July 14, 2011
by Mike Stiles
For years we?ve comforted ourselves in the knowledge that we deal in sound, so we don?t have to worry about imagery or putting out anything attractive to eyeballs. As long as your logo looked cool on your t-shirts, you were golden. Now, since we?re running station Facebook pages, we have to put some thought into drawing people in with pictures. Our findings at Vitrue show a post with an image attached gets 2.4 times the engagement rate as a post with no media attached to it. Of course, posts with video get 1.15 times as much engagement as posts with images do, but for now, let?s talk about still images since they?re easier to get and use.
Think about that number. 2.4 times more engagement. That?s over twice. If you?re self-aware at all, you?ve noticed that when you?re scrolling down your Facebook wall in a rush, you?re only slowing down at posts that have pictures. If the picture is semi-intriguing, you?ll enlarge it to see what?s up. You?re not alone. So pay attention to whether your posts have pictures, and pay attention to how interesting those pictures are. Cool as your logo may be, just using that as the image beside all your posts is better than nothing, but it ain?t gonna get clicked. Here?s what your listeners probably want to see:
? Jocks with celebrities. Doesn?t even matter if the pics aren?t recent. Reach into those personal archives.
? Any picture that made you LOL when you saw it. If you think it?s funny, jaded entertainment professional that you are, your audience will love it.
? Any picture with a hot chick in it.
? Any picture with a hot guy in it.
? Any picture with a cute animal in it.
? Pictures of anything outrageous that happened at a remote or event.
? The cover of a new CD by one of the artists you play.
? A pic related to a hot topic you talked about on the air, preferably a local story.
It?s not like it?s inconvenient to carry a camera around with you anymore. It?s right there on your phone. Snap away and choose the cream of the crop to post. Just don?t post photos that suck; meaning those that are badly lit, out of focus, can?t tell what?s going on, etc. You should also establish a standard photo size and resolution so everything is visually consistent.
More tips? Sure?why not?
? Images don?t just mean photos. Do a cartoon or make an infographic, even if you do it in crayon and scan it.
? Don?t neglect to put something in that comment section to the right of your photo?something that makes sense and compels people to click the image.
? Don?t forget to tweet your good photos. There are numerous Twitter image-sharing services out there to use for that.
? That photo strip across the top of your Facebook can be made really cool if you want it to be. Here?s a link to get you going: http://www.makeitinmusic.com/facebook-photo-strip/
We?ve all endured the ?face for radio? jokes, but now is the time to start thinking about what your listeners want to see as well as what they want to hear.
Mike Stiles @mikestiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
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