Skip to main content
Strategy

Snap a Brand Selfie: Instagram Photos with Faces Get 38% More Likes

The old adage says a picture is worth 1,000 words, but research suggests it could be worth 1,000 likes (give or take), especially if the picture includes human features. It’s time for marketers to put a face to their businesses, flash a smile and bump their brand profiles with an Instagram selfie or two.

Images are worth 1,000 words.

Pictures are an essential part of engaging an audience and creating brand awareness. Social media posts that include visual elements such as images encourage 650 percent higher engagement than text-only posts, and visuals that feature color are 80 percent more likely to increase consumers’ willingness to read something. Plus, according to a June 2016 report from InfusionSoft, 80 percent of marketers state that engagement in the form of likes is the most important metric for determining the success of a social media campaign.
Unfortunately, with every marketer cottoning on to the secret to success, now, more than ever, it’s essential to capture the right image to complement the message. This is especially true when it comes to creating brand awareness through social media sites like Instagram.
In September 2015, Instagram reported its community had grown to more than 400 million. Unfortunately, organic engagement on the site fell significantly, with Locowise reporting an organic growth decline of 86.67 percent from April to October. To combat the drop, brands are posting more frequently. With 97.64 percent of all engagement on the site in the form of likes, and photographs drawing an engagement rate of 1.85 percent compared to video’s engagement rate of 0.9 percent, it’s clear a successful Instagram campaign should lean heavily on photographs that encourage people to click that heart-shaped button.

Companies can bump their brand image with a like on Instagram.

Making a business more personable by putting a face to the name is a huge leap towards success in an increasingly visual marketing space. A 2014 report by the Georgia Institute of Technology revealed images containing faces are 38 percent more likely to receive likes and 32 percent more likely to receive comments.
Humans rely on visual cues to select the content they consume and remember. Everybody judges a business by its visual assets. When a company needs to stay ahead of the competition, one solution is to humanize the business with a selfie and give the brand a face.

Gain more likes by creating a brand selfie.

The numbers:
According to a CMO Council report from August 2015:

  • 65 percent of senior marketing executives treat visual assets as core elements of their brand strategy
  • 46 percent of marketing executives believe photography is a core element of their marketing

According to an Instagram report from September 2015:

  • The Instagram community has grown to over 400 million

According to a Locowise study for the month of October 2015:

  • Organic growth on Instagram declined by 86.67 percent from April to October.
  • 64 percent of all engagement on Instagram was in the form of likes
  • Photographs on Instagram garnered an engagement rate of 1.95 percent, while videos had an engagement rate of 0.9 percent

According to a report by the Georgia Institute of Technology from 2014:

  • Instagram photos showing faces got 38 percent more likes than photos without faces

Leave a Reply