We work in a very visual industry. You can only describe a green t-shirt so many ways, but a picture really can do the work of a thousand words. A strong image isn’t just important for your customer presentations and websites. It’s also vital to your social media strategy.

Over the last few years, all of the major social networks have redesigned their feeds to focus on visual content. Take for example the larger thumbnail images on Twitter or the fancy new color status backgrounds on Facebook.

A compelling image is an excellent “thumb stopper.” It catches attention, causes thumbs to stop their endless scrolling, and most importantly increases social engagement

Grab their eye. Stop their thumb. Bam! Social media success.

How do you create compelling social media images if you don’t have a team of photographers and graphic designers at your disposal? Don’t worry. We have the tips and suggestions you need to make sure your pictures stand out for all the right reasons.

TIP ONE: Pick the Right Image

Picking the right image for your post can be tricky. You want to make sure it doesn’t look too much like an advertisement because we’ve trained ourselves to skip right over those sorts of posts. Nowadays, people crave authenticity in their social media, so try to pick an image that shows off your apparel in a real-world situation.

TIP TWO: Bold Backgrounds

White or gray backgrounds are a sure way to make sure your image blends right in with the background of your social newsfeed. To make sure your image stands out, you have to make sure the background doesn’t disappear in the news feed.

Loud, bright colors are trending right now, but anything you can do to set your post apart is a win.

In the example above, the image on the left is perfect for a catalog or product page on your website, but an active, authentic image like the one on the right will do better on social media every time.

TIP THREE: Add Some Words

Yes, the photo should do the majority of the work, but adding some bold typography to your picture can help drive your point home. Use text sparingly, though. You don’t have to crowd every image with words.

(Note: Adding text to this image was done with the online tools we talk about below.)

So how do you go about creating these eye-catching images?

The first step is to start with a good photograph. There are a plethora of YouTube photography tutorials and plenty of blog posts full of tips and general design concepts. We recommend you start with these three sites:

• 10 Top Photography Composition Rules
• The Ultimate DIY Guide to Beautiful Product Photography
• How to Shoot on an iPhone 7

Once you have a good image, you don’t need a black belt in Photoshop-Fu to make it pop on social media. Pablo is a handy web app that walks you through editing your images, and it will even format it for whatever social network you’re posting to.

Adobe also has a free app for the web and mobile devices. It’s called Adobe Spark and it lets you easily add text and graphics to your images.

With a little work and a lot of practice, you’ll be creating eye-catching graphics in no time. You put a lot of work into your apparel decoration. Make sure you’re putting your best foot forward when you show it off on social media.

What do you think about adding graphics to your posts? Did we hit the mark or do you have more questions than answers? Let us know! We love hearing from you. Send us your comments and questions on Facebook and Twitter.