If you put 100 social media marketers in a room and ask them about the hardest part of the job, most would agree that coming up with enough content to stay relevant is one of the most difficult challenges.
Quantity does matter, after all; most brands need to post at least 3x per week per platform to keep engagement up.
That’s where diversity in social media images comes in. You want to include more images in your posts since image posts have the highest engagement on almost all social media platforms. The hard part is finding a steady stream of diverse images to keep your audience engaged and interested.
We’re here to help you out. In this post, we’re going to look at 8 types of social media marketing images you can use to keep your social accounts relevant, engaging, and consistent.
1. UGC Images
User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most powerful types of content you can use on any social media platform.
It’s created by your users and customers, so viewers will automatically read it as more authentic and trustworthy compared to any other marketing content you could whip up. As a result, social media campaigns with UGC perform 25% better.
Since UGC is created and shared by your customers, there’s not much you need to do except encourage its creation and find it. It’s typically best to share UGC images exactly as is. Just make sure to ask for permission and tag the original creator. This can encourage other users to swoop in and create more content for your brand too.
2. Product Images
While only about 20% of your social media content should be ads or promotions, that still gives you 20% of your posts to be promotional.
Take advantage of this by sharing beautiful and engaging product pictures.
When it comes to product images, consider the following options:
- Use text and arrows to point out features, deals, or the product name.
- Show the product in use so people can get a good idea of how it would benefit them.
- Layer the product photo over an interesting, eye-catching background.
You can use an easy graphic design tool like Snappa to add text, arrows, and stunning backgrounds to your product images.
3. Pictures Of Employees, Team Members, & Owners
Clients like to know the people behind the business they’re working with or purchasing from, and featuring images of your employees, your team, or your business owners can help with that.
Spotlight pictures that show employee achievements or fun facts can help your audience get to know your team, which makes a big impact in building brand loyalty.
It’s also a great source for fast content. You can keep these images simple as they don’t require much editing. Just make sure they’re high-quality photos with a relevant caption or description.
4. Behind-the-Scenes Images
Behind-the-scenes content can be just as effective as employee photos. By giving viewers an inside look at the day-to-day operations of your business, you can build deeper connections with your customers.
It doesn’t really matter what you’re showing, as long as it feels like it’s an exclusive look into what your business is doing. Instagram Stories are a great way to showcase behind-the-scenes content since they have a limited timeframe and won’t change the aesthetic of your feed.
5. Store Announcements
Social media is an excellent place to make big brand announcements, whether it’s about an upcoming event, a flash sale, or new hiring opportunities.
Whatever it is, remember that you don’t want to just post it in text; images will be more memorable and they’ll dramatically increase the visibility of your post.
6. Seasonal Images
You can’t go wrong with seasonal images, whether it’s a high-quality stock photo or you showing off your in-store holiday decorations.
Keep in mind that social media users are always looking for content that’s relevant to them right now, and seeing something you post that aligns with a big event in their life can capture their interest.
Seasonal images can include the following:
- A picture of your jack-o-lantern, menorah, Christmas tree, or Valentine’s decorations. Bonus points if the post asks users to share pictures of theirs to increase engagement.
- A relevant graphic that captures seasonal spirit, like those that come free with Snappa. You can add text (like a quote or seasons greetings) and your logo onto the image.
- Images of your products, store, or team members with a festive border.
7. Quiz & Poll Images
Quiz and poll images give your audience two or more options and ask them to choose which one they like best. These pictures are a fun way to promote your brand and increase engagement. You can even make an Instagram poll or ask viewers to add their preferred choice in the comments.
Quiz and poll posts can drive engagement quickly, which helps you boost priority in the algorithms for more visibility. They also keep things interesting and can act as basic market research.
8. Quote Images
Everyone loves a great quote every now and then, especially when it’s relevant to your business or industry in some way. However, a strong quote post doesn’t have to be text-only, you can utilize images too.
To make it easy, try using our free quote maker. We have hundreds of design templates to choose from, or you can create your own quote image from scratch by adding different fonts, background images, shapes, and effects.
Conclusion
Social media marketing images are more important than you think. They need to be strategic, and you must consider which types of images will help you capture the attention of your followers and keep them engaged.
If you struggle to create fresh images consistently, make time at the beginning of the month to create as many as possible, and then queue them into a social media scheduling software like Buffer. This will save you a lot of time and effort.
If you’re looking for an easy way to create professional social media marketing images in minutes, start your free trial with Snappa!
