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Let’s Get Visual! Automotive Supplier Social Media Posts Need More Visuals

With the human brain able to process visual content 60,000 times faster than text, it’s a no brainer that visual content can be more effective than words. For that reason, about 90 percent of the information sent to our brain is visual.

And almost every major social network, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, have recognized the increased prominence and importance of visuals and have strived to make posting visuals easier. And adding a visual element to your post pays off, check out these statistics:

• LinkedIn posts with images have a 98 percent higher comment rate;
• Tweets with image links get two times the engagement rate of those without images; and
• Facebook posts with photos get 53 percent more likes, 103 percent more comments and 84 percent more click-throughs than posts without visuals.

Yet, our study of the top 25 North American automotive OEM suppliers showed that one-half of supplier tweets and three of 10 supplier LinkedIn posts are still missing visuals.

And in spite of improvements in the use of visuals on Twitter and Facebook, our 2015 Social Media and Automotive Supplier 2.0™ (SMaASH 2.0™) study of the top 25 North American automotive OEM suppliers (as ranked by Automotive News) showed that the use of visuals on LinkedIn by suppliers was down significantly – from 86 percent last year to 70 percent in 2015.

If your company is at – or below – average, you have a huge opportunity to improve engagement and reach by simply including visuals in your tweets and posts. One study suggested that content with relevant images gets 94 percent more views than content without a visual. So, once you’ve done the hard work of developing the post, simply add a visual and watch your message spread.

Here are seven ways to add visuals:

1. Take bold photos that show action and people

2. Take behind-the-scenes or backstage photos at your firm or client’s event

3. Take interesting pictures of team members or clients at work

4. Use stock photos from free sites (such as images.google.com, www.flickr.com or www.stockvault.net)

5. Overlay inspirational or motivational quotes over stock photos with DIY photo editing tools (such as PicMonkey.com , www.quozio.com or www.pixlr.com)

6. Share tips or checklists overlaid on an engaging stock photo or background

7. Create an infographic (on sites such as http://infogr.am or https://venngage.com) that supports your post

Boost your engagement by aiming to add a visual element – a picture, infographic, video, drawing, etc. – to all of your company’s social media posts. It’s proven to pay off!