How to Get the Most Out Of Your Photos on Social Media

There’s no surefire way to make your photos go viral on social media. It’s simply too hard to predict what the all-powerful social media algorithm is going to recommend to others. 

That being said, there are several steps that you can take starting today that will maximize the reach and influence of every single photo you post on social media.

Choice of platform

It might sound obvious, but the starting point is simply choosing the right social media platform. In order to do that, you need to take into account several factors, such as what the photos are going to be used for, and where your primary audience typically hangs out online.

For example, let’s say that you are a brand manager, looking for ways to get your products in front of a new audience. If that’s the case, you have several options, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. You can probably cross X (Twitter) off the list. And you can probably eliminate LinkedIn as well. (Unless, of course, your new product is a tool to help jobseekers find a new job.)

From there, you can narrow down the list of options. For example, behind-the-scenes content related to the launch of your new product might work best on Instagram. If you are posting customer testimonials or announcing new promos for the product, then Facebook would be the preferred option.

Social media influencers

If you are trying to expand the reach of your content, it might be worthwhile to consider the support of social media influencers. You don’t need to work with A-list celebrity influencers, but you can certainly find influencers for just about any type of budget you might be working with. 

For example, if you are selling clothes, you can find fashion influencers. If you are in the hospitality industry, you might consider finding travel influencers who can post photos of your destination.

Just keep in mind: there’s no guarantee that influencers will actually result in higher sales for any products. The social media marketing industry is filled with examples of brands that worked with influencers, only to find out that they didn’t help to move product. It’s best to find influencers who actively identify with your product, and who are incentivized properly to promote it.

Track your performance to see what works

Once you’ve posted the photo content online, your job is not done. You now need to track the performance of that content. How many people are viewing it? How many people are clicking through to your product pages? And how many times is the content getting shared online?

Be prepared to be surprised. As mentioned earlier, there’s no surefire method to going viral. But you can get some good clues by using metrics. For example, you might find that your fans and followers absolutely love certain types of photos. They might go absolutely wild over behind-the-scenes content, for example. Or they might enjoy sharing “before and after” photos that show the impact of your products.

Think like your audience

At the end of the day, perhaps the best advice is to “think like your audience.” If you have a good grasp of what they like, how they spend their time, and what type of content they consume online, you can create very powerful social media marketing campaigns based on photos.