product is, there is always an inspiring story behind your brands heritage, there are always extraordinary stories of your employees who are passionate about your company and their communities, there is always inspiration behind the innovation. You just have to be inspired to tell it in a human and visual way.

4. Your customers’ remarkable stories extend your brand through organic advocacy

Some brands like to celebrate the most important people in their business: their customers. On Starbucks’ Facebook page many of their updates are taken from Instagram photos posted by their followers of their Starbucks experience. This gives a customer-eye-view of the brand, which is a really clever way of generating fresh, relevant content that brings your business and your clients closer together.

This photo, shared from Instagram user Stephanie, generated a massive response with over 78,000 likes, 460 comments and 1,500 shares. Using customers’ own photos to tell their brand story is a wonderful, inclusive strategy and clearly resonates well with other fans. Not only that, this type of advocacy inspires authentic word-of-mouth.

Tip: your customers are your greatest asset; make them feel like a valued part of your story by sharing their images. By providing a hashtag to tag their photos, you will be able to collect them together more easily.

5. Your heritage connects you to your communities

Reflecting on your brand’s own history can bring a whole new dimension to your current marketing. Showing where your brand has come from, the challenges you have overcome, and celebrating some of your best achievements can make your followers proud to be associated with you and all the great work you have done over the years. Positive nostalgia fosters true emotional connection.

In technology, the name IBM stands for quality and an illustrious history of innovation. Some of the company’s most liked and commented-on posts on their Facebook page are the ones they have taken from their archives to show just how much has changed in the world of information technology over the years, and the breakthroughs that have led to much of the technology that we take for granted today.

Tip: Don’t just bury photos from your past in the archives, use them to show how far you have come and the moments you are most proud of, and celebrate those moments with your communities.

Your brand has got some great stories to tell, so why not devise a strategy to tell those stories through visuals and rich media? Telling your story visually can bring a whole new dimension to your marketing: it can help customers connect with you and understand more about why you’re doing what you’re doing and who you are helping. Look again at your Facebook content strategy and think how you can mix in photos that show your world in a different way. Customers who feel more connected to a brand display greater loyalty and are more likely to advocate for your brand.

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14 Social Media Design Tips for 2014

In the ever-changing world of social media, visual elements are one of the most powerful ways to grab a viewer’s attention. According to Trend Reports, between 65 and 85 percent of people describe themselves as visual learners. SocialClinch compiled an infographic stating that Facebook photo posts get almost 40 percent more interactions than standard text posts.

Are you ready to start maximizing your social media design efforts? With these 14 social media design tips for 2014, you can create images that accomplish your goal and attract your audience.

1. DISTINGUISH PRINT VS. SOCIAL

When posting on social media, don’t post what’s meant for print directly to your networks. It’s very likely that the printed piece is very copy-heavy and the resolution is too high for web. Instead, repurpose parts of the printed piece and only share the most important elements.

2. WRITE LESS COPY

When creating visuals on social, the less detail- the better. Copy should be creative and short to grab the viewer’s attention. A link can be added for more information.

3. SEARCH TEMPLATES

One important factor for Social is making sure everything is created at the correct size. There are a lot of dimensions to know, but fortunately you don’t have memorize them! There are many cheatsheets out there with sizing for each of the different platforms.

4. KNOW THE GUIDELINES

Be sure you’re up-to-date on each network’s image guidelines. Currently, for Facebook Ads, only 20% of an image can be occupied by copy.

5. DETERMINE HIERARCHY

Visual hierarchy is extremely important in design. With content, your words and images need to be organized in a way that helps the viewer prioritize the message. The more important the message, the more contrast it should have.

6. PRIORITIZE TYPOGRAPHY

Typography is a huge factor in visual design. With good typography, there is potential to go beyond just words- it elicits feelings and character about your brand. For headlines, make sure they are bold and easy to read. For body copy, maximize legibility by using the correct amount of leading and tracking. Lines should be large enough to read – the shorter the lines, the better.

7. SELECT GOOD IMAGERY

Image selection is key. When choosing an image, put yourself in the shoes of the viewer: Is this something you would engage and/or share with your friends? Go with something that will evoke a reaction.

8. USE CREATIVE COMMONS

When you are adding images and other content that you did not create to your social sites, it is important to make sure that you are not violating anyone’s copyright. Use Creative Commons and Public Domain images to be safe –compfight.com, search.creativecommons.org, sxc.hu

9. DON’T FORGET ATTRIBUTION

Images from creative commons are okay to use but make sure you attribute the image with the author. Don’t use images that you don’t own or that you don’t have permission to use. Just because the image is a result from a Google search doesn’t mean you can use it!

10. CONSIDER A LOGO

When creating your own imagery, you have the option of branding your visuals. While some prefer to have their logo prominent on every piece of creative, others prefer to ditch the logo. It’s your choice, so consider both options based on the the audience.

11. USE EASIER TOOLS

While Adobe Photoshop is the best tool for designers, it can be overwhelming if you aren’t a professional. Pixlr and Gimp are free photoshop-like free online tools you can use. There are also many mobile applications that can help with design/layout including: Pic Stich, Overgram, Studio.

12. USE CORRECT PRESETS

The proper color mode for online images is RGB. RGB images display better on screens, as opposed to CMYK, which is meant for ink printing. Basically, monitors emit light and paper absorbs light. When creating an image, set your image to 72 dpi (dots per inch). This will help for faster load time, and is the standard as opposed to print’s 300 dpi requirement.

13. SAVE FOR WEB

When saving files out of Photoshop, use Photoshop’s “Save for Web” feature to create smaller images that are perfect for web and mobile.

14. BE CREATIVE

Social media is a hub of design inspiration. Be creative and think outside of the box.

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Go Visual: Increasing Your Brand Authority with Infographics

The content marketing landscape has undergone a huge transformation in the past few years. Link building strategies that were once considered simple and solid have now become arduous tasks or have resulted in dreaded Panda and Penguin penalties.

Google has made it clear that you not only need to deliver the highest quality of content, but you also need to diversify the type of content that you are offering. With the new Hummingbird algorithm, content that deliverables VALUABLE and ACTIONABLE information—whether that be in the form of text, images, videos, slide shows, etc—is going to get the most attention and the highest rankings.

One of the best-performing types of content that we see today is infographics (and by extension, instructographics), which are meant to display information and instructions in a unique, visual way. With the rise of sites like Pinterest and Instagram, it’s obvious how important visuals have become on the web, and these data-oriented images provide the relevance that Google is looking for.

Step 1: Brainstorming

At Gryffin, we’ve partnered with a great design team to create infographics that not only relate to our client’s niche, but that are also fun and interesting graphics that people will WANT to share. For this reason, the brainstorming stage is critical.

First we conduct audience research to get a good understanding of the client’s target demographic. It’s important that even in the brainstorming stage you consider your outreach–what is your target audience? What type of sites will you be sending your infographic to? What is THEIR target audience, and what topics are they interested in?

These considerations help us narrow down topics that are relevant to our client and their target audience, but still keeping away from ideas that will be out-and-out promotional. As mentioned earlier, bloggers are becoming more wary of accepting free content in exchange for a link in fear of penalties, so you want to make sure that your infographic really stands out.

Step 2: Design

When it comes to design, you want to make sure that your infographic has a clear “path” of information to follow. This is more easily done in instructographics, in which you provide a clear set of instructions, but infographics are more likely to get cluttered with data. In the case of infographics, we find that the more simple and straightforward the design, the better.

For example, this wheel-chart infographic on hunger, obesity, and poverty tries to compare multiple data points on the same chart, but ends up being a difficult to read, dotted mess. Too much clutter can drown a good idea, such as in the infographic below:

Another big infographic design issue is finding the right text-to-visual ratio. Use as little text as possible! If you’re going to put entire paragraphs in your infographic, what’s the point of putting it in visual form?

 That doesn’t mean that your data needs to be simple; it can’t be just a pretty picture. Sometimes complex ideas are the most fascinating to read, but the visualization of that data MUST be clear and easy to follow. In working with a design team, we create work orders that are very specific to make sure our client’s vision comes to life.

Things to consider when designing an infographic:

Is your infographic a “premier” piece of content, or is it link bait? This is extremely important as it determines how much time you should invest in the design. You should always strive to make an infographic as polished as possible, but if it’s only link bait, you don’t need to spend an entire week researching and extrapolating your data. On the other hand, if you hope to make your infographic go viral and be a real buzzworthy peice of content, you need to put 110% into the design.

Does your infographic tell a story? Does it have a beginning or end? More importantly, does your data have a conclusion? A conclusion is not always necessary; for example, in the case of wheel-chart infographics gone right, this cheese-themed infographic acts as a guide to different types of cheese and is really fun to explore, but doesn’t incorporate a lot of data.

Does your infographic pose a question? Similar to blog post titles, infographics that pose a question (What/Why/How) or provides a list (Top 10/The Best and Worst Of…) tend to perform well, and make it easier to come up with a “flow” of data.

In the case of length, consider your niche. If you’ll be promoting business and marketing sites, long infographics with a lot of research involved is very appropriate. On the other hand, if you’re pushing a beauty infographic and plan to promote it mostly on fashion bloggers websites, small and narrow (to better fit the blogging layout) is probably better.

Step 3: Promotion

No matter how well-designed, an infographic won’t work for you if no one sees it! Having already established our target audience, as soon as our infographic is complete, we begin sending it out to relevant sites. We use Google search operators to find websites that accept submissions and have hosted infographic content before.

For those of you looking to promote your infographics as well, be careful in your outreach so that you don’t seem like a spammer. Customize your emails as much as possible. Be specific in WHY you think your content is valuable. Be upfront in your desire to get a link in return.

Also, even if you have an embed code ready, don’t send it with the initial email. This is often interpreted as spammy behavior and according to Matt Cutts, could eventually devalue that link.

Instead, we offer an extra incentive to all the sites we contact: a custom written introduction for each infographic. This increases the value of the infographic, establishes a connection with the target audience, and sometimes encites their engagement with the content. We also place the link to our client within this custom introduction, which acts as an active “endorsement” of our client by the site that is posting the infographic (as opposed to a hidden link in the image HTML markup).

There’s no way to stress enough HOW important it is to make sure your content is of value to your audience. To maintain rankings in the post-Hummingbird world, you need to prove that you are an expert in your field. The content that you create is a reflection of your authority, which means you need to be publishing as much as you can, in as many mediums as you can, right away!

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Grow Your Visual Footprint: Instagram Tips and Tools

How can your business use Instagram more effectively to engage with your target audience?  We’re going to share a grab-bag of content giving you some tips for using Instagram effectively while also pointing you towards some Instagram tools that will make your social media strategy function more effectively.  So, if you are ready, let’s get started.

Package Deal

Here at Socialface, we love social media marketing tools that make our lives easier and our days more productive.  One such tool for Instagram is the web interface Statigram.  This tool lets you keep up with your Instagram photos, your followers and allows you to perform social functions such as liking, commenting and sharing.  We know you’ll love the repost tool for sharing others’ photos to your followers as well.

Don’t Forget

Are you one of those businesses that seems to have forgotten that you can shoot and share Instagram videos?  Your brand needs to take advantage of the marketing potential of video.  And because we are such giving people, we’re going to point you to a great article that shares 6 ways to use Instagram video for marketing.

Repurpose and Recycle

Does your blog or website suffer from a lack of visual creativity?  Well, if you’re business is using Instagram as part of its social media for business strategy, then you don’t have to worry about creating new visual content for your website.  All you need to do is to use SnapWidget to embed an Instagram photo gallery on your website or blog.

The Big Winner

Social network users love contests and love winning contests even more.  An Instagram contest is the perfect way to create a buzz around a new product or service your business provides.  Here are five tips for running a photo contest on Instagram to help get you started.

Group Effort

Want to get creative and share groups of photos in a collage?  Well, there’s an app for that.  Actually, there are multiple Instagram apps for creating photo grids and collages.  One that is highly-rated and can be found in both Google Play and ITunes for download is called Photo Grid – Collage Maker. (Here's where you can find it for Android, and here's where you can find it for iPhones.)

Multiple Choice

There are so many choices of Instagram tools to choose from and we can’t touch on them all.  Here’s a few more that your business will want to check out – Gramjunction (link Instagram photos to Flikr), Instabam (find photos take close to your business location), PicDigest (email daily digest of Instagram photos to your email list), and Hashgram (search tool for finding hashtags, users, or keywords).

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9 Ways to Become a Better Facebook Community Manager

#1: Know Your Voice

Branding is important on social media. Your company should have a “voice” that matches your brand and your company philosophy.

Are you more serious or do you add a little bit of snark in your posts? Do you stick mostly to business or can you be off the wall? Do you like to stir things up or do you remain neutral?

If you are a one-person operation, these decisions may be easy. But if you have multiple employees and possibly multiple people posting to the Facebook Page, you want to have the “voice of the company” communicated clearly to the people who will be managing your Facebook Page.

The voice of the company is important in how comments and community feedback are handled, as well as the day-to-day posting. Consistency in your voice will help your community know what to expect.

ModCloth has an offbeat, humorous voice that engages their audience.

#2: Have Access to Visuals

Visual marketing is becoming a vital part of Facebook and all social platforms. The more you can incorporate photos, screenshots and graphics, the richer your Facebook Page will be.

Even if your business isn’t visual, make a plan for how you will add images to your posts. You can use things like:

• A screenshot of something you’re demonstrating
• An interesting photo with a quote about your niche
• An infographic with statistics about your niche
• Behind-the-scenes photos from your company events

I like using tools like Snagit, iPiccy or PicMonkey to create or modify images to make them interesting. You can even use PowerPoint to create a slide that you can then export as an image.

Orange County Animal Services uses creative images.

#3: Know the Rules

As a community manager, make sure you know Facebook’s policies. Pages can be shut down without warning for violating these policies. Usually it’s very difficult to get your Page restored and you don’t want all that hard work to go down the drain for violating Facebook’s contest terms, for example. Make sure you keep up with the updates to the terms as they do change frequently (see #7).

This Page is violating Facebook’s Promotion Guidelines and could be shut down.

#4: Know the Industry

If you are managing a Page for someone else, you need to know the industry so you can speak the lingo. It won’t reflect well on the company if you aren’t using the terminology or common acronyms correctly in your posts and follow-up comments.

Some industries have terms that you will need to know if you are managing a community for someone.

#5: Recognize Members

A community manager needs to recognize contributors and members and get to know them. If you have a physical location, you can take pictures of your community members and recognize them on your Facebook Page.

Recognize your community members who come to your physical location.

Or you can find other ways to recognize your community by featuring them in a post or promoting their business somehow.

Promote your community members by featuring them on your Page.

#6: Answer Questions Quickly

Promptly respond to posts or questions on your Page to create strong bonds with your community. Even if you don’t know the answer, let them know that you will get back to them. Or point them to a useful resource is another good option.

Answer questions quickly if possible.

The good news is you have more options to get notifications when something happens on your Page. If your Page is large, these can get overwhelming, so you may need toset a schedule to check in. To access your notifications, go to Edit Page > Manage Notifications.

Adjust your notifications so you can keep on top of your posts.

#7: Stay on Top of Changes

Facebook changes a lot! There are changes to their official policies and in how things are working at any given moment. Make sure you keep track of Facebook’s official changes by following the Newsroom and the Facebook Marketing Page.

Follow the Newsroom on Facebook to see announcements.

For “unofficial” quirks and issues, you can always come to our Facebook Page and ask questions. Another great place to see if others are experiencing the same thing is to come to our Facebook Networking Club.

Find out what others are seeing and get your questions answered in our Facebook Networking Club.

Some other great Facebook Pages to help you stay on top of the news are Mari Smith,Social Identities and Jon Loomer Digital.

#8: Respond Calmly to Negative Posts

If you get some angry posts for whatever reason on your Page, think before you fire off an angry response. Respond quickly (even if it’s to say we’ll get back to you), but don’t respond in the heat of the moment when you might feel like “telling them off.”

If you have some upset Facebook fans, there could be a good reason. By dealing calmly with the situation, you can hopefully salvage the relationship.

Campbell’s Condensed Soup acknowledges the customer’s concerns on their Page.

#9: Have Fun

Find some ways to have fun with your community. Have a Facebook “live Q&A chat” time, do a Livestream or even (gasp) go over to a Google+ Hangout.

Have fun with your community.

When you are having fun and sharing with your community, you are all getting to know each other better and everyone wins.

Encourage sharing to have fun and get to know each other.

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Take Your Pinterest Presence From DRAB TO FAB: 7 Easy Tips

Many of my clients have seen huge bumps in both sales and traffic after adopting a Pinterest strategy. If you are a retailer or in a visual field, head on over to Pinterest and set up your account. Actually, run on over. It's probably true that many of your clients are pinning your content as we speak.  

Here are seven steps to getting set up.

1. Plan Your Content 

As Pinterest is a very visual platform, you have to think in visuals here. How are you going to get your followers attention? This varies depending on your brand. You will want to have a dedicated board or two for your products. This will be content that you contribute to the site. Keep some original content strictly-or somewhat strictly-for Pinterest. Since you can't format the text you use to describe your pictures (the text should be keyword heavy anyway) you might want to think about putting text on the picture. If you are a follower of this blog, you probably know what I am going to say next. Ask questions. Encourage sharing and commenting via your visual. This is a great way to get people talking on a site that is non-talkative.

2. Search & Like, Pin & Comment 

A huge benefit of Pinterest is the search capability. You can search by keyword (which we will get to in the next point) or by source. Searching by source gives you an overview of who is pinning what from your site. This is bait for you! Now all you have to do is go and get them.

To search who has pinned from your site go here: http://pinterest.com/source/(ADD URL HERE). From there you will be able to see who pinned which items from your site. Because Etsy is so huge and popular on Pinterest, let's use it as an example. If you go to this link, http://pinterest.com/source/etsy.com, you will see tons of items that people are pinning from Etsy. Now imagine this is your site. All these people who have pinned something from your site are showing interest in your product. Now it is up to you to talk to them and show them your human side.

The first thing you can do is like the pin. This will show up in their notifications and now they know you are active on Pinterest and care about them. You can go one step further and repin their pin or maybe something else from one of their boards. If you are going to do this you should create a board like "Stuff Our Friends Like" or "Found on Pinterest". The best strategy is to comment on it. You might want to offer them a discount, let them know about a special, thank them or ask a question.

3. Search by Keyword 

This is another search tactic that is highly effective on Pinterest. You should search specific keywords. This could be your brand name, a product, or something you sell. Once you find your list you can take the same steps as listed above.

4. Name Your Board Thoughtfully 

As Pinterest comes up high on the search engines, it is a good idea to make sure you put some thought into your boards. Clothes, Paintings, and Food are far too common and you won't be found as easily. Instead, be more specific and timely. Plan ahead and start pinning in advance so that when you are found your content will be populated already.

You can even involve your followers by asking them to help you name a Pinterest board. Whoever's name you chose can get an incentive. There are a lot of ways to encourage Pinterest usage, so get creative. 

5. Make A Community Board 

Pinterest is a community, and we know that. By opening up one of your boards to allow additional pinners you are going to increase the amount of pages on which you will be seen. Every person who is an authorized user of that board will have your board featured on their board page. You can make a board with your name branded in it for ultimate exposure. While you may get a lot of random pins, you will also be featured on many people's pages, which is a good thing. After all, it is about community!

6. Increase Click Throughs 

This really isn't an engagement strategy but I thought it was an important enough point. Through my experience I have found that a lot of people repin, but they don't click through. Clicks to your site are important to driving traffic and getting new customers. By simply placing a little note that says "click on the image to buy," or "click on the image to learn more," you will see a lot more clicks to your site.

7. Host a Contest 

I love a good Pinterest contest and have hosted them for many of my clients. This is a great way to get people involved in your brand and pinning from your site. As I mentioned before, I will post an article dedicated to contests, but in the meantime start thinking about types of contests you can host. Pin It To Win It is a very common contest, and it’s a lot of fun, but you can do other types of contests as well. Just keep in mind that no matter what type of contest, make sure it is relevant to your business. You want targeted followers.

Don't forget to make sure your site is pin friendly. Add a social button that allows people to pin directly from your site. The less work you make someone do, the more likely they are to do it.

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26 Ways to Use Visuals in Your Social Media Marketing

#1: Add Text to Your Photos

Do you want to get more mileage out of the photos you share on your social sites? You can, when you add text to your images.

Adding text to a photo can help you get your message across faster. And these messages are more likely to be shared by others on social media.

Add text to images to heighten the message.

Do you want to find some easy tools to include text in the photos you share on social media? Check out the photo editors in #4 below.

#2: Break Through the Clutter

There’s a lot of content out there vying for our attention. As Krista Neher suggests, “Optimize your social content to break through the clutter with images. Most leading businesses are making use of images in their content on all social networks. Your Facebook, Twitter, blog and even LinkedIn strategies should include images.”

Visuals will help break through the clutter.

Consider varying the types of content you share on your social channels and be sure to include photos and other forms of visual content to keep your readers interested.

#3: Create a Collage

When you have several great images to choose from and can’t decide, why not create a collage? Here are some instructions for how to make a collage with PicMonkey and other free collage-making tools.

PicMonkey was used to make this collage of Social Media Examiner images.

Collages communicate a number of brand messages and offer a simple yet effective way to engage users. Think about your different social media outlets and see if there are places where a collage would work well for you.

#4: Desktop Photo Editors

Is the photo you have perfect for your needs? Or does it need some editing?

There are many paid and free options for desktop photo editors on Mac and PCs to help you crop, resize, enhance, add text and more.

Screenshot from the Mac App Store's selection of photo editors.

Photo editing apps have come a long way over the years. Years back, the average user may have felt that editing was out of their league completely but programs have made it possible to make quick and easy edits that strengthen a photo andcreate a better overall image of your business.

#5: Encourage People to Share Photos With Your Business

The photo-sharing tools available today provide companies another communication avenue with their audience.

One fun way to get users to submit photos is to make it part of a contest that you’re sponsoring.

Example from Nestle Kitchen All Things Chocolate Contest on Facebook.

Users enjoy sharing photos. And contests help businesses reach out to their users in a creative way, while at the same time making it possible to gather a large crowdsourced photo library of images related to your products.

#6: Facebook Covers

The cover photos for Facebook give you a lot of real estate (specifically 851 x 315 px) to demonstrate visually what your business is about. There are a number of great resources to help you create cool Facebook cover photos.

Cover photo from Starbucks' Facebook Page.

Create an inviting Facebook cover and don’t be afraid to change it periodically. For example, Starbucks currently has a photo album of 25 cover photos and may choose to profile one that shows a new drink or holiday theme.  The photo used above was replaced by another photo within one week.

#7: Generate Leads With Facebook Photos

Companies are finding that they can generate more followers and leads by posting a high percentage of photos on social sites.

Some of the brands with largest followings on Facebook have posted an impressive number of timeline photos; for example, Coca Cola 6,459 photos, Oreo 2,359 and Red Bull 5,299. And consider these Facebook facts, “Photos get 7 times more likes and 10 times more shares than links.”

People love Facebook updates that contain visuals. Brands of all sizes are beginning to use more and more.

Do you know what type of visuals will work for your business? Or are you struggling to keep up a good momentum? Think about visuals as part of your strategyand allocate time to brainstorm and create a library you can tap into over the next week, month or even longer.

#8: How-to Images

Sometimes photos can make things simple for your audience. What does your audience struggle with?

Photos are a powerful way to show your readers a step-by-step guide on how to carry out specific tasks.

From WikiHow, example of how to use Instagram.

Users respond well when you show how to carry out a task that may otherwise seem complex to them, even with simple screenshots.

#9: Infographics

Infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly (from Wikipedia). Users love them and they’re shared often on social sites.

There are a number of tools to help you create your own infographic.

Example from Wikipedia: Infographics.

Of course, yours may not be as intricate as the one above of the Metrorail, but taking a number of facts from a few studies and showing them visually may help to effectively communicate information and capture the attention of a user who may otherwise not have the time to read long reports.

#10: Just the Facts

Are there any other ways you can use visual content? There are times when a simple chart or visualization will help drive home the facts.

Example from Social Media Examiner's Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2012 .

Writers are often told to “show, don’t tell” and a simple visual representation of the information can do this well. For marketers, charts and illustrations can be very effective tools—for example, seeing the difference between percentages can give users a better picture of the significance of the statistics.

#11: Keep Landing Pages Simple

Many components of your marketing collateral can benefit with strong visuals, including landing pages.

Randi Lucius writes, “Have clear, relevant images—either of the product or something closely related. Don’t overdo it though—usually a large banner image is sufficient.”

Talk about what separates you from the competition.

The visual may be part of the message and it’s an important one. A distorted or out of proportion photo can even subliminally create a poor image of a business and their products and services.

#12: Lettered Quotes

Maria Popova of Brain Pickings worked with illustrator Wendy MacNaughton to create this amazing illustrated description of Susan Sontag and art.

A combination of words and illustration makes this visual highly eye-catching and memorable.

This type of image can help communicate a lot of information; for example, who you are, the benefits of your products and services, mission statements and how prospects can reach you.

#13: Make Certain Every Blog Post Has at Least One Pinnable Image

Pinterest is a fantastic way to have your posts shared with an even wider audience. When someone selects Pin It, they will see the image choices for  your article. Terry League suggests you make sure every post has at least one pinnable image.

The pin bookmarklet is an easy process for users to share articles on Pinterest.

Even while I’m in the process of writing this article, you can get the idea of what users would see if they tried to pin this post:

Example of some of the pinnable images in this post so far!

Pinterest has made sharing images incredibly easy and fun. An image pinned on Pinterest may help tap into users who may not have come across your blog post through other channels.

#14: Notetaking Visually

Wesley Fryer describes visual notetaking as a “process of representing ideas non-linguistically… visual notetaking can include concept mapping, but also more artistic ways of visually capturing and representing ideas.” Image below from Leo Babauta.

Example from The Map of Distractions and Focus by Leo Babauta.

Some people learn better visually than through the written word. When done well, visual notetaking is an effective communication tool and can also be a fun resource to take users on a journey with you.

#15: Optimize Images

JC Parmley emphasizes it is important that your images are properly optimized without sacrificing too much of the quality.

Optimize without losing image quality.

Your blog may also have specific dimensions for images, yet just resizing to fit within those dimensions may do the visual a disservice. There are times when one image works better than another—train your eye to recognize the difference.

#16: Photo Ideas

There are times when you may feel at a loss for how to create more exciting original photos. Anjelika Paranjpe provides some wonderful creative ideas represented below.

And keep in mind too that Instagram filters and a host of other mobile phone apps will provide a number of ways to make an ordinary photo look more unique.

Look for ideas to spark your photo creativity.

There are photos and there are photos. What draws you in? What makes you take a little extra time looking at an image? What feelings does the photo evoke? Users are making those types of conscious and unconscious decisions every day. How can your images stand out and stand the test of time?

#17: Quotes Are Highly Shareable

The sharing of quotes on social sites has also increased in the past year.  There are a number of tools to create quotes from something you’ve read online and even your own articles.

To make this quote, I used Quote with Quizio on my browser’s toolbar, highlighted the text I wanted to use and then was presented with choices for fonts, background color and attribution.

Step 1:

Highlighting the text you want to quote helps make a great visual from the written word.

Step 2:

You can create the look for your visual with a few easy selections.

Quotes have a way of generating a sense of authority and make readers take notice of a statement that could easily get lost.

#18: Reviews as Images

Positive reviews can go a long way. Why not take a screenshot of a review and save it as an image to include on your social sites?

Share customer reviews on social sites.

Reviews can be spread out and shared on different pages. Some users may not be inclined to see a review on Yelp, for instance, but posting it on your Facebook Page can ensure that more followers will see it.

#19: Stock Photos

Kevin Mullett‘s list of stock photography sites demonstrates that there’s no shortage of companies to choose from. Some stock photography sites offer a free image on a regular basis. And if it works for your business, how perfect!

Here’s a recent offering from iStockPhoto that had been promoted on their Facebook Page.

Example of a free stock photograph. What can be bad?

Some businesses may find that opening an account with one stock photo company that has images that speak to their audience works well. And others may choose to vary the sources. Allocating time to find applicable images will be an important step in your visual social media marketing strategy.

#20: Try to Make Your Visual’s Filename a Good Description of the Subject Matter

As Google writes, “my-new-black-kitten.jpg is a lot more informative than IMG00023.JPG. Descriptive filenames can also be useful to users. If we’re unable to find suitable text on the page where we found the image, we’ll use the filename as the image’s snippet in our search results.”

The name of this video on the New York Times website included Willy Burnett's name and that it was from an article.

Naming an image may take a little extra time in preparing it to publish, but it will be well worth the extra effort!

#21: User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) covers a range of media content. National Geographicis a great example of a site that asks for photos from their audience in the column, “Your Shot.”

Readers submit their photos to "Your Shot" on National Geographic's website.

How can you solicit creative ways for users to submit photos of them using your products or services?

#22: Visual Content Types

While it would have worked well to have covered video for the letter “V,” I wanted to be sure to include at least mention of a couple of other types of visual content that Maria Pergolino and Jason Lankow point out in their presentation—namely, comics and memes (an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture [from Wikipedia]).

There are many visual content types to choose from. Mix them up!

The Old Spice Guy is an example of a highly successful meme.

For video, there are a number of good articles on Social Media Examiner including this one by Cindy King with 29 Tips from Social Media Examiner writers.

Use a variety of visual content to strengthen your visual social media marketing strategy.

#23: Word Photos

I have to admit, I’ve always been very drawn to these word photos. Why not take a great image and see how it looks generated in words?

The app WordFoto was used to create this word photo.

Carefully selected photos and words are a win-win—communicating visually and with words all at the same time.

#24: e(X)treme Close-Ups

There are close-ups and then there are extreme close-ups: “tightly framed and shown at a relatively large scale.” Extreme close-ups are dramatic and can capture and hold a user’s attention.

In this extreme close-up from from a photo contest on BetterPhoto.com you can almost feel the bristles on the brush.

Extreme close-ups can be quite beautiful and help your audience see the details they may have missed in a regular close-up.

#25: Your Big Moments

You’re proud of your accomplishments and you should be. So why not show your big moments? The award, the handshake. It’s very compelling.

Example from Smart CEO 100.

This kind of image helps spread the word about your accomplishments and is a good example of visual brand storytelling.

#26: Zoom In to Engage Users

Good short videos can say a lot about your business. And zooming in is a great way tobring attention to a particular product, service or point you want to draw your audience to.

Zooming in takes control and literally puts a subject in the viewer's face.

What do you want to emphasize to prospective and existing customers?  Zooming in helps represent visually what’s important, while also distinguishing important features and aspects of a business.

Using more visual content

In the past year, there’s been an increase in the use of visuals across social sites, and for good reasons. As Ekaterina Walter writes, “Brands can use visual content on their social media to increase engagement and inspire sharing and viral marketing.”

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