Flickr – The Rules Of Engagement

Posted by Sarah McVeigh

Do you use all social media available to you? How about the often forgotten and underestimated little sister of the social media family – Flickr?

It’s easy to assume that Flickr isn’t as valuable as its hyped siblings Facebook and Twitter, because its emphasis isn’t on constantly updating content, nor is it particularly text heavy – two known influencers of search engine optimisation.

However Flickr is incredibly valuable, here’s why:

• “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Instead of telling people what your business is like, Flickr gives you the chance to show them.
• Engagement – like other social media sites, Flickr is an online community. You get to interact with people who are interested in you and the things you do. You get the chance to show the human aspect of your company – and people are interested in people.
• Visibility – The headings and descriptions of your photos may be optimised, plus you can ‘tag’ your images with keywords. There is also the ‘geotag’ – which is super important for localised brands and companies, because people interested specifically in your area will find you more easily. When interested people have found you on Flickr, they can click through to your site.

Keep in mind:

• Flickr is not an advertising platform. As with all social media marketing, it’s important to respect the community basis of Flickr. Hard-sells are not appreciated and will do nothing but ruin your credibility. Remember this when posting images, and offer content that will be genuinely interesting to your audience – not just self-serving.
• Don’t stuff your site with keywords. When you read a Google listing that just repeats a company’s keywords, you’re immediately turned off because it makes no sense to you – the human visitor! Keep this in mind when writing photo titles and descriptions. Make them relevant AND use keywords. It’s a craft sure, but it can be done. If you really can’t find a way to include keywords to describe an image, then describe it as it is and forget the keywords. Your human visitor comes first.

Example #1 – Unoptimised caption

Example #2 – Optimised caption

The second example shows who the people in the photo are, what they do, and where they are. It provides context, location and has a bit of optimisation for good measure: “ACEB conference Brisbane. Copywriter Sarah McVeigh….”

Social Media Brisbane: Want a web strategy that harnesses the power of Flickr and other social media? Call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

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About Sarah McVeigh

Sarah McVeigh is part of Bluewire’s alunmni. Sarah worked as a copywriter from 2009-2011, before accepting her dream career of being a journalist for the ABC.

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