A person taking an aesthetic image, to use on social media.

Choose imagery that connects with your audience

The right imagery can move and convert audiences. Consumers are 80% more likely to read content with colourful visuals on it (Xerox). So here are a few tips on choosing visuals that work.

The human touch

From customers to staff, consultants and suppliers, people are everything in business. So, where appropriate, use images with people in them, to help make a connection with your target audience. For your social media pages, you can use standard stock imagery, models, brand ambassadors, staff members, your customers or yourself! Internet users are 40 times more likely to share visual content on social media than that without visual elements (Buffer).

Think like a designer

Selecting images to accompany your written content requires an eye for design. Check out what successful brands are doing or consult a branding/marketing expert. If you’ve got your own ideas for marrying images to your text, a cool tool to use is Canva.

Create mood

Images are powerful, so it's important that the ones you use create the right mood. They must reflect your brand's voice and connect with your viewers. Don’t use images that seem too busy and avoid ones that can offend. Go with colours that showcase your brand’s style, look and feel.

Tell a story

Images are an important part of the storytelling toolkit. They work well in marketing campaigns, on social media accounts, your website, eDMs and alongside blogs and articles. To tell a story compellingly, choose your images carefully. Candid images provide a sense of spontaneity, while stock images are good for specific items and are often free to download. You can also take pictures on your smartphone, apply filters and upload them to your social channels.

If you’re looking for a set of new images for your marketing channels, it's best to get a professional photographer to capture imagery personalised to your business.