A few weeks back you may have noticed that we posted a blog about ‘How to Pick the Perfect GIF’ to ensure your tweet stands out from the rest. But what do you do if you want to ensure your post stands out on other social platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn? Although Facebook has recently released the endless GIF possibilities when replying with a comment on someone’s post, they have not yet made it possible to attach the hilarious little videos to your own original post. So, in order to stand out, you are really left with only one option (unless you have a stash of video’s in your back pocket of course) – Images!
But How Do You Ensure You Have Picked The Perfect Image For Your Post? Well, Read On Little Ones And We’ll Tell You How…
1. Choose an Image to Complement your Post
This one is obvious but is still important to mention in a blog like this. You want to pick an image that complements your post so that it is a visual representation of what you are talking about – the clearest way to get your message across. For example, if you are posting about your dog, accompanying it with an image of your cat would be a little confusing and some people might question your sanity.
On the flip side, you may deliberately choose an image that juxtaposes your post. For example, if you are posting about your dog but the hidden message is actually about having a bad memory – then posting an image of your cat may cause more people to stop and pay attention to your cause, thereby receiving more engagement for your post.
2. Choose a High-Resolution Image
Again, this one may seem a little obvious, but you’d be surprised by the number of posts that are let down by a poor-quality image. In order to choose an image of perfect quality, you need to select one with at least 72 dpi (dots per inch). This will ensure your image is bright and vibrant, and not pixelated and blurry.
3. Know Your Laws
We’ve all done it. Naïvely taken an image from Google images and posted it without thinking. But have you ever thought to check the copyright laws on that image? Even if you select Google Image advanced settings ‘free to reuse’ you may come across images that are, in fact, still copyrighted or at the very least require author attribution. Therefore, you may wish to find images from a free to use website, such as www.pixabay.com or pay for images through www.shutterstock.com – but even then, you need to be sure you have the relevant license! If you want to find out more about the different type of copyright images then click here
4. Optimise your Image for the Relevant Social Platform
You may not even realise it, but each social platform has very specific optimum sizes for posting an image. For example, Twitter suggests you upload an image of 1024 x 512; and Facebook suggests you upload images with widths of either 720, 960 or 2048. To make matters even more confusing, the optimum size for each platform can sometimes change, so it is important that you monitor these regularly to ensure your image is not skew-whiff!
So, there you have it little ones. As promised, here are our four top tips on picking the perfect image to accompany your post. The most important thing to remember is that the image needs to resonate with you – invoking a reaction you wish your fellow followers to feel when they spot your image on the crowded social platforms. You have to go with your gut!
