The challenge with social media and blogging
Alright, so you’ve jumped on board with social media and blogging. You spend time coming up with witty, clever postings that will make people laugh and get some interaction on your page. The problem is, you’re still not seeing any interaction. Sound familiar?
Many businesses run into this problem when they begin using social media. Content is king, but there’s something else that will REALLY take your social media efforts to the next level. I am, of course, referring to visual content.
Making visual content sharing easier:
In today’s day and age, people are MUCH more responsive to visual content. Photos and video receive more interaction and response than any other kind of content out there. With that being said, I do realize that not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera and that some don’t have the time to take pictures and film videos on a regular basis.
Here are a few ways to make it easier:
Use Instagram. If you haven’t gotten on board with this awesome photo app yet, now would be the time to do so. You can take pictures on the go using a number of unique filters and immediately share them on your social media sites. Anyone can be a professional photographer if they use Instagram well.
Share photos on Facebook. Too lazy to take pictures yourself? If you like enough business pages on Facebook, you can share some of the photos that they put up directly on your page. All you have to do is click “Share” under the picture, write a little introduction, and click “Share.” Boom, you have a social media post for the day and it’s visually interesting.
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Related reading:
- More reasons for the rise of the visual web
- Apps that help improve your smartphone photography
- 7 reasons visual storytelling is one of this year’s breakout trends
- Laboring over aesthetics and the RSS feed secret (circa 2008)
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Put more pictures on your blog. I completely understand how time-consuming blogging can be. To think of a topic, do a full write-up, link SEO-friendly keywords, find a relevant photo and post is an hour and a half process. Not everyone has the time for that. If you pare down the copy, however, and add more enticing photos, not only will you save on time, but your readership will go up. Make sure the photos you add are interesting though. Having four stock photos won’t be nearly as effective. Clever photo captions wouldn’t hurt, either.
If you’re going to make a video, do it correctly. As effective as videos are, we understand that it’s difficult to be comfortable in front of the camera. We also know that many people make videos that are less than entertaining. If you’re going to embrace video marketing, have fun with it and be creative. Soon, you’ll be more comfortable in front of the camera AND getting more traffic on your blog and social media sites.
The takeaway
These are just a few ways that you can use visual media efficiently while still driving up your online presence. Remember: having superior visual content is just as important as having awesomely written content in today’s marketing world. Get out those cameras and start snapping photos!
