If you’re employed in digital marketing, you don't must be told that an image is value a thousand words. More than half of content marketers say images are critical to achieving their social media goals, and a staggering 70% of users prefer image-based posts over text, surveys have found.
But what varieties of visuals work best? While there are many anecdotal reports, there’s little systematic research on this topic.
As Professor of business administration Anyone who knows the struggles social media managers face when choosing images for his or her posts – and anyone who has collected 1000’s of Facebook posts from two organizations in several industries – saw a possibility.
Pigments and pixels
Source: Kanuri, Hughes and Hodges.
Together with my colleagues Christian Hughes And Brady HodgesI checked out what researchers call “color complexity.”
Color complexity is comparable to colorfulness, but not quite the identical: it’s measured as color variation across pixels in a picture, and our brain processes it subliminally. The more the brain has to decipher color variations between neighboring pixels, the harder it has to work.
Fortunately, advanced computer vision technology makes it easier than ever to measure color complexity, and biometric eye tracking makes it possible to see in real time which images are grabbing people's attention.
We conducted 4 studies, examining each real Facebook posts from two firms and experimental data using biometric eye tracking. Overall, we found that more complex images tended to draw more attention in social media posts.
However, there have been some reservations.
For example, posts written later within the day and people with images that took up more screen real estate tended to learn more from color complexity. This suggests that the timing and visual prominence of posts play a task in maximizing engagement.
Additionally, when images were combined with negative, unpleasant text, color complexity made less of a difference.
We also found that combining images with complex text can actually strengthen the connection between color complexity and user engagement. This surprising finding suggests that more complex language could encourage people to pay more attention to the photographs.
The complexity of color
The importance of color in marketingand its influence on every little thing from brand perception to buy intentions has long been well-documented. However, much less is thought concerning the role of color complexity in social media interaction. Our research is starting to shut this gap.
Overall, our results underline the importance of strategic image design in social media marketing. They indicate that a nuanced approach to image design, including high color complexity where appropriate, can significantly increase user engagement.
For marketers and content creators, the implications are clear: investing in careful curation of social media images, especially those with high color complexity, can lead to raised user engagement. Also listen to the timing and context.
image credit : theconversation.com