This post was written by Mirna Bard, a social media consultant, speaker, author and instructor of social media at the University of California, Irvine.
SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues.
Last week’s poll question: What’s your opinion of photo-sharing sites such as Flickr, Instagram and Color?
- I have never used these services: 35.84%
- They’re great for consumers but have limited business potential: 34.10%
- They’re great services with business potential: 20.23%
- They’re not worthwhile for business or personal use: 9.83%
Although photo-sharing websites do not seem to get as much attention as other kinds of social networks, sites such as Flickr have built a solid base of users and are extremely popular with search engines. It seems to be little known to SmartBrief on Social Media readers that many people flock to these sites for personal and business use.
The truth is photos have been going social since the late ’90s, and sites as Flickr, Instagram and Color have taken it to a whole another level with mobile applications. These sites are not only fun and engaging tools used to share photos with friends and family but also great tools to gain exposure and create a well-rounded view of any event or experience as well as fantastic tools to help create a visual for products and services because a picture is truly worth a thousand words.
About 44% of readers might not agree, but I think any sort of network can have great business potential if used properly. Photo-sharing sites work the same way as other forms of social networking. Users must be an active member of the community to see any results. On Flickr, for example, the key is to show that you are an avid user by not only sharing photos but also interacting with other users and commenting on their pictures. This will keep you connected and increase the number of people who look at your profile and photographs, in turn increasing the number of visitors to your website, events, products or services.
These photo-sharing tools can give a human face to any business and should not be overlooked. Over the years, I have seen many not-for-profits, e-commerce businesses, as well as large corporations gain many benefits from photo-sharing sites.
How have you used photo-sharing sites? Do you feel they have business potential if used properly?
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I am a marine surveyor (inspecting recreational and commercial watercraft and facilities) and much of my documentation in capturing data and reporting it is done with digital photographs and videos. Picasa and my Apple me.com account both enable me to issue rapid delivery reporting to a client in a far away place. I can edit the images and then post them in a gallery, send my client a email with the link to the gallery and voila I have given the client the value of very early satisfaction in the process. While the client is waiting for the full report, those images are there to view, over and over and in great detail, to download, etc., allowing the client to develop questions about conditions obseved.
This process is especially valuable to corporate insurance company clients who are looking for fast feedback to their client, an insured, who is agonizing about the status of an insurance claim.
In legal cases, in which my work serves as litigation support, the immediate availability of high-resolution images is very well received and enhances my value to my attorney client.
Perhaps these sites are more valuable to small businesses providing a service but I think there is enough to image about the possibilities of a value given for virtually no cost.
Patricia Kearns
Naples, FL
Thanks, Patricia. I found the blog entry to be so general it wasn't of much help. But your examples were excellent. I guess I learn best by example.
I think the onset of video sites, such as youtube, have really taken away from photo-sharing sites. Nowadays, why would you want to say something with a picture, when you could say it with a video. And the ability to make a video is almost as easy as taking a picture and uploading it. Consider the ability to take video with hand held cameras and web cams and cell phones.
I think that photos sharing sites are way under used and undervalued because they can drive large amounts of traffic back to a website if used correctly
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Personally I think Flickr is fantastic for Google Image search traffic. I use it actively not just to share photos but as a tool to embed pictures to my website, and as a "side effect" I noticed that it drives a lot of search engine traffic.
photo sharing sites should be leveraged by businesses and they are a great tool too if you are in internet publishing
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