Social Media Trends: Visual is the new Black

If you have been using social media for a little while you may have noticed a new trend creeping in. Some may call it the new black!

Images. Visuals. Video.

You name the social media platform – and I can show you visuals.

In Social Media – Visual is the new black

The Visual Social Media Platforms

When we talk about Social Media (and boy do my friends love to listen to me babble on about Twitter!) there are different flavors of platforms.

Some are more text-oriented like Twitter, and others are inherently visual like…

Pinterest the Visual Queen

Ok, so Pinterest is visual. Full stop. And I have gone on and on about how you need to get yourself on their, NOW.

It is growing like crazy and there are lots of ways for anyone with any kind of niche to get on there!

Don’t believe me? Check out Max Ivey’s post, where he finds creative ways to get his business on Pinterest,

And to add to the challenge, he is blind!

So if you think Pinterest is too hard for you, maybe take a look at what he is doing and learn how easy it can be.

Instagram – Facebook’s  Younger Brother

There are other up and coming platforms which are also worth considering, if you love photos that is – Instagram is certainly one of them. 

Of course Facebook bought them for a good reason. Even though I personally think Facebook is dead, maybe Instagram will help save them.

Now you can even text Mark Zuckerberg via WhatsApp and ask him his opinion!

Either way, a girl you might want to check out if you are interested in Instagram is – Jenn Herman (one of Social Media Examiner’s Top 10 sites of 2014).

She will teach you all the latest and greatest ways to rock Instagram and more.

Youtube – Moving Pictures are “All the Rage” in Hollywood

So it has been a long time since “moving pictures” blew the public’s mind, but Youtube is now a social media channel worth getting onto.

A recent guest on my podcast, Ms Ileane Smith is someone who has been on Youtube for nearly 5 years and she mentioned some great tips regarding Youtube and SEO when I chatted with her.

She said that some easy SEO methods still worked on Youtube that are no longer possible on your blog.

So even if:

• gaining a new audience
• creating exciting new content types
• showing your beautiful self on camera

were not enough reasons to get on Youtube. SEO might be an even bigger consideration for you.

Which Social Media Leopard is Changing Their Spots

Ok, so those visual primadonnas of Social Media don’t do it for you.

You are never going to go “on camera” (not even  a screencast?). And you don’t take great photos. And you hate Pinterest. I get it.

But what about the old school? Let’s take a look at how social media trends are sweeping through and knocking them off their feet!

Tweet Tweet, Tweet Tweet – Yeah!

If you are a Twitter veteran (or have at least been using it for a while) you might have noticed that you can add images to your tweets and they show up in our streams.

They grab people’s attention, that’s for sure.

Look, 500 tweets just flew post my nose – but there is one that is not “all text”.  Better click on it and see what awesomeness is contained within.

You notice them, right? So do your readers.

Get on that trend right now. Your tweets will get more attention. More clicks. More customers. More shares.

A recent interview Rebekah Radice did with the star of social media – Peg Fitzpatrick showed us many ways to get visuals going on in social media, including: how to do it on Twitter.

So your excuses are falling on deaf ears!

Google+ Images are Buying Real Estate

Another social media platform taking images to the next level is Google+.

With updates last year in their platform,

Google has given massive priority to images that are a certain size and aspect ratio

You might have noticed that on Google+. Images that take up the whole screen width! In fact, you can hardly miss them when it happens.

Now that is a way to get attention.

If you need help with social media image dimensions, take a look at an awesome infographic I found a few months ago.

It will help you on any platform, so go check it out.

Facebook Readers Love Tantalizing Visuals

I am not going to spend a lot of time on Facebook tips and tricks, but it is important to note one thing.

Some of the most shared and liked content on Facebook – is visual (images especially).

If you take a look at your stats on your business page on Facebook you will see it again and again.

Note: I have also found questions get awesome reactions. But that is a little off-topic!

Time to Wrap This Up

I actually intended this to be a small post, but I have typing diarrhea. I apologize.

But I hope you got some useful ideas from this post.

So to summarize:

• Visuals are super important on social media
• If you are not using visuals in your content it is time to change – NOW
• Need help creating Images – check out my images section with loads of tips (I know it’s not easy)
• Check out the cool infographic below for more visual info

Visuals are the new black in Social Media.

Infographic Courtesy of Socially Sorted
Photo credit: Curious Expeditions via photopin cc