No doubt, wacky photos get plenty of likes, shares, and comments, making it tempting to post them on your social media pages. While silly pictures are great for engagement, they’re not necessarily relevant to your business or your audience. So, how can you use them to your advantage?
Use Wacky Photos in Context
One of the keys to using silly photos successfully is to use them in context. For example, if you’re a beauty consultant, your followers might be mystified if you suddenly began posting random images of babies,
cats, and cartoons that have nothing to do with makeup, hairstyles, or fashion. On the other hand, if you come across a funny photo that’s related to any of your areas of expertise, sharing it would make more sense.
Add Your Own Twist
Using wacky photos can certainly capture your followers’ attention. However, you may want to squeeze more mileage out of the image by adding your own twist. For example, you could use a silly photo to illustrate one of your blog posts on the subject. By all means, use the silly photo, but add a link to your blog post as well as a descriptive introduction to it. This provides even more context and relevance to the image, and your status update could generate more likes, shares, and click-throughs. What’s not to love about that? That said, if your goal is primarily to drive traffic to your blog posts, a funny photo may distract from that goal. Your followers may respond only to the photo by liking it.
Use Wacky Photos Sparingly
Unless your brand is quirky, you’ll want to use silly photos sparingly. After all, your followers are following you for a reason and it may not necessarily involve comedy. As with any form of humor, use wacky photos with care. The last thing you want to do is offend your audience.
Using the occasional funny photo — in good taste, of course — can show that you have a sense of humor. You might start by using relevant funny photos on either Mondays or Fridays as a way to ease into or end the work week. Use Facebook Insights to gauge the response. If your posts prove to be wildly popular, then consider using them more often.
Do wacky photos have a place in your social media plan? A lot depends on your brand and its voice. Some business pages have made sharing silly photos a prominent part of their strategies to good effect. Others do well using more serene images. When used in context and sparingly, the occasional silly photo could elicit a positive response from followers. The key is to have a goal in mind, just as you do with all of your posts, and pay attention to the response. If it works, incorporate it into your plan. If it doesn’t, move on.