Create and Edit Social Media Images with your Smartphone
I’ve talked in past posts about the importance of using images in online media. From the images on your website to using images in social media for your business, the bottom line is that images work.
Photos tell a story at a glance and provide a much better method of drawing visitors in than does text only. Data collected in research by HubSpot, a leading online marketing software, found, for example, that photos on Facebook generated 53% more likes and 104% more comments than the average post.
Images online also have much higher engagement rates. Engagement is the sum of likes, comments, retweets, and shares related to a post on a social network. The value is that the more viewers engage, the more they help to spread the image to their friends and networks, thereby increasing the reach of the post and increasing the audience that learns about your business.
Knowing that images are important and that small business owners and marketers are busy daily with a multitude of tasks, how can creating and using images while on the go be done more efficiently? And related to this, how can images be quickly edited to help with branding and customization?
The answer is likely right in your pocket! Smartphones with a few key apps allow busy business persons to capture images in the field, at tradeshows, in the production area, in the showroom and more; then quickly edit, add some text captions in company colors and upload to various social sites. Being able to quickly crop, adjust, and add a caption is important in enhancing your images. As well, these apps offer tools like free drawing and arrows, so if you wanted to make a quick help tip or point to a new feature it can be easily done.
Apps for Editing Images:
While there are many photo editor apps available, my favorite ones (available on both Apple and Android devices) include:
Aviary and PS Express (by PhotoShop) offer the most powerful tools for editing images including features such as blurring areas, masking, and of course adding filters and text.
InstaQuote is brilliant for quickly adding text to a image. It allows you to use their own starter backgrounds and add text, or to use photos on your phone and create tag lines or short messages.
Others that you may want to consider as well are PhotoWizard and Phonto. If you are looking to create a single image with multiple photos in it, then a app like Collage or FrameUrLife can be just what you need.
Smart apps like these on my phone allow me to capture photos at events, add some adjustments and messaging, and then easily share socially allowing me efficiency with effectiveness.
What’s your next doable step? Download an app for your smartphone and consider what images your company can be sharing as part of your digital marketing strategy!