Is your brand telling visual stories? Are you empowering your fans to create and share visual content for you? Brands who create and curate visual content are seeing wider reach, more shares and traffic to their real or virtual doorstep.\r^\r^We asked 19 Visual Social Media Experts for the secrets behind their success online using visual content. We rounded up some of the world's top thought leaders, developers, experts, designers, bloggers, Pinterest and Instagram Influencers and photographers and asked them to reveal their secrets.\r^\r^The result? One awesome post and one seriously awesome SlideShare deck. They responded with insightful and innovative visual social media advice.This advice has helped to grow personal brands, bestselling books, the world's top blogs, Start-Up companies that are literally shaping the future of the visual web, and some of the world's largest Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram communities. And it all happened organically, using their visual content secrets.\r^\r^Here is what they said:\r^\r^Be authentic and provide value. Create content that educates your users and helps them to improve their game - they will become loyal followers and genuinely engage with your content. It also helps you to become an expert in your field. - Melanie Perkins, Canva \r^\r^It can be hard to create amazing photographic content all the time!\r^\r^Visually tasty quotes and messages are a great alternative to photos. They’re a wonderful way to engage and inspire your audience, too. - Ben Wong\r^\r^Instagram videos often get fewer 'likes' than a photo - not surprising, since you are asking for a 15 second commitment for someones attention, for something they don't really know what they'll be seeing. Paul Fleming\r^\r^To really scale your visual content marketing use a platform such ShuttleRock.com. This will allow you to crowd source your visual content. - Jeff Bullas \r^\r^The images that we find work best on Pinterest are those that tell the reader exactly what they are going to get if they click through from the image to our site.\r^\r^We choose a beautiful and vibrant travel image that is related to the topic. We make sure that it is 600 x 900 pix - portrait images always stand out better. And then we overlay text on top that highlights the topic - Caz Makepeace, YTravel Blog\r^\r^Don't make it about you, make it about your audience.\r^Storytelling to your fan base is great, but giving your audience a story to tell is even better and makes your stories spread further. Give them something that will made them look good. At Tourism Australia our Facebook posts are always highly visual with a very short caption.\r^They are purposely designed for our audience to share and expand on our stories.\r^\r^Your story can be significantly more powerful if you're not the only one telling it. Curate your fans' imagery about your brand with your own to tell stories that combine multiple perspectives with authenticity - Apu Gupta Curalate

1. 19
Secrets
T I P S F R O M T H E P R O S
Visual Social Media

2. Visual Social Media is so hot right now.
Every social media platform is embracing visual content
- even LinkedIn and Twitter.
Brands who create and curate visual content are
seeing wider reach, more shares and traffic to their real or
virtual doorstep. Is your brand telling visual stories?
Are you empowering your fans to
create and share visual content for you?
We asked 19 Visual Social Media Experts
for their top Visual Content Tips.
This is what they said...

3. Your story can be
significantly more powerful
if you're not the only
one telling it.
Curate your fans' imagery
about your brand with
your own to tell stories
that combine multiple
perspectives with
authenticity.
Apu Gupta
CEO Curalate
@apugupta
1

4. Be authentic and provide value. Create
content that educates your users -
they will become loyal followers and
genuinely engage with your content.
MELANIE PERKINS
CEO, CANVA
@MELANIECANVA

5. Visually tasty quotes and messages
are a great alternative to
photos. They’re a wonderful way to
engage and inspire your audience.
BEN WONG
FOUNDER, WORDSWAG & VIDEOHANCE
@WORDSWAGAPP

6. Instagram videos often get fewer 'likes' than
a photo. However, being consistent with style
and quality, I find that followers want to
watch videos I post - and they produce more
discussions about the content.
PAUL FLEMING
TRAVEL & DESTINATION INSTAGRAMMER
MOBILE VIDEOGRAPHER
@LOVETHYWALRUS

7. To really scale your visual content
marketing use a platform such as
ShuttleRock.com. This will allow you
to crowd source your visual content.
JEFF BULLAS
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING BLOGGER
@JEFFBULLAS

8. The magic is in the mix - there are more
visual mediums than ever before to bring
your company's story to life. Test different
mediums to see what resonates the most
with your target audience.
JESSICA GIOGLIO | SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST
-AUTHOR OF THE POWER OF VISUAL STORYTELLING
@SAVVYBOSTONIAN

9. The images that we find work best on
Pinterest are those that tell the reader
exactly what they are going to get if they
click through from the image to our site.
CAZ & CRAIG MAKEPEACE
CO-FOUNDERS OF YTRAVEL BLOG
@YTRAVELBLOG

10. When using social media I put my best
foot forward with every post by selecting
the most visually appealing scene, shot as
well as I can, and edited in the best
way possible. I want every post to be strong.
LAUREN BATH
PROFESSIONAL INSTAGRAMMER & PHOTOGRAPHER
IMAGE BY LAUREN BATH | @LAURENEPBATH

11. Understand how visuals play on each network. What looks
(and plays) well on Pinterest are tall images whereas on
Instagram you're only allowed square images.
Create 3 templates for your social content - Landscape
(horizontal), Portrait (vertical) and Square. Then when you
create a piece of content, format it in all three versions and
share on the appropriate networks.
Dustin Stout
Founder, Dustin.tv
@DustinWStout

12. Create a Visual First Impression! On Instagram, a
few key words and emojis makes for an eye-
catching and clear introduction. Even when
restricted to just 150 characters you can display a
bio that leaves a well depicted impression.
SUE ZIMMERMAN | INSTAGRAM EXPERT
@SUEBZIMMERMAN

13. Instead of just guessing about
which content MIGHT get shares,
do some research and find visual
content that has ALREADY
gotten shares -- content that
has already proven itself.
Then replicate, repurpose
and improve that content
with your own branding.
Joshua Parkinson
Founder, PostPlanner
@PostPlanner

14. When appropriate, opt for images
that inspire sharing and delight -- whether
they be funny, unexpected, or even a little
off color. In the end these are the images
people remember and tell friends about.
LORETTA GRANDE
DESIGNER AT PICMONKEY
@PICMONKEYAPP

15. Don’t forget to add a call to
action. You never want your fans or
followers to question what
action you want them to take next.
REBEKAH RADICE, DIGITAL MARKETING
STRATEGIST @REBEKAHRADICE

16. Pin all your blog posts on Pinterest with a
735 x 1102 graphic and share with what I call the
"now and later technique". Use the call to action
"read this now, and pin it for later" with a link to
the blog post and another to your Pinterest pin.
PEG FITZPATRICK
HEAD OF SOCIAL STRATEGY CANVA
@PEGFITZPATRICK

17. When it comes to getting people to share on Facebook,
I have one over-riding core strategy... relatable content. I always try
to create content that people can relate to or that they can find
useful in some way; whether it is inspiration, humor or even
business or social media tips.
Kim Garst | CEO, Boom Social with Kim Garst
@KimGarst

18. We want to share original, fresh visual content
like we want to share a hot piece of gossip. Be
in the minority that creates original images to
be shared by the majority, and you'll get reach
and engagement on any social platform.
DONNA MORITZ, VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST
@SOCIALLYSORTED

19. Don't make it about you, make it about your
audience. Storytelling to your fan base is great,
but giving your audience a story to tell is even
better and makes your stories spread further.
JESSE DESJARDINS
HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA AT TOURISM AUSTRALIA
@JESSEDEE

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