Not always hip to be square
When posting on IG, do you only use square images?
Here’s why you might want to re-think your strategy.
As I surf around Instagram and check out various speaker profiles, there’s one common denominator amongst many of these accounts:
They crop their rectangle images into squares.
In fact, I have many clients who swear by this approach. They’ll crop it in a way that eliminates all of the negative space so that within the square, they’ll be centered on their profile grid.
Their reasoning?
Well, it makes their account look organized and clean, and, as a result, more impressive and prestigious.
Now, on the one hand, yes, their grid looks curated and organized.
On the other hand, it raises a very important question:
What’s the cost of adopting this approach?
When you crop your rectangle images into squares, you’re leaving loads of opportunity on the cutting room floor. What do I mean by this?
For example, let’s say you want to add text onto the image.
While it’s possible to add text onto a square portrait photo, spacing and text size can become problematic. While a rectangle image with the subject justified to the left or right leaves ample space for text, graphics and branding elements in the open space, a squared image is far more tight.
As a result, you’d need to make your text smaller, keep the phrases shorter and hope that everything fits while not overlaying text over your body and face in a way that distracts from your expression and body language.
And this dance between adjusting and formatting your text and branding assets onto small visual real estate can truly become a pain in the ass.
While text and graphics on an image is one concern, that’s not the only problem that pops up when you butcher your rectangle images into squares.
Another issue is that some photos simply don’t have the same emotional resonance with your audience when they're cropped.
For example, let’s say your photographer took a photo of you in a beautiful location.
In the background, you see this wonderful vista full of compelling, visual elements - could be nature, your home, a building with flattering architecture and decor, co-working space, etc. - that draws all of the attention back to you while also encapsulating many aspects of who you are, who you serve, and why you do what you do.
Now, when it comes time to post the image, you decide to crop out half the photo in order to center the shot and keep your grid consistent.
Sure, you still appear in the photo as the rockstar you are, but the majority of the context of that image has been eliminated, and along with that, the powerful sentiment connected to the whole of the image.
As a result, the shot falls short on it’s intended use - It’s missing that added, emotional juice.
Is that the best way to captivate your audience's attention and allow them the chance to visualize working with you?
Before I continue, I want to point out that all squares are not bad options. I use plenty of them on my feed, as well:
Self-portraits intended to highlight just my face and expression
Text-only posts with no photo art included
Promotional posts, such as podcast episode art
In those cases, square-oriented visuals make a lot of sense.
My overall intention here is to create awareness for you to not be a slave to the square format because you feel obligated to keep your photo grid neat and organized at the expense of the overall intention and sentiment of the photos in which you’ve invested time and money.
At the end of the day, the value of the relationship between your words and visuals shared within these posts are more important than whether or not they’re all formatted in the same way.
Long story short, people want value - whether a piece of your expertise or a chance to get to know you better - and they won’t walk away from you if they happen to see rectangle and square posts curated in the same feed.
Do you really think they give a shit?
Focus your attention on what matters most - capturing your audience’s attention long enough so they’re inspired to learn more about how you can help solve their problems.
This creates connection above all else. That’s the primary goal of your online presence, after all.
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