Images: the King of Content
In today’s social content marketing world, images are king (even for B2B marketing strategies). Using images to capture attention is one of the tried and true ways of catching their interest for the split-second that marketers need, but only if you break through all the other media bombarding consumers.
Not just any image will work; there needs to be sound logic and clear communication behind each image you attach to the rest of your marketing content if you want the right reaction from viewers.
Following these two tricks, you’ll be a master of marketing images in no time.
Images Should Relate to Your Content and Overall Branding
This might seem like a pretty obvious point to make, but it’s hard to nail down exactly. It might be tempting to snag the audience’s attention with something shocking. If you were selling coffee tables, would you attach a picture of a purple elephant standing on a coffee table to get the attention of your prospects? Maybe you would. Maybe you think your audience would find purple elephants more interesting to look at than coffee tables.
This is understandable, and tempting, but there are better ways to attract your audience using images. If the images you use for marketing don’t reinforce your core message, you run the risk of losing your audience’s trust and developing a bad rap by misleading them.
From an SEO standpoint, you could increase your website’s bounce rate if people click on images and quickly exit from the site they’re taken to because it’s doesn’t match what they expected. This hurts your company’s online authority and may make Google suspicious that your site is spammy.
At CONSENSUS™, we’ve developed a system for creating eye-catching and relevant images with our design team, but you can also use found images. Admittedly, finding images related to B2B SaaS software can be challenging, so we recommend setting up a system to help get your creative juices flowing and prevent yourself from falling into the bad habit of using easy, pretty, but irrelevant images.
Images Should Be Optimized for Their Intended Use
Depending on where your images are being seen (as ads on other websites for pay-per-click campaigns, as social media postings, or as images for your own website or blog), you’ll have to decide the best option is for each environment.
For example, you need an image sized 800×1200 pixel Facebook cover photo rather than a 1600×900 pixel X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) post. A cover photo stays at the top of your Facebook profile and is the largest image representing your page. Unlike an X image post, which could disappear in the news feed in a matter of seconds. The Twitter image should be eye-catching and simple, since it potentially has just seconds to be noticed. The Facebook cover photo should be more subtle and serve as more of a “background” image.
Overall Tips for Every Image
Here are some basic tips that apply to making a quality image for any environment:
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Use people: People like to look at people. Even better, people like to look at people doing something. You can use stock photography websites like Shutterstock or Adobe Stock if you have the budget to pay for stock images. There are sites that provide royalty-free images such as Unsplash or Pexels. They only request you thank the photographers on social media.
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Avoid busy: Images with overly complex designs, patterns, wording or images with extreme detail aren’t ideal for social media marketing. Circling back to the fact that viewers are looking at your image for a matter of seconds, and you have a lot of competition from other images they might be seeing, means you need to keep it sweet and simple.
Always consult your best judgement before deciding on an image. We can follow all the rules and guidelines in the world, but stepping back and evaluating what you’ve created is always an important last step.
