Part of the MAKE crew attended the July Social Media Club KC Breakfast on Visual Resonance in Social Media. We had a great time and want to share what we learned on the importance of the visual side of social media…

“Statistics tell us that posting images and videos significantly increase social engagement. But will any image or video do? Hint Director of Creative Strategy Stefan Mumaw (@stefanmumaw) believes that there are characteristics that your images and videos could possess that will connect more passionately and get shared more frequently. He’ll share these characteristics of visual resonance and even give you a couple of tools you could use to make your social conversations more than just words and phrases.”

The definition of resonance is the ability to evoke or suggest personal images, memories and emotions.

• There is no connection to humanity in social media images, but there should be
• You must change the perspective of how you capture moments (i.e. different camera angles), because it will change the perspective of the audience.
• Brands are not people, stop treating them like people
• There is no B2B or B2C, it’s all B2P. There is always a person on the other side

Six Characteristics of Visual Resonance

Emotion

1. – How an image makes you feel
2. – Brand example: Huffy

Experiential

1. – Making people feel like they are in the image or actually experiencing it
2. – Example: When you watch someone turn their ankle you also feel that ‘cringy’ pain
3. – Brand example: Oreo’s anniversary calendar

Entertaining

1. – Images that are entertaining perform better because it’s more interesting for people
2. – Brand example: Nike PHOTOiD, tennis shoes designed with and based on the colors of a picture uploaded by the user

Novel

1. – People are attracted to how new or different something is
2. – Example: Pictures of dogs underwater or couples that switch clothes
3. – Brand example: Oreo Superbowl campaign about eating Oreos in the dark

Authentic

1. – A moment that captures something unique and genuine in time
2. – Brand example: Spaghettios

Story

1. – If you can get people to be curious, they will stay interested
2. – People always want to know the full story
3. – Brand Example: Starbucks

Speaking of the visual side of social media, check out more photos from the event on the Social Media Club KC’s Facebook page!