Undoubtedly, graphics have become a widely-adopted method to spread messages across various social media platforms. More than likely, anyone following a brand on social media will encounter a graphic illustrating that brand’s value proposition and/or data illustrating some form of a best practice. Credit unions have an advantage here as most members and prospects do not completely understand financial processes or products. Should credit unions leverage their social media profiles as educational tools to inform followers, using graphics will certainly prove advantageous as well as position them as thought leaders in the financial space.

Brand Recognition

Social media presents an opportunity to increase brand recognition through relevant and uniformed content. According to Fast Company, which cites research from Web design and marketing company WebPageFX, 80 percent of people believe color increases brand recognition. Credit unions that leverage a consistent color scheme in their graphics and include their logo throughout graphical posts can increase brand recognition as readers will correlate the specific styling of the post to the credit union.

Show vs.Tell

In addition to a uniformed appearance, graphical posts engage readers in a functional, attractive and professional way. According to Hubspot, people are likely to remember 65 percent of information three days later when it’s paired with a relevant image. To create engaging visuals, credit unions must be sure graphics produced to share on social media are organized in a reader-friendly manner, minimalist in nature and attractive enough to draw an individual’s attention.

Quick Reference

The same Fast Company article also notes that people make a subconscious judgment about a product in less than 90 seconds. This leaves credit union marketers little opportunity to grab the attention of readers. A graphic’s purpose is to showcase and highlight a particular feature of the credit union or its products in the least amount of words possible. As a frame of reference, credit unions should think about how messages are conveyed using billboards. Billboards provide a message through the use of an image. The words featured on a billboard are mostly used as context to the image.

Engagement

Hubspot’s survey also reveals that content with relevant images gets 94 percent more views than content without relevant images. Additionally, Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images. For credit unions, getting readers to engage in postings is critical to becoming a thought leader on financial matters. When readers are engaging with posts by ‘liking’ them and/or sharing, they are in strong agreeance with the message of the content and feel it necessary for others to know. Strong engagement numbers can help a credit union’s brand become more universally known and can open the door to new prospects.

Content Sharing

Content sharing is essential to developing brand recognition across social media platforms. Hubspot shares that visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. A well-organized graphic is a powerful tool within a social media strategy to increase the likelihood of content sharing.

Graphics are vital to any successful social media strategy. Through careful consideration and meticulous creative efforts, graphics can benefit credit unions in a number of ways. Credit unions must remember that as technology continues to progress, the competition for readers’ attention will only increase. Being able to provide useful information on a regular basis in a concise way can build a credits union’s social media presence and establish it as a thought leader in the financial space.