The images you post on your social media have a huge influence on how much people will interact with your content. Social media posts with images have twice as much engagement as those who don’t. Accounts with good images will get more engagement than accounts that have okay images. Here are some tips for when you’re picking out images for your social media.

Pick the Most Relevant

The most important thing to keep in mind is how relevant your images are to your post and your business. Don’t find just any random image you think looks nice or catches attention. For example: If you have an automotive business and are making a social media post about changing your tires, the best image you could use would be a high quality, well lit image of you or one of your employees changing a tire. Don’t just use some generic image of a mechanic. 

One rule of thumb for picking images: Whenever possible, use actual images of your business and employees, try to use stock images a little as possible, and don’t use images that blatantly look like stock images. For a clear example of this, check out the image below.

The guy on the right looks like an actual mechanic, he’s doing work, he’s wearing gloves that you can see are worn and used. The guy on the left looks pretty polished, he’s just standing there with his arms crossed and smiling. The image on the right feels more real instead of an actor posing for a camera. That’s the kind of image you want to use when making posts about you or your business.

Clarity

Not only do your images need to be relevant, they also need to be clear. When talking about images, clear can mean multiple things. The first meaning is that it needs to be easy to tell what the image is about. What’s the point of posting an image if no one can tell what the image is showing?

The second meaning is how sharp or blurry the image is. Take the image below for example.

This is a good picture, but which looks better, the left or right? The right one, it’s clearer, brighter, easier to see what the image is. You can pick out more detail. When posting on social media, go with something that is more like the side on the right. Pick something that is clear and bright, it will catch much more attention than the side on the left.

The two biggest points you need to keep in mind are picking images that are the most relevant and real for your business and picking images that are clear and visually appealing. Following those two rules will take your social media to the next level and start bringing in more engagement.