Six small steps for making a bigger impact on Facebook

Ritesh Gupta takes a closer look at how visual content can be improved on Facebook

The smallest of changes on a social networking site like Facebook can have the biggest impact on the way a brand engages with fans. Last year Facebook simplified the option to upload a picture by introducing a camera symbol directly below the status box. Unless you want to create a new album, this meant one click less for users. The move validates a growing belief that visual communication is growing in importance. The transition from being just text-oriented to posting a pic in almost every post has become a norm.

It was in mid-2013 that this trend started to emerge. In an interview with EyeforTravel, Mohamed Hussein, regional director, Internet Marketing – MEA, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, said that while engaging audiences on social networks is an ever-evolving process, social networks were becoming ‘more visual than ever’.

Reflections on 2013

So how has the trend of visual content on social media progressed?

“To us one of the biggest developments is that nearly all posts come with images. Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram coupled with its attempted acquisition of Snapchat further illustrate the power of imagery in social media,” argues Lucas Schumacher, Fairmont’s regional online marketing manager.

It is, says Schumacher, a“combination of beautiful photography and verbiage” that invites users to engage or a call to action. He cites a post that featured an image of a pool and the Dubai skyline with the text “Who would ‘like’ to take an evening dip in the pool at Fairmont The Palm?”. This linked back to the hotel website with a tracking code, and generated a significantly higher number of likes, comments and shares than any other post for the rest of the year.

Adapting to change

According to Fairmont, as social media has become more visual and less textual it has been critical to alter the overall strategy.

The firm has attempted to move away from excessively wordy posts and instead attempted to encourage fans to actively engage. “We focus on active participation rather than passive consumption,” says Schumacher.

One post in November 2013, for example, featured a picture and one sentence: Experience a Winter Wonderland this year at The Fairmont Banff Springs, the majestic `Castle in the Rockies’.

Interestingly, this post experienced a 10% engagement level in terms of likes, 4% in comments and 6% in shares. “For an audience of 100,000 fans these are fairly significant numbers,” says Schumacher.

Improving reach and engagement

As traffic increasingly shifts from desktop to mobile, the impact of visual will only increase further, necessitating the presence of quality visual content. “Competition for eyeballs and share of voice on mobile devices, in particular, will become more and more competitive,” he says, warning that companies that fail to recognise this and compete with engaging visual content will suffer.

Six things to consider while posting visual content:

1.   Carefully consider your objectives before developing a post: If the plan is to increase the number of ‘likes’ and reach of a page, then running a contest around pictures is an option. For instance, a business page can make it mandatory for every participant to like the page. The theme of the images can be linked with the core competency of the brand. Since the contest revolves more around the emotional quotient and isn’t transactional in nature, the contest can improve on the reach with participation from regular fans and also potentially new ones.

2.   Evaluate what is working and what isn’t: Assess what sort of images are helping to expand reach and what is contributing in terms of strengthening engagement.

3.   Work on content formats with going viral in mind: A lot of times one only focuses on one content format - text or images or videos. Rather one should look at page insights and blend it with creativity to assess how can a post go viral with apt use of text, images and videos. Relate factors such as the time of day, the day of the week, season and so on with pictures from fans/followers and product images to find an apt visual content posting. 

4.   Strengthen your cross-network strategy: Share popular pictures across to other social media to optimise the overall presence.

5.   Narrate compelling stories: Use the emotional appeal of imagery to craft a story, let’s say around an experience.

6.   Monitor and identify images that speak favourably of your brand: Conduct keyword and hashtag searches across networks like Twitter and Instagram (eg. #travel, #flight), in order to unearth photos and videos that speak favourable about your brand. 

Related Reads

comments powered by Disqus