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A common trope in crime films and TV shows is the ability for law enforcement agencies to zoom in on grainy photos and security camera footage, and ‘enhance‘ the pixelated image like it’s no big deal – making detective work a breeze. The fact is that it’s usually impossible to achieve this because there isn’t enough detail in a small number of pixels to eke out a clearer image than what you already have in the original file. But it looks like a bunch of Google researchers have figured out a way to do that – or at least get pretty darn close....
Over 800,000 high quality photos, illustrations, and vector graphics. Free for commercial use. No attribution required. Free images and videos you can use anywhere. All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required....
Today we’re thrilled to announce Pablo 2.0, the simplest way to create beautiful images that fit every social network perfectly.
We’ve expanded Pablo’s functionality to work with all social media networks – on top of Twitter, you can now create images with the perfect size and format for Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest. You can create the visuals, share them across all platforms and then analyze them with Buffer’s analytics to know how well they’re performing. ...
Just what do we see in GIFs? Like emojis and emoticons, they’re a way to quickly transmit information or emotion to a population that’s inundated with content and favors image-based communication.
Part of the fun is that there seems to be a GIF for any social situation you might find yourself in.
But GIFs increasingly have a more serious side, too—they can be a way to tell a story, explain a piece of information with more depth, or (yes, really!) conduct a conversation. For example, NASA uses GIFs of satellite imagery to transit important information, and Buzzfeed recently used GIFs to explain Greece’s debt crisis.
If you’re ready to add some GIFs to your online personality (or just up your GIF game) here are 10 social media moments to give GIFs a try....
While polished graphics can add authority, make sure your visuals are backed by valid, sourced material to avoid compromising your reputation.
Always follow these guidelines to ensure your credibility:When visualizing quotes, confirm the exact statement and original source. Keep a record on hand for easy reference.
When incorporating facts or statistics, include your source(s) within the graphic and either include a URL or be ready to provide a link to it upon request.
When incorporating or curating external graphics, respect their copyright. Confirm that it can legally be published for your intended use and review sourcing requirements....
Research shows that images and visuals have huge impact on sharing and even web traffic.
If you just look at Facebook. 87% of total interactions (sharing, clicks and comments) can be attributed to just photos. On Twitter you get 150% more retweets, 89% more favorites and 18% more clicks....
Thinking about taking your content up a level? Want to add more visuals but not sure where to start?
In this post I share some simple ways to level-up your visual content, no matter what level you are currently at.
One of the biggest reason marketers don’t try new things with visual content is that there are so many options available that even starting seems impossible.
To help break it down, I created a “visual hierarchy” to help you get started at the level most suited to you (and there’s an awesome Visual Content Booster to download if you scroll on down!). Here’s the Hierarchy:..
Images are a vital element of social media. Set a photo with screwy dimensions as your profile pic or cover photo, and you've immediately set the tone all wrong.
But don't worry — we took a look at the optimum image sizes forFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn, so you can make sure your profiles and content look as good as they possibly can...
Based on our analysis of over 100 native ad campaigns that ran in 2014, we found some of the common elements from each higher-performing image. This summary shares our recommendations based on an aggregate of findings including clicks, rollovers, and shares....
But what exactly does "good" mean when it comes to visual content? There's a lot to it: great topic, color consistency and effective design, proper dimensions for publishing, promotional strategy ... and you'll need a game plan to maximize your ROI.To help you create that game plan and boost engagement with your visual content, HubSpot teamed up with Market Domination Media to create the infographic below. Check it out....
Quick Sprout recently gathered some data for image use in blog posts, which suggests, among other things, that using royalty-free images are no longer beneficial to a blog post’s success.
Neil Patel and his team did a quality job using 41 blogs from varying industries as the sample. You can also do this same study for your blog for even more relevant info.
My experience tell me these lessons will hold for most businesses....
Visual storytelling using photos and video has proven to be the most successful approach to social media marketing.
The images that resonate with an audience and that get shared are images that have an emotive element, images that tell a story.
The image the Obama campaign posted after the President was declared the winner is an excellent example of visual storytelling. It is the most retweeted tweet of all time, receiving over 640,000 retweets. All it took was three words, “Four more years,” and a candid photo. It was a hit is because it was the conclusion of a meta narrative: the whole world was following this story, familiar with it’s plot and characters and this photo was the third act....
So your online business has always experienced praise for its crisp quality content from customers and admirers? But as of late, maybe you’ve noticed that your posts are facing a lot of stagnancy in reaching your perfect target audience? And after initial analysis, you may have realized that your social media messages somehow lacked the “visual magic” that is necessary for image success? Below are some tips to get you back on track....
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Visual content has become so prevalent that it’s no longer just a piece of the marketing industry, but its core. The widespread adoption of video across almost all platforms means that marketers need to refocus their efforts throughout 2017. An infographic from Venngage examines how marketers are using visual content and the challenges they face. Venngage surveyed more than 300 marketers and found that the percentage using visual content as part of overall strategy is increasing. 53 percent of the survey participants said that between 91 and 100 percent of their published content contained visual material, and more than 90 percent are using visual content in at least one-half of their posts. There seems to be a disconnect between methods and outcomes when it comes to which content marketers select. While 35 percent of the survey participants reported choosing stock images most frequently, fewer than 8 percent reported high engagement related to those photos. More than 40 percent reported infographics as most engaging, while 25 percent said the same of data visualizations and charts and 20.2 percent saw the most engagement with videos and presentations....
Visual Content really matters. Unlike in previous years, people nowadays make split decisions on whether to read through your article based on the images you provide with your content. That’s why the selection of the different visuals you will use must be as carefully planned as the actual content.
Good thing though that technology is really evolving. It gives you all sorts of apps and tools that you can use to create wonderful visual content that will make your readers take notice.
Yes, raw pictures are still okay but you can enhance them in such a way that you can make them look like world class photographers took the picture. You can even create graphics that will help you explain your entire article with just one image. Below are 5 tools that will help you create the most engaging visual content...
The art of storytelling is changing in the digital age. The growing use of photos, videos, animations, and infographics has altered the way consumers act—and, as a result, the methods that marketers use to create and maintain customer engagement are undergoing a transformation.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS: - Millennials “want a real and compelling story that avoid marketing jargon and clichés.” - Only about one-quarter of respondents had a process to aggregate, organize, and manage visual assets used across teams, according to the CMO Council. - The challenge for marketers is to produce content that works across multiple channels and different devices.
“We’re in an interesting period in terms of visual assets. The definition of what is visual and what is required to connect to consumers is undergoing a transformation,” said Liz Miller, senior vice president of marketing for the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council....
Visual marketing can be a huge asset for marketers who want to draw asharing response from consumers.
Consider the response rate of tweets coupled with images. Tweets with images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites and 150% more retweets. People feel compelled to share meaningful content, and the strongest way to enhance your message is by including a visual element....
8 seconds. That’s all you’ve got to get your prospect’s attention.In a today’s busy world, it only takes that small fraction of time before your prospective client gets distracted and starts to do something else.
This is when the value of attention-grabbing visual storytelling comes in. After all, science tells us that human brains are wired to love pictures and stories.
In this infographic, Widen explains how to effectively incorporate visuals to get your message across. Here are some important statistics worth keeping in mind next time you create another piece of content:...
97% of the impact on an audience comes from the visual message that you are conveying, not the actual text of the content itself. It has been proven that people respond differently to what they see rather than what they think they need to engage with.
This is an important consideration to achieve your marketing goals with the marketing tactics and strategy that you will be executing. If your end goal is to get sales, a humourous advertisement may get people talking about your product. However, it may not transfer into sales. Likewise, a visually appealing picture may be shared virally online, but without a captivating call to action, the results of the campaign may suffer....
Everyone likes to say a picture is worth a thousand words, but those who do are really underestimating the value of a good visual.
For instance, Oreo was able to gain 1 million Facebook fans by posting creative images each day for 100 days as a part of a campaign for its 100 year anniversary. On Instagram, Heineken got customers to drink up its content by having users search for a certain individual in a crowd photo from the US Open for its “Crack the US Open” contest. And after Chegg targeted college students with promoted tweets featuring memes, the brand drove 13,000 purchases from Twitter users.
For more awesome examples and statistics about how brands are benefiting from good visual content, check out the rest of the infographic....
It’s said (though we not sure by whom) that we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.
Another number that illustrates how fast we comprehend images is this:MIT neuroscientists report that the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds.
That’s quicker than a blink of an eye. (The normal length of a blink is 300-400 milliseconds)
The human brain is able to recognize a familiar object within 100 milliseconds. People tend to recognize familiar faces within 380 milliseconds, which is pretty speedy....
Consumer appetites for online content has only increased as web search and mobile use continue to rise. What is changing, however, is consumers’ “tastes” for that content. Today, many consumers want to learn by seeing — a trend that is leading marketers to shift their approach toward strategic graphics and imagery in their digital marketing plans.
Consumer attention has shifted from engaging with text-heavy content to more visually appealing, short-form content, including visual updates, stories, ads and videos. Brands who can skillfully convey their messages by mixing these visual elements into their content recipe will be the ones winning with online searchers and customers.
In this post, we explore three areas of your digital marketing plan where you can start to make a visual impact that has the potential to affect your marketing and sales results....
Why visual communication is arguably the best way to reach your audiences, and five tips for using images in your content...
Too often people overlook the visual aspect of social media, which is actually a huge part of the experience. Most people report being more engaged by social networking posts that include photos. That’s because they draw attention and can spark interest in a post that otherwise would only have the support of a headline. The more engagement, the better the chance of a conversion, whether that means clicking on a link, signing up for a newsletter or buying a product.
Here are some ideas for types of images you can use to help pump up your conversion rates from social media networks....
...So even if you don’t “do” Pinterest or Instagram, your content needs to have some kind of visual element if it’s going to rack up likes and shares. This is, of course, great news if you’re naturally creative with visuals…
But if you’re like me, it means you’re likely to be stuck with stock photography. As Seinfeld would say, “not that there’s anything wrong with that,” but when you pull up “happy-woman-at-computer.jpg” for the umpteetnth time, you start looking around for something with a little more pizazz.
Enter the meme. If you’ve never heard of memes (pronounced meemz), I guarantee you’ve seen at least one. They’re those funny images you see all over Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere on the inter-tubes with different messaging embedded. One of my favorites is the Boromir ”One Does Not Simply …” image from Lord of the Rings that I’ve included above. Look familiar?
The good news is that you don’t need Photoshop to create and share your very own memes—just an Internet connection. There are several (free) meme creation websites out there; I’m partial to memegenerator.net, which is super-easy to use...
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A team of researchers at Google have figured out a way to synthesize realistic details from low resolution photos using neural networks. Cool! or what?