They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and Krista Neher makes a living proving that it’s true. Neher is the author of Visual Social Media Marketing For Dummies and works for the company Boot Camp Digital.

Wondering what in the world Neher does with images? Well, she  specializes in social media training and education and helps businesses use social media to figure out how to continue to grow.

In other words, Neher is what we like to consider a pictoguru (yes I just made that up) and she is here to share her visual social media secrets with us!

5 Hacks and Tricks For Visuals

Want more clicks, likes, hearts, thumbs or whatever else is out there in the social bag of tricks?

Neher spilled five visual PR secrets just for you!

1. Images with compelling quote draw more reach.

If possible, place catchy or relatable quotes on your images. You must make sure however, that the quote still relates to your content. An example would be a travel agency may post a picture of another country with a quote saying, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

2. Infographics make it easy for other people to do your work for you. 

Krista explains that your extremely loyal followers may read a large document with just words, but are less likely to share it to their circles. Infographics are easy to understand for potential consumers who are not as familiar with your company or content.

3. Visual content is much more sharable! 

The more visual content you have, the more shares you are likely to get. According to March 2014 research published in eMarketer, photos accounted for 75% of content posted on Facebook pages worldwide.

4. Utilize apps such as Piktochart to enhance your photos.

Piktochart is a photo editing app that lets the user create simple yet powerful infographics. It is a great app when attempting to transfer information to image format.

5. Powerpoint is still in!

Neher says that a program such as Powerpoint give the user a lot of religious freedom. Powerpoint is often much easier to get a grasp on than Photoshop and still allows you to make beautiful images with text overlays. The secret is exporting your content as a JPEG so you can easily attach it with your content.

You Pin Some, You Lose Some

So now that we have given you some of Neher’s top apps, programs and tricks to create your awesome photos, we’re going to tell you some visual Do’s and Don’ts regarding social media.

DO use pinnable images! Don’t panic if you don’t know what a pinnable image is, Neher was kind enough to give us a great definition. She explains, “a pinnable image is a picture  that by itself that tells your story.”

The more directly related the image is to underlying content the more likely it is to drive clicks. So make sure when producing content you pay just as much attention to what your followers are seeing in a thumbnail or cover image!

DO NOT use cheese stock photography! Stock photography is best described as generic photography that you would buy through a source. Most of these photos tend to look the same and are used over and over again. However! On the rare occasion you can find a unique stock photo (ex. a dog doing something funny) then post away!

DO use user generated photos! These photos are ones that look like they have been taken with a phone camera or on Instagram. Studies show that these photos are more relatable and work very well. Big name companies such as Starbucks utilize user generated photos for their brand and has one of the largest follower counts on the web!

Loved  Neher’s Visual PR Secrets? Get more ‘pin-teresting’ visual tips and tricks in her interview for my Social Media Management class.

Want more? Check out Neher’s 2015 2-Day Digital Boot Camp schedule here.  

Image credit: Krista Neher, 123Rf

Reported By Sydney Thompson.