Skip the Links; Opt for Photos

If you’re a business owner, a personality, a celebrity, or just want to be any of those, social media is a great way that you can reach thousands, millions, or even billions of people all with the click of a few buttons.  Of course, if you’re just starting out, you have to follow some tips and tricks to get your stuff seen.

One way that has always been on the list of ways you can stand out in social media is to include a lot of pictures.  Pictures are seen more often, and pictures get more interaction than text blocks or links.  But how much more visibility?  Quite a bit it turns out.

Facebook’s Algorithms Favor Pictures

Facebook is in the business of showing people ads.  That’s how they make their money.  So when a post draws people away from their platform and onto yours (or someone else’s) those ads aren’t shown to as many people.  It seems a bit shady, but they have a business to run.  They want people to stay on Facebook and not click away onto other websites.

This isn’t new news.  In fact, people have known about Facebook keeping people on their site for a long time.  But how much of a difference does it make?  Until recently, I didn’t realize how much Facebook was hiding posts for clients’ accounts.

 

Pictures are Shown to as Many as 15 Times as Many People

My company, Sery Content Development, manages social media for small businesses in Billings, Montana.  We create ads, write content, update accounts, follow-up messages.  Essentially, you don’t have to worry about your online presence.  I noticed a discrepancy, however, when taking a look at the insights for Beartooth Metal Roofing.  Check out this screen shot:

Most of what is posted for their Facebook is pictures of jobs.  Once each week we post a link to a blog page that was recently written for their site so people can learn more.  But look at the reach on that link: a mere 4 people.  Look at the reach on the pictures: 4 to 8 times as many!

Granted this is a small page with less than 100 followers.  So let’s take a look at another one:

iDoctor (Since changed to CPR) has over 2,400 followers.  Most of what is posted to their page is links to tech industry news.  The reach on the links: 1.9% to 7.2%.  But when a picture is posted, suddenly that reach jumps up to 15.2% (365 views).

But what about many small businesses that don’t have a lot of followers?  What if you post more pictures and fewer links?    Look at this:

J&J Construction has 199 followers, and we started doing a mix of links and pictures for their site.  We started to alternate pictures and links.  The result was that links would be shown to between 2.5% and 12% of the followers, where the pictures were shown to between 33% and 41% of followers.

Now keep in mind that we still want people to come from Facebook to the clients’ websites.  So we’re not just putting up pictures with a little bit of a description.  We’re encouraging them to click and read more about what we have enticed them on Facebook.  Here is what that post at the bottom of the screen that earned 82 views looks like:

 

Step Up Your Facebook Game

When you run a Facebook page, the goal is to get in front of as many people as possible.  Sometimes it’s just for brand awareness.  Sometimes it is to educate your followers.  Sometimes it is to encourage them to purchase one of your products.  Ultimately it is to make sure that people know who you are, and what you do.

Embed your links into the text associated with a picture instead of putting up a link.  The result will be that your reach increases exponentially, and you get more visibility.

 

If you want to worry about handling more customers, and not worry about your online presence, give us a call at 406-860-4407.  We offer competitive packages to help you get found online!