You’ve heard it over and over, posts with images get the most engagement. So, you’ve probably listened to this advice and included images in the majority of your social media posts.

Because this fact is known, an overwhelming amount of images are flooding people’s social media feeds. They account for 75% of Facebook content, they rule Instagram, and they’re rising in popularity on Twitter.

Your brand might be posting images but they could be getting lost in the shuffle.

In order to stand out and earn quality engagement, you need to share spectacular high-quality images that capture attention and help tell your brand’s story. We decided to dig up some details and take a look at Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see what types of images work the best on each network.

 

Facebook

Photos are the primary type of content posted and shared on Facebook. They have an 87% interaction rate from fans, which means they are the best way to gain people’s attention. But keep in mind, not all photos are created equal! In order to beat out others competing for the same eyeballs, here are some tips.

Size and Quality

In order to capture the attention of your audience, it’s important to use high-quality photos that interest your target audience. In order to achieve maximum quality, upload images that haven’t been overly sharpened and don’t have a lot of compression already applied. For JPEGs, keep the quality setting at 80 or above and upload images that are already resized close to the Facebook display size.

When you upload a picture to Facebook and post it to your brand’s timeline, a thumbnail is generated automatically to fit within a box that is 504px by 504px. If you want to use all the space allowed in order to make a big impression, upload a square photo at least 504px wide. (A horizontal image will be scaled to 504px wide, a vertical one will be scaled 504px high and will be centered with grey on each side.)

 

70/20/10

When planning out a Facebook posting strategy, it’s best to use the 70/20/10 rule. This means:

70% of your images should be adding value and brand building

20% should be sharing others’ posts and ideas

10% should be promoting yourself or your business.

It’s also important to keep in mind, as a brand, you should be posting 5-10 posts per week.

 

More Ideas

• Ask fans to create a caption for a photo
• Post photos of events that involve other organizations
• If you could benefit from local appeal, play up your localness in photos
• Upload photos that show the personalities of your staff

 

Instagram

Speaking about photos, 40 million photos are uploaded to the social network Instagram every day. Brands are quickly jumping in with promises of more brand awareness and revenue with 59% of the world’s top brands now active on Instagram. But what types of photos are generating the most engagement?

Size and Quality

Instagram photos are now 640px by 640px. If your taking pictures for Instagram on a regular camera, keep your settings to a higher resolution so your image doesn’t get pixelated when it’s cropped.

If you’re taking the photo on your smartphone, it’s a good idea to take the pictures in the square frame option or directly in the Instagram app in order to take a photo that’s the correct size. If you take the picture with your regular sized smartphone frame, you’ll have to crop it after uploading it to Instagram and it might not fit right.

 

Coloring Specifics

• Photos uploaded with the “Normal” filter have the highest likes-per-follower. The Normal filter is followed by Willow, Valencia, and Sierra.
• Desaturated photos get more engagement than saturated ones.
• Photos that have one or more faces tend to have higher average likes-per-follower.
• Cool colors (greys, blues, and greens) get more likes per follower.
• Brighter photos get more likes.

 

More Ideas

• Have a good balance of fun images and business pictures
• Post photos relevant to your brand
• Showcase photos of employees
• Showcase the use of your company’s products and services

 

Twitter

Tweets that include photos are 94% more likely to be retweeted, 89% more favorites, and 18% more clicks. Attaching an image to your tweet will help attract the attention of followers as they scroll down their feeds and can add an aspect of visual storytelling to your text.

Size and Quality

When you’re choosing or creating images to be shared on Twitter, be aware of the proper dimensions. If the image isn’t large enough it will be submitted but it won’t be showcased. This means, it wont be visible unless the tweet is clicked and expanded.

To make sure your image is visible, your image should be a width of 550 pixels and a height of 300+ pixels. If your image is simply too small, try to find a larger one or put the smaller picture on a white background so it blends with the Twitter feed.

 

Tweet Types 

Tweets with images get a significant boost in engagement, so including them is essential. Determining what type of image to tweet is the next step. If you’re tweeting an article or a blog link, attach a featured image. A featured image is a captivating photo that stands out on followers’ Twitter feeds and previews the linked content.

You can also tweet images that showcase your product or service, especially if you’re announcing something new…

or you can live tweet pictures from an event!