Is a Picture Worth 1000 Words?

After discussing all the many ways you can create a photo from text or informational content earlier this week, I received a few more queries about how to make them into photos and what other options would engage fans and customers in the images.

Just in case you missed it, or if you hadn’t noticed, photos gain more attention and engagement than just these words all by themselves. Putting your words into images gives them much greater impact. You can:

  • Set a mood
  • Reinforce your brand’s impression
  • Convey valuable data
  • Engage fan interest and participation

Use more photos! Put them on your Home Page, on your About page.

See?

Here were some suggestions I offered on what type of text can easily transfer to images and gain greater impact in picture form:

Things to put in photos: Announcements, invitations, thanks, congratulations, product tips, questions, infographics, lists

Here’s an example: Note the contrast between simply typing “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. ~ Winston Churchill” in a Status Update box and presenting it with a bit of pizzazz:

Success is going from failure to failure... Winston Churchill

Which one is more appealing to you?

Stretch Your Imagination!

Successful marketing is largely shifting toward gamification. Undoubtedly your products or services have numerous factoids, tips, instructions, features and more on which you could easily test your fans knowledge. (Go easy on them though. No one knows your features and benefits as well as you do! Keep it simple.)

Here are a few ways to engage fans and clients using images to present game/interest questions:

Quiz Question Formats: multiple choice, true or false, yes or no, choose 1 of 5, raite 1 thru 10, fill-in-the-blank

Here’s an example of one of the above I did for a client shown below. The question that I put in the Status Update box was: “Which 1 of these 4 characteristics is NOT true of Mathis Grenache?”

Mathis Grenache questions

For more ideas on gamification, and how it can be used beneficially in education, health, business, and other industries, view myriad ideas in Gamification Examples: The Ultimate List For User Engagement by Mambo.Io.

This format helps educate your fans and clients about your products in a fun way, making a much stronger impression on their memories with the visual presentation. (And, yes, I am looking for more Likes on the Mathis Facebook fan page. And the answer to the question is #2 – Mathis Grenache is NOT light in color, acidity or tannins.)  🙂

Keep Them Wanting to Come Back for More!

To build greater engagement online, you can add teasers, such as “Check back between 2 pm and 4 pm when I reveal the correct answer.” Or, make it an informal contest: “Winning entries will receive a free pumpkin from _____.” (NOTE: It’s illegal to giveaway free bottles of wine. And I strongly urge you to familiarize yourself with Facebook’s rules for contests and sweepstakes before endeavoring in this realm. Social Media Examiner has several great ideas in 9 Tips for Running Successful Facebook Contests.)

When you have limited availability of a product or service, be sure to mention it front and center to build desire (more shameless client plugging):

 Mathis 2011 Rosé of Carignane

And just in case your fans and customers aren’t familiar with every last product you offer, simply make them a list of them(shameless self-plugging):

Graphics and Writing for websites, social media, logos, brochures, postcards, banner ads, flyers, signs, wine labels, food packaging, print ads, posters

Just remember to limit pushing your own products and services to no more than 10% of your overall posts.

Was this article a bit easier to read than the usual short story I post? Most of the images posted here were created in PicMonkey.com. It’s free, easy-to-use and you can create your own images to post to your social media pages and websites.

There is one last thing you could do for me:

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