Visuals in Social Media Marketing, a 2012 perspective.

If in 2011 the online buzz was all centred around “checking in” and providing information on your whereabouts via social media then 2012 has seen the focus move towards the visual.

While preceding years saw an emphasis on copy whether through blogging, tweets or status updates the last  12 months has seen a major shift towards pictorial content. Two major success stories being Instragram and Pinterest, sites firmly focus around the sharing of pictures within online communities.

Facebook's timeline launch puts photos’ right at the centre of it's user experience brands can  make use of several new features that rely heavily on bold graphics and visual storytelling: the cover photo, the timeline itself, and larger images on wall posts.

A 2012 study by ROI Research indicates that when friends engage with each other over social media it's the pictures they enjoy most with 44% stating that they would be more likely to engage with brands who use photo's as their prime communications platform.

                                        

For brands in a time of information overload, with news feeds and updates containing streams of irrelevant information visuals act like trailers to users for what they represent, providing a snippet of easily digestible information to convey a message or invite a user to delve deeper into the brand

A key strength of the visual medium has been the ability to create a user led community around a product, with several key FMCG brands having strong successes through inviting users to send pictures of themselves using the product in return for prizes.

Dunkin Donuts going as far as to highlight their fan of the week on their display photo.

 The American rock group The Smashing Pumpkins took the concept of community building through visual representation one step further with a social media campaign titled “Imagine Oceania.” Fans were challenged to design artwork for the band's new album and promote the pieces through sharing across social networks, with selected fans having their work turned into limited edition posters .

The campaign showed an astute level of awareness in understanding that a large segment of their audience were tech savvy enough and sufficiently passionate about the group for the final content to be sufficiently high quality enough to produce print runs.

General Motors were quick to recognise the shifting site usage of its younger demographic and the need for restraint in marketing across across social platforms created an Instragram account that instead of showcasing glossy pictures of the latest car models embraced the nature of the platform. Presenting a series of arty industrial themed shots showcasing the company’s impressive production facilities and Detroit heritage.

To generate greater traffic, they created a competition offering the winner a free trip to the UK and to be the next “GE Instagrapher” shooting photos at a General Electric Jet Engine plant.

However brands choose to achieve it, what is clear is that visual identity creation is now vital to any profile. With search engines now basing ranking on conversations and sharing within social media in addition to website hits embracing visual content, clearly offers huge benefits through it's proven record of generating engagement.  The old maxim a picture is worth a thousand words never rung truer.

Sam Wolf , Digital Account Manager, Liveinsights

4G Is Arriving, Three Ways It Will Effect Social Media Content

From the end of this month mobile phone users in the United Kingdom will finally be able to sign up to 4g through the Everything Everywhere mobile network, with the remaining networks offering competing services from Spring 2013.

This new mobile network standard offers speeds as fast as a wired internet connection with up to 100 Mbps download speeds. How will companies capitalise on the superfast internet soon to be in the hands of consumers?

Live Streaming

The ease at which companies can stream their own live-events to the web will be greatly enhanced. Just a smart-phone and a tripod are all that will be required to stream HD quality video online to be consumed in real time by viewers . This opens up the possibility of live broadcasts from all manner of events with smaller business’s no longer hindered by the requirement for expensive broadcast equipment or a stable Wi-Fi connection.

Expect far greater integration of live streaming in to the news feeds of search engines and social networks as viewing live video over mobile increases in popularity. Will Youtube be as dominant as it has in recorded video or will a new rival take significant market share?

Mobile Apps

Mobile applications will be able to become more data intensive allowing a greater level of interactivity between businesses and consumers. No longer will a reformatted web page be considered sufficient for a company’s mobile application. Games and social interaction between users will become the norm. Expect to see the integration of live feed customer support, an increase in the complexity of social media games and an overall increase in the quality of video and images accessed through mobile applications in the coming years.

With download times greatly reduced users will no longer have to wait until they reach a Wi-Fi connection to download large applications, Live events or attractions can prompt users to download an app as they wait in line or while there is a natural break in proceedings, prompting even greater levels of interactivity between brand and consumer.

Mobile Advertising

Screen real estate is in short supply on mobile devices and so far this has meant key players including Facebook and Google withholding advertising from their mobile optimised websites. 4G could well offer a solution in the form of interactive , high quality adds. With no buffering times to disrupt the experience short videos played before entry to a site or interactive features providing informative content tailored to the users individual likes could become a real option for those companies desperately seeking ways in which to monetise vast sections of their business.

Those brands with better skills in using film and animation to deliver brand messages will gain a competitive advantage and because users won’t be twiddling their thumbs waiting for pages to load, we might expect better click though rates too. Brands that invest now in creating involving high data content are likely to be better prepared for the new opportunities that 4G could offer and gain significant advantage once critical uptake of network is achieved in 2-3 years time.  

Sam Wolf, Digital Account Manager at Liveinsights