Numerous articles pass across the eyeballs of the QCM staff every week that we feel are worth reading. In some cases you’ll see them shared on our Twitter and Facebook accounts. But sometimes 140 characters isn’t enough for us to explain what’s important about them.This is the space where we highlight our favorite articles of the week.
This week I’m trying something new and keeping a theme for the articles I share. Today, I’m going to talk about articles that deal with IMAGES, including creating, sharing and optimizing them. Enjoy!
8 Visual Content Apps to Create Stunning Images and Videos
by, Olga Andrienko
This article introduced me to numerous apps solely designed to create visually-appealing images. When you finish writing an article, it becomes easy to just find an image and slap it on your work. Don’t do that! You’re selling your hard work short!
There are so many ways of getting your point across these days. Your opinion and expertise is important, right? So why let it be drab and look like everyone else’s?
One suggestion that caught my eye was PowToon, an app designed to create animated videos. I wasn’t necessarily going to try out every suggestion in this article today, but I decided to give this one a spin.
My favorite aspect of PowToon was definitely its simplicity. Within a minute I signed up for the site and ready to start creating my own engaging multimedia project. They already have plenty of templates to create your video from, but if you want to start it from scratch that’s almost as easy. The app lays out a lot like PowerPoint mixed with the more simplistic movie making programs. In roughly 10 minutes I had made… a video that was embarrassingly simple that I would never show to anyone. But I guarantee with a little more time with the app I could make something I’d be proud to display on QCM’s website. Look out for it in the near future!
3 Pillars of Image Marketing on Social Media
by, Ishita Ganguly
Here, social media strategist Ishita Ganguly gives her three guidelines to follow when thinking about image marketing. One of the important points she makes is to double-check the quality of the images that you are using.
Part of this process is what it sounds like, that you need to make sure that the quality and resolution of the image you are using is high enough to be effective. Sharp, clear images are attention-grabbing and present a high level of professionalism.
But another part of providing quality images is making sure you know what platform you’re posting them on. The dimensions of a full image on Facebook is completely different than the dimensions of a Twitter image. Knowing what specs are best for each platform can be the difference between having your image cut off and displaying a full, clear picture.
Read the other 2 pillars of image marketing here
The 8 Secret Places to Find the Best Stock Images
Here’s an article about great, lesser-known websites to find stock images. Want to know how this article was effective for me?
I couldn’t stop looking at it.
I kept scrolling up and down the page looking at these beautiful photos. I couldn’t believe that they were free for use.
Some people argue that you shouldn’t really use stock photos, but after seeing this article I definitely think otherwise. I decided to check out Gratisography after the author Michelle Blackshire said “If you’re looking for quirky images of clowns, men in rollerskates or someone climbing into a washing machine, look no further!” Don’t threaten me with a good time!
On Gratisography I found the picture below, now I just need to write an article that I can use it for.
Find Stock Images For Your Content
How to Choose Images That Will Get Your Content Shared
In case I need to remind you again, I’ll remind you again. Images boost engagement. That goes for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, whatever really.
This article shares the seven best types of images to use in your content to get it shared. Using a study from QuickSprout, the article also tells you the average amount of shares that certain types images received when they were used.
As expected, the way to receive maximum engagement is using the methods that require the most effort, i.e. creating your own custom graphics and infographics.
Either way, this article provides some good ideas on the types of images to use, with some facts to back it up!
