Want more engagement on your social media posts? Look at the color complex

If you work in digital marketing, you don’t need to be told that a picture is worth a thousand words. More than half of content marketers say images are important to achieving their social media goals, and 70% of users prefer image-based posts over text, surveys have found.

But what types of images work best? Although anecdotal evidence abounds, systematic research on this topic is scarce.

As a business professor who knows the problems social media managers face when choosing images for their posts—and who collected thousands of Facebook posts from two organizations in different industries—I saw an opportunity.

Pigs and pixels

Along with my colleagues Christian Hughes and Brady Hodges, I looked at what researchers call “hard color.”

Color complexity is similar to computing, but not exactly the same: It’s measured as the variation of color across every pixel in an image, and our brain processes it slowly. When the brain has to specify the color variation of all neighboring pixels, it becomes more difficult to work.

Fortunately, advanced computer technology makes it easier than ever to measure the complexity of colors, and biometric eye tracking makes it possible to see which images capture people’s attention in real time.

We conducted four studies, looking at both real-world Facebook posts from two firms and experimental data using biometric eye tracking. Overall, we found that the most complex images in social media posts tend to attract the most attention.

However, there were caveats.

For example, posts made later in the day and those with images that take up more screen space tend to benefit more from color intensity. This suggests that the timing and visual prominence of posts play a role in increasing engagement.

Furthermore, when images are paired with negative, negative-feeling text, color complexity makes little difference.

We also found that pairing images with complex text can actually strengthen the link between complex color and user engagement. This surprising finding suggests that more complex language may motivate people to pay more attention to pictures.

Color complexes

The importance of color in marketing, and its impact on everything from product perception to purchase intentions, has long been well documented. Very little is known about the role of complex colors in social engagement. Our research is beginning to fill that gap.

Overall, our findings underscore the importance of strategic image design in social media marketing. They suggest that a dynamic approach to graphic design, incorporating high color complexity where appropriate, can greatly improve user interaction.

For marketers and content creators, the implication is clear: Investing in the careful selection of social media images, especially those with high color complexity, can lead to better user engagement. Be aware of timing and context, too.

Vamsi Kanuri is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame.

This article has been republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the first article.