Pictures are Worth 1,000 Words

 Best Practices for Social Media Photography

By Brianna Allison

Why is social media photography important for a brand?

Photography is an essential aspect of creating and growing a brand. The images on a company’s social media page can create brand awareness, as well as make the viewer retain their message longer. According to Dr. John J. Medina, we are 65% more likely to remember information if it includes an image, than if there is just text. If this didn’t prove the importance of photography on social media, here are a few more facts:

• “LinkedIn posts with images have a 98% higher comment rate on average”

• “Tweets that include visual content are three times more likely to get engagement”

• “Facebook posts with photos get more likes and comments”

““Strong visual content on social media gives people a reason to follow, like, comment, and eventually buy from you. It can make or break your strategy.””

— Katie Sehl from Hootsuite

Now that you are aware of how much of an impact photography can have on your company, find out some of the best tips for showcasing your brand through these images. 

Here are 6 of the Best Practices for Social Media Photography:

What’s your goal?

First, you need to ask yourself what effect do you want your image to have on the audience? What’s the primary goal in posting it? It typically falls into one of these categories:

• Entertain: Your image should make the viewer happy or feel good

• Educate: You want your image to provide the viewer with information

• Provoke: This image will have a call to action and ask the viewer to do something 

• Inspire: You want your image to elicit emotion from the viewer

Once you decide what the main objective of your image is going to be, you can start creating and choosing the perfect image for your company’s social media post by using these tips. 

Match the image to your brand and marketing strategy

Whether taking an image for social media or deciding on what image to post, you can’t only think about the primary goal you want the image to reach. You also need to focus on which image best aligns with your brand or current marketing strategy. Ask yourself:

• Who are we as a company or brand?

• Who is our audience?

• What experience do we want our viewers to endure while seeing the image?

Having answers to these questions and more like it before making decisions about an image for your social media is highly important. Doing so will create an on-brand look, follow your marketing strategy, resonate with the audience, and call them to action. 

Lighting is KEY

When taking an image for social media, lightning is the most important aspect to pay attention to. If your images are too dark, then they are more difficult to see and aren’t able to properly allow your message to be seen. So, you should always try to use natural light. Going outside to take pictures, setting up near a window, or photographing in a well-lit room will most likely give you the best-lit images. However, it is tricky because you can capture too much lighting which overexposes the image and is difficult to fix. So, you should try taking pictures when it is cloudy or an overcast day because it limits your light. It is easier to edit an under-exposed image.

You could also take advantage of “Golden Hour,” which is the first hour after sunrise and the last hour of light before sunset. During this time, the light is warmer and softer than the rest of the day.

Now, if you are shooting inside, investing in a ring light or another type of artificial light will help to provide the image with the right amount of lighting. Lastly, you should try to avoid using a flash while photographing, especially while outside, because it can make the image look flat.   

Check out this article for more tips on lighting!

This is a great example of a “Golden Hour” shot where the light is warm and hits the subject beautifully.

Watch your framing and composition!

Creating the layout and framing of your image is also crucial to making your photo stand out on social media. The first framing aspect that you need to focus on is the rule of thirds which is where you “try to align your subject’s body along one of the vertical lines in the imaginary rule-of-thirds grid.” You rarely want your subject to be in the middle of the screen. Eye-tracking should also be considered when framing an image because the “direction in which someone is looking (or pointing) can also have a profound impact on our behavior”  (Nahai 93). Our brains subconsciously follow the invisible lines of someone’s point or gaze so your subject should be placed looking toward your logo or message.

Here is how NOT to do the Rule of Thirds:

Here is the correct way to use the Rule of Thirds:

Follow basic design elements

There are many rules of design that should be followed to take the best image for your social media pages, but let’s start with your background. This can make or break your image. You don’t want the background of your picture to be too busy or it will draw the viewer’s eyes away from the main subject. You also want there to be a contrast between your subject and what is behind it. That contrast can be with color, light and shadow, size, or texture.

Next, colors are another rule of design that needs help to create the image. You may have color preferences depending on your brand, but try not to get “color blind-sided.” Meaning if the colors of your brand don’t work for the specific image you want to take, then don’t stress about it. If you try to force colors into an image, it’s going to change the look and feel of the picture, which will change the overall message of the photograph. Pick one color and then look at a color wheel to see what will work with that color the best.

Lastly, use editing software to make your image even better! Now, be careful not to over-edit and make your images look fake or exaggerated. Instead, use editing apps to enhance the picture you already have. Here are some free editing apps that can help create your desired look: 

• VSCO Cam

• Snapseed

• Colorstory

• Relight

• Afterlight

Tailor your images to each platform

Each platform that your company has varies in the number of audience members seeing, engaging, and interacting with the post. There also may be different target audiences depending on the platform that is being posted on as well. Using Google Analytics to track your posts and see who is interacting with them is the best way to see what works on each social platform. So it is crucial for you to think about this as your brand and company are photographing and planning to post. 

In Conclusion…

As you can see there are many characteristics that make up a good photograph for social media, but they need to be used with a purpose. Doing so will help you to take the perfect picture for each of your platforms. But it doesn’t just stop there. After you post it, you’ll want to track your clicks and audience engagement. You can then use Google Analytics to see which of your pictures and posts attract the most attention from your audience. Gathering and reviewing these analytics will help you create future posts and continue to build the visual aspects of your brand on social media.

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For more information on digital marketing and social media check out these articles:

Sources:

• https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2020/03/visual-content-best-practices-examples/

• https://ducttapemarketing.com/use-images-enhance-content-social-media/ 

• https://blog.hootsuite.com/epic-guide-creating-social-media-visuals/

• http://brainrules.net/vision/

• https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/marketing-solutions/global/en_US/site/subsites/content-marketing/img/V2/e3_Infographic_Draft_11_1200.pdf

• https://business.twitter.com/en/blog/7-tips-creating-engaging-content-every-day.html

• https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-take-good-instagram-photos/ 

• https://kajabi.com/blog/6-tips-to-improve-your-social-media-photography 

• Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Nathalie Nahai

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