image is everything: visual communication and the social media workflow
DESCRIPTION
As images gain more importance in the social media landscape, it can be tough for publishers (aka everyone) to keep up. In this session, we’ll take a look at ways non-visual professionals can approach this new challenge, and in the process help to break down silos and change the way we think about content creation from the start.TRANSCRIPT
Image is Everything: Visual Communication and the
Social Media Workflow
Ben Rubenstein
@Ben_Rubenstein #LavaCon @LavaCon
About me
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Senior Manager, Social Media & Online Community at TechTarget
Past:
Not a visual mastermind
The big picture
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Content has changed – so has the way we produce, promote + consume it
Challenges abound – technical, procedural + philosophical
Communication solves a lot
Via flickr/aranarth
Content: Perception
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Content: Reality
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Social media: Then
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Social media: Then
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Social media: Now
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Social media: Now
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Social media: Now
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Social media: Now
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Social media: Now
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Social media: Now
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Why you should care
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90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual (3M/Zabisco)
70% of all Facebook activities revolve around photos (Harvard Business Review)
Social media posts with images: 47% increase in engagement (Curata)
TL,DR: Visual content is easy to share, easy to remember
Our challenge
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We’ve tried our best
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But it’s hard…
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Our social strategy
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100+ sites = 300+ social presences Content planning and
scheduling (repositories)
Best practices training + documentation
Engagement + feedback
Efficiency tools
Our first test: Profile creation + updating
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We’re asking a lot of our staff
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People want to do the right thing, but…
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Lack of experience Lack of time Technical roadblocks New tools, new rules
WritingEditingSEO
EventsVideos
Podcasts
So we end up with images that are…
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Misleading (and ugly)
So we end up with images that are…
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Legally questionable (and often ugly)
So we end up with images that are…
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Just plain fugly
Retraining needed
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Visual communication is hard, just like writing is hard
New image guidelines needed
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• Protect the company• Build and maintain reader
trust• Communicate content well• Grab reader attention
Solution 1: Simplify the process
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House-created images have standard naming convention, easier to find/distribute
Empower editors to find their own images in advance or request appropriate versions
Before After
Solution 2: Clarify the options
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Use only: Images from our articles Original content Company-approved images Topic-specific icons
Single point of contact Reduces risk Increases communication
Solution 3: Change the mindset
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Think about images and social media as you’re creating content What will you need?
How will you get it?
(great, more here)
Solution 3: Change the mindset
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Promising outlook
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More appropriate social images
Promotion plans starting earlier
Increase in FB engagement
Social sharing functions under review (metadata/microdata)
New, image-heavy site designs
What we’ve learned
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Stockpile original content
via flickr/iconolith
What we’ve learned
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Metadata matters
via flickr/iconolith
What we’ve learned
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Constraints are good
via flickr/iconolith
What we’ve learned
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Define roles, but recognize the blurred lines between them
via flickr/iconolith
What rhymes with “fugly”?
What we’ve learned
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We’re all in this together
via flickr/iconolith
What we haven’t learned: How to draw
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Thank you
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http://www.benrubenstein.net
linkedin.com/benrubenstein
@ben_rubenstein