Live-streaming video is all the rage right now. And the fact of the matter is that many people will not take the time to watch a 15 minute Facebook Live broadcast.
Images Grab Attention
They will, however, take 15 seconds to look at a graphic posted on social media. And they might like, comment and share the image.
Graphics have a way of drawing in a reader. Whether scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed on a browser or on a mobile device, images cause people to stop for a moment and look. And that is an efficient use of time.
But how difficult is it to actually create images for social media?
Graphics Can Be Easy to Create
According to Visual Marketing Expert and Author Susan Joy Schleef, “Many users are not aware that PowerPoint is actually a pretty powerful graphic design tool. As such, it can be used to create customized flat design graphics, such as icons, buttons, social media headers, and much more.”
Read more in Susan’s blog post on How to Create Your Own Flat Graphics in PowerPoint — and Why!
Susan’s upcoming book, Get Your Message into their Brains: Neuromarketing Secrets for Better Content Marketing Results, is chock full of visual marketing strategies.
Visual Design is an art as much as it is a science. You have to start somewhere and you will learn as you go.
Create Social Media Quote Images
One of the simplest types of graphics to create is a Social Media Quote Image. Start with a beautiful photograph. Add a quote from a famous author. Then, add your Twitter ID (i.e. @RickCooper) or your website address (i.e. SocialMediaOutcomes.com).
I would encourage you to invest some time in creating graphic images for use on social media sites.
Graphic images can be posted on:
- Google+
- And more
In fact, you can even embed your social media graphics on your blog and make it easy for people to share them on social media sites. That creates instant viral marketing.
Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Expert
1 comment
Very informative post, Rick! And thanks for the mention. I appreciate that.
I really like what you said about some people not spending the time to watch a 15-minute Facebook Live broadcast. I think most people will watch video much longer than that if they are really interested and get absorbed in what they’re watching. But if it doesn’t keep us engaged, most of us are ready to “change the channel” pretty quickly!
Intriguing images still catch attention in the newsfeed, as do short videos. I’m actually working on a training about easy ways to create motion in the newsfeed with short video.