We know how important images are when it comes to marketing and the same is true when it comes to social media marketing. But how often do you include images with your posts? Images allow for more engagement because they grab our attention. They make us stop. I’m sure you’ve noticed how noisy your news feeds get on sites like Twitter. How likely are you to retweet or reply to a post without an image on Twitter? When you include an image with your Tweet, it is 150% more likely to be retweeted. With possibilities like that, why wouldn’t you include images?
Because we know the importance of using images on social media, I wanted to share two of my favorite apps for creating images on Twitter.
Pablo
Pablo is a free app created by Buffer that is specifically designed for creating engaging images. With Pablo you are able to quickly post (they advertise you can post in less than 30 seconds) your images to Twitter, Facebook or add it to your Buffer queue. I’m sure you have seen posts on social media with beautiful backgrounds and a quote, well now you can create your own using Pablo! To use Pablo, you can edit the text within the text box, choose a background image, customize/edit image, and then you are ready to either download or share on social media.
At a glance Pablo allows you to…
- Add or edit the text for your image
- Add secondary text
- Change the font, style, size, or color
- Select a background image from Buffer’s library or upload your own
- Image filters: Select normal, blurred, or black and white
- Add contrast to your image
- Upload your logo
- Preview your image
- Download or save your image
- And of course share on social media!
Pros
I truly enjoy the interface of Pablo. I think the simplicity really makes the tool. You aren’t bombarded with hundreds of options. The thing I love about Pablo is you don’t need to search for quotes prior to landing on their page; they provide you with that! Pablo comes with 130 inspirational quotes for you to choose from. If you don’t like the quote, you may simply hit the refresh button within the quote text box. Or you could even input your own text. It certainly does not have to be quote. In fact, Pablo encourages you to come up with your own custom creations on the app. You could include a statistic, blog title, testimonial, or promotion for your products. You can make it whatever you want it to be. Have fun and get creative!
Another aspect I like is that Buffer gives you the option to upload your logo to make the image your own. For those that don’t have the social media image dimensions readily on hand (or the time to search online for the dimensions), Pablo makes it easy for you to post the proper size. I also like that you can easily share your posts using Buffer. For those with a Buffer account, you can even add your creation to other social accounts. You can select to share now, share next or schedule your post.
Cons
While I love this tool, I think it needs a little tweaking to make it even better. I wish Pablo had more fonts to choose from. I feel like many of them are similar and they don’t have a lot of variety. I’d like to see more fonts added to their list. I also would love to have a text alignment feature on Pablo. Sometimes I think the quote would look better if it were centered or right aligned, rather than left aligned. I think they should include more color options. With the limited colors, some of the images you use can make it difficult for the text to display properly. I hope they consider adding some of these features in the future.
I think Pablo is a great tool, especially if you are short on time but still want quality work. I definitely have this tool in my bookmark and use it on a weekly basis. It is a MUST have for marketers!
TwitShot
TwitShot is another free app that automatically extracts images from web articles for you. Let’s say you found a blog post from our website that you wanted to share. To use Twitshot, you simply need to enter the URL in the text box and it will automatically pull images from the article. In many cases, you will see more than one image; you can select the one you wish to share on Twitter. At times you will notice that Twitshot is unable to extract images from the link but do not worry! If this happens, you can upload your own image to include in your tweet or you may paste the URL of the image.
When images are too large, like when you have infographics, Twitshot allows you to optimize for Twitter. Twitshot also allows you to search for an image without leaving their page. Simply enter the image you are searching for and it will populate results.
Have I gone over my 140-character limit? Twitshot keeps track of your character count just like Twitter. For your #hashtags and @mentions, Twitshot will autocomplete your Tweet. Also, the app allows you to add more than one Twitter account. You can do so by clicking on your profile image, next to the text box. This is great for those community managers.
Additional Perks:
- Twitshot has a Chrome Extension
- Twitshot has their own share button that you can include on your website
- There’s an app for that! Twitshot is available on the App Store (Designed for both iPhone & iPad)
- With Twitshot you can Tweet using Buffer
As a social media manager, I use Twitshot on a daily basis. It saves me a lot of time because it automatically pulls all the images from the link for me. I don’t need to save the image file and upload the to Twitter. I find Twitshot very easy to use and doesn’t require much thought. I wouldn’t suggest using this on every Tweet, but would highly recommend using Twitshot a couple times a day. Just like with Pablo, Twitshot is also bookmarked for quick access.
At Simplexity Marketing Group, we use Hootsuite. I hope Twitshot can one day integrate Hootsuite just like they have done with Buffer. I also think it would be beneficial for Twitshot to include a way to shorten links. This will not only allow you to add more text to your tweet, but will also provide you with more analytics, so you could track your visitors.
If you are looking for tools that can help you spice up your tweets, I encourage you to try Pablo and Twitshot. They are a great addition for social media managers and community managers!
