38 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2016

At the beginning of every year, we like to read through some of the major reports on inbound marketing, content marketing, social media, and online behavior.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s honestly amazing how fast things can change in twelve short months -- and 2015 was certainly no exception.

Download our full collection of do-it-yourself templates for designing stunning visual content here.

This past year, we've seen the importance of visual content emphasized by the changes that occurred across almost every major social network, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. At the same time, both video and infographics have become powerful tools for brands looking to communicate more easily with their readers.

To help you keep pace with these trends, let's take a look at some statistics that demonstrate the impact visual content has on reach, engagement, and sales. 

38 Stats You Should Know About Visual Content Marketing in 2016

General Visual Content Stats

1) Researchers found that colored visuals increase people's willingness to read a piece of content by 80%. Tweet this stat! (Source)

2) When people hear information, they're likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later. Tweet this stat! (Source)

3) 46% of marketers say photography is critical to their current marketing and storytelling strategies. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: CMO Council

4) 34% of marketers selected visual assets as their most important content, behind blogging (45%) and before videos (19%). Tweet this stat! (Source)

5) 65% of senior marketing executives believe that visual assets (photos, video, illustrations and infographics) are core to how their brand story is communicated. Tweet this stat! (Source)

6) Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: QuickSprout

7) Only 27% of marketers have a process in place to aggregate, organize, and manage the visual assets being used across their marketing teams. Tweet this stat! (Source)

8) 39% of marketers believe that more of their budget should be allocated to the acquisition or creation of compelling visual assets. Tweet this stat! (Source)

9) 73% of content creators plan to prioritize creating more engaging content in 2016, and 55% plan to prioritize creating visual content. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Content Marketing Institute

Video Stats

10) 51.9% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI. Tweet this stat! (Source)

11) Shoppers who view video are 1.81X more likely to purchase than non-viewers. Tweet this stat! (Source)

12) Using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65% and reduces unsubscribes by 26%. Tweet this stat! (Source)

13) Midway through 2015, mobile video plays exceeded 44% -- up 74% from 2014 and up a whopping 844% since 2012. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Ooyala

14) Between April 2015 and November 2015, the amount of average daily video views on Facebook doubled from 4 billion video views per day to 8 billion. Tweet this stat! (Source)

15) In July 2015, Periscope users were watching 40 years' worth of videos every day. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: FastCompany

16) In Q2 of 2015, mobile phones (34%) and tablets (15%) combined for 49% of video ad impressions -- up from 38% in Q1 of 2015. Publishers saw PC impressions drop from 62% to 50% in the previous quarter. Tweet this stat! (Source)

17) Syndacast predicts 74% of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Syndacast

Infographic Stats

18) Eye-tracking studies show internet readers pay close attention to information-carrying images. In fact, when the images are relevant, readers spend more time looking at the images than they do reading text on the page. Tweet this stat! (Source)

19) Infographics are Liked and shared on social media 3X more than other any other type of content. Tweet this stat! (Source)

20) Infographics were the B2B content marketing tactic with the biggest increase from 2014 to 2015, up from 51% to 62%. Tweet this stat! (Source)

21) People following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: NeoMam

22) 60% of marketers predict the use of infographics will increase in 2016 compared to 2015. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: CMO Council

Social Media Stats

23) Visual content is more than 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. Tweet this stat! (Source)

24) Articles with an image once every 75-100 words got double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images. Tweet this stat! (Source)

25) 71% of online marketers use visual assets in their social media marketing. Tweet this stat! (Source)

26) B2C marketers place more importance on visual content than B2B marketers -- and a whopping 40% of B2C marketers say visual content is the most important type of content. Tweet this stat! (Source) 

27) Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: BuzzSumo

28) Buffer reported that for its user base, tweets with images received 150% more retweets than tweets without images. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: QuickSprout

29) The Instagram community has grown to more than 400 million as of September 2015. Tweet this stat! (Source)

30) On Instagram, photos showing faces get 38% more Likes than photos not showing faces. Tweet this stat! (Source)

31) Organic engagement on Facebook more than doubled in 2015, while organic engagement on Instagram almost halved. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Forrester Research

32) The average engagement per Instagram post has grown by 416% over 2 years. Tweet this stat! (Source)

33) 52% of teens use Instagram, and nearly as many (41%) use Snapchat. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Pew Research Center

34) Snapchat has 100 million daily users, 65% of whom upload photos using the app. Tweet this stat! (Source)

35) Women continue to dominate Pinterest: 44% of online women use Pinterest compared with 16% of online men. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Pew Research Center

36) Shopify users referred by Pinterest spend an average of $80 compared to the Facebook referral average of $40. Tweet this stat! (Source)

37) Pins on Pinterest have viral potential: Over 80% of pins are re-pins compared to 1.4% of tweets retweeted. Tweet this stat! (Source)

38) 88% of consumers have purchased a product they pinned, and 49% have purchased 5 or more products they've pinned. Tweet this stat! (Source)

Image Credit: Jeff Bullas

How do you plan to incorporate more visual and interactive content into your 2016 marketing strategy? Share with us in the comments. 

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in January 2015 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

 

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A Nonprofit’s Guide to Building Audience Personas

If you’ve found your way to this blog post, you’re probably well acquainted with the concept of a customer persona (but if you do happen to be looking for a quick refresher, check out this free template that we put together in mid-2015).

The challenge is that you probably haven’t come across a definitive resource for nonprofits. Why? These organizations think about their communities, audiences, and stakeholders much differently from typical for-profit companies.

But if you think about it, the strategies for the two groups should be more aligned than they are different. Here’s why: Consumers are consumers, no matter the context. The same buyers in a B2B context will be retail shoppers and supporters of causes.

Organizations, no matter the type or size, all have growth goals. In the for-profit world, growth is tied to metrics like subscriber counts, sales over time, revenue per customer, etc. In the nonprofit world, it’s all about memberships and donations. Revenue is still an important part of the nonprofit equation—organizations just raise and utilize money in different forms.

The process of developing customer personas, as a result, will be similar between nonprofit and for-profit sectors. At the same time, you’ll want to pay attention to some important nuances. The following steps will help you strike the right balance:

1) Interview Your Stakeholders

Your customer persona process should always begin with qualitative research. In the business world, this concept—a system for interviewing and analyzing data from your company’s target audience—is known as customer development and incorporates a blend of field research, anthropology, and ethnographic analysis.

The idea, from a corporate standpoint, makes sense: instead of making assumptions, rely on your key customers and stakeholders to guide you. Conduct interviews to make sure that your messaging and value proposition are making an impact. Make sure to consult multiple perspectives and talk with donors, volunteers, past members, new members, and long-time members, too. You’ll want this blend to see multiple, hidden sides to your customers’ stories. Here’s a quick checklist to get you up and running with your qualitative interviews:

• Take a look through your community database. Identify patterns based on common attributes, and create groupings.
• Recruit a few people from each of those groups (maybe 2-3). Schedule 30-45 minute calls with individuals who opt-in: keep reaching out to new contacts until your bandwidth is full.
• Record your calls so that you can analyze patterns and introduce new groups that you may not have noticed.

The beauty of this process? It will create a rough blueprint for your customer personas. The ‘groupings’ that you come up with will be your personas. The attributes of those individuals will help you tailor your marketing messaging.

Persona development is that straightforward.

2) Sanity Check Your Data

In addition to the qualitative research that you’re conducting, you’ve probably collected a lot of information about your members and stakeholders--particularly details around what made them become active. 

You’ll want to keep in mind, however, that not all data is fact. Why? The answer boils down to two words that you probably haven’t heard since college: selection bias. The groups that opt into your organization are very different from the population as a whole. But how so?

One way to answer this question is to cross-check your data with industry publications and trend reports. To get started, take a look at the sector-specific reports that your donors and leadership team are already consulting.

And if you’re not sure where to start? Take a look at government resources: The Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are great places to find information. Your goal here shouldn’t be to validate your numbers: instead, understand your organization’s greater story, and focus on the nuance.

3) Understand ‘Negative Personas’

By now--based on internal and external data that you’ve gathered, analyzed, and vetted, you’ll understand who makes a strong member within your nonprofit’s community. You’ll also know who doesn’t.

It’s critical that you identify these ‘negative personas’ early. They’re a waste of energy, time, and money for your organization to chase: if you’re actively marketing to these negative personas, you’re likely facing some severe opportunity costs.

Understand your ‘negative personas’ so that you can focus on more of the good ones. As a nonprofit, especially, your teams have limited bandwidth. Make sure that you’re investing your efforts in the areas with the highest ROI. 

Now Comes the Fun Part

Steps 1-3, as simple as they seem, will ensure that no detail falls through the cracks when you’re defining your audience personas. In addition to the patterns you’ve uncovered, you’ll want to incorporate demographic and psychographic variables that are relevant (i.e. if you’re aiming to reach audiences in a specific age bracket or geography who have a particular interest-base).

With the right personas in place, you’ll have a natural way to tailor your messaging. The best part? You won’t even need to think about your strategy: you’ll just imagine that you’re talking to your most engaged audiences, in person.

What could be better?

With the right planning and forethought, your personas can supercharge your messaging. Make sure to give your research and exploration process, steps 1-3, the attention that it deserves.

 

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Why Overworking Is Bad For Your Health (And Who's to Blame)

There's no doubt that technology has simplified the way we carry out our day-to-day routines. Computers help us do things faster, emails and text messages let us always be in touch, and the internet makes it easy to find the answer to any question with just a quick Google search.

While being constantly plugged in can make us feel safe, connected, and in-the-know -- both at work and at home -- it also means we never really clock out.

It's one thing to pull a long day every once in a while to finish a project or deal with a crisis, but it's another to routinely stay late at the office or work into the night. That's chronic overwork -- and it can have extremely negative impacts on your health, happiness, and overall quality of life.

But working overtime has become the norm for most people. It's one of those things everyone kinda knows is bad for us, but no one really listens. Trouble is, failure to prioritize a healthy balance isn't just bad for the employees -- it's actually bad for employers, too. Read on to learn exactly why it's bad for our health and our performance at work, and who's to blame.

Why Overworking is Bad For Your Health

There are numerous research studies out there showing the overwork -- and the resulting stress -- can lead to all matter of health problems.

It impairs your sleep.

A wide body of research has shown that overwork can negatively impact your sleep -- whether it's the resulting stress, the staring at the computer screen, or just not having enough time to unwind before hitting the hay. This can cause us to build up what's called "sleep debt," which is kind of like being overdrawn at a bank. Chronic sleep debt raises the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. In the short-term, lack of sleep can have significant effects on the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in memory creation and consolidation.

The fact is, most of us get tired more easily than we think we do. Think you're one of those "lucky people" who can get by fine with only five or six hours of sleep? The Wall Street Journal reports that for every 100 people who think they're a member of this "sleepless elite," only five actually are. Only 1–3% of people can actually pull off sleeping five or six hours a night without their performance suffering

It gets in the way of good habits.

Working too much can take a toll on the body and brain in two main ways -- by boosting stress and by getting in the way of exercise, healthy eating, and other good habits.

For example, when you’re overtired, you rely more on caffeine to get you through the day, you tend to make unhealthy food choices and working out becomes a thing of the past. A study in the journal Nature Communications found that when people are overtired, healthy food choices tend to go out the window for two reasons. First, it slows activity in the areas of our brains responsible for ranking different foods based on what we want and need. Secondly, it causes an increase in the brain's amygdala, which is responsible for controlling the salience of food. Over time, poor food choices can lead to weight gain and even obesity.

It's really bad for your heart.

A long-running study of more than 10,000 civil servants in London found that white-collar workers who worked three or more hours longer than a normal, seven-hour day had a 60% higher risk of heart-related problems than white-collar workers who didn't work overtime. Examples of heart-related problems included death due to heart disease, non-fatal heart attacks, and angina, a condition caused by low blood supply to the heart.

A follow-up study of over 22,000 participants found that people who worked long hours were 40% more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those who worked standard hours.

What about overworking might be causing heart disease, specifically?

Research suggests that it might have something to do with your personality. In fact, the "Type A vs. Type B" personality test was originally aimed to determine how likely it was that a person would develop coronary heart disease. Considering Type A folks tend to be more competitive, tense, time-oriented, and stressed out -- which is often intensified by overworking -- their personality type is often associated with a higher risk.

It can cause heavy drinking.

In 2015, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health published the largest ever study of the correlation between working patterns and alcohol consumption. In the study, a group of researchers put together a dataset of over 330,000 workers across 14 different countries.

They found that 48 hours of work per week was the magic number: When people worked more than 48 hours per week, they were more likely to engage in "increased risky alcohol use." Risky alcohol use was defined as more than 14 drinks per week for women and more than 21 drinks per week for men.

They also found that people who worked long hours were 11% more likely to be heavier drinkers than those who worked normal hours, regardless of gender.

It can lead to type 2 diabetes in low-income workers.

In 2015, a group of researchers investigated the role of long working hours as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. They found that the link between longer working hours and type 2 diabetes is apparent in individuals in the low socioeconomic status groups. This was true regardless of age, sex, obesity, and physical activity, and remained even when they excluded shift workers from the analysis. Another study showed an association between long hours and type 2 diabetes in low-income workers. 

Overall, these findings show how strong of a relationship a person's mental state can have on physical health.

Why Overworking is Bad for Business

If better health and happiness isn't enough of an incentive to do something about chronic overwork, it turns out overworking can have a legitimately negative impact on a business' bottom line. Sarah Green Carmichael of Harvard Business Review calls the story of overwork "the story of diminishing returns": keep overworking, and you'll keep making avoidable mistakes and getting lost in the weeds -- all while not actually producing more.

More input doesn't necessarily mean more output.

Do longer work hours equate to more work getting done? From time to time, yes -- but not when "overtime" becomes "all the time."

Research by the Business Roundtable found employees saw short-term gains when they pushed their workweek to 60 or 70 hours for a few weeks at a time if, for example, they needed to meet a critical production deadline. But increasing the number of hours worked in the office from 40 to 60 hours doesn't result in more output: "In fact, the numbers may typically be something closer to 25–30% more work in 50% more time," writes Sara Robinson for Salon.

Why? Robinson explains that most people do their best work between hours two and six of working in a given day. By the end of an eight-hour day, their best work tends to be behind them -- and by hour nine, fatigue begins to set in and productivity levels drop. They won't be able to deliver to their full potential -- especially if they aren't invigorated by something like a rare, critical deadline -- and they'll end the day completely exhausted.

Interestingly, one study out of Boston University's Questrom School of Business found that managers actually couldn't tell the difference between employees who actually worked 80 hours per week and those who just pretended to. What's more, managers tended to punish employees who were transparent about working less -- but there was no evidence that those employees actually accomplished less, nor were there any signs that the overworking employees accomplished more.

You're more likely to make mistakes.

Speaking of exhaustion, researchers have found that overwork -- and the resulting stress and exhaustion -- can make it far more difficult to do everything that a modern office requires, including interpersonal communication, making judgment calls, reading people, or managing one's own emotional reactions.

You lose sight of the bigger picture.

Ever heard of the term "goal reactivation?" According to a 2011 study from the University of Illinois, people can easily lose focus and get lost in the weeds of a task or project if they work on it continuously without stopping.

The breaks we take to recharge, eat meals, or spend time with the people we love help us step back from our work and stay mindful of how our work contributes to our goals. The study cites that these things reliably contribute to overall better performance at work.

Who's to Blame?

Chronically overworking isn't fun. It doesn't feel good to realize you have to work through yet another family dinner or relaxing weekend. So why do people do it? Is it because our bosses told us to? Or because we want to make more money? Or do we have some deep-seated psychological need? In her article for Harvard Business Review, Carmichael asks, "who's to blame?"

Our managers?

In many cultures, bosses want and expect employees to put in long days, make themselves available on email 24/7, and work nights, weekends, and during vacation without protest. In this version, writes Carmichael, we overwork because we're told to. This is especially evident in the three countries in which employees work the longest hours of all advanced countries in the world: America, South Korea, and Japan.

... Or ourselves?

But most of us can't place all the blame on others. More often than not, working long hours is a way for us to prove something to ourselves.

Maybe working late makes us feel ambitious or important. Maybe it's because we think it's the only way to get a promotion, make more money, or avoid falling behind. Maybe we straight up feel guilty when we get up and leave at 5:00 P.M. Several studies have even shown some of us consider work a safe haven -- a place in which we feel confident and in control as compared with stresses outside the office.

And who could blame us? More and more, working beyond normal business hours has become something people brag about. In some cases, it becomes an addiction.

"We live in a competitive society," writes Laura Vanderkam for The Wall Street Journal, "and so by lamenting our overwork and sleep deprivation -- even if that requires workweek inflation and claiming our worst nights are typical -- we show that we are dedicated to our jobs and our families."

Sometimes, working long hours can feel rewarding -- even invigorating. Other times, especially when we make a habit out of it, it can make us feel stressed, mad, lonely, and generally unhealthy. The key is paying attention to how it makes you feel. If it's interfering with your mental, physical, or emotional help, it may be time to reprioritize.

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11 Intelligent Examples of Inbound-y Ads in the Real World

How are your paid ad campaigns? Are you impressed or do you wish you could give them a shot of espresso? If it’s the latter then you should consider making your paid ads inbound-y. Wait, did you ask, what are inbound-y ads? Good question, well let’s start from the beginning.

Traditionally, paid advertising was considered to be incompatible with inbound marketing. As you will have probably experienced, many paid ads can be unhelpful and fail to satisfy the needs of the user conducting the search: 

Interruptive, unexpected ads are certainly not inbound-y 

However, it’s possible to create paid ads that satisfy the needs of the user. By creating an ad that incorporates the inbound methodology, you can create an 'inbound-y' ad. 

Hold Up, What Exactly is an 'Inbound-y' Ad?

When HubSpot realised 53% of their customers were using PPC alongside inbound marketing, they considered if it was possible to create 'inbound-y' ads.

PPC + Inbound = Inbound-y Ads!

We've determined the following criteria for classifying inbound-y ads:

• The ad is shown to the right people, at the right time
• The ad presents a direct solution to a search query
• The ad moves the searcher further down the Buyer's Journey

At least two of the above must be true for the ad to be considered 'inbound-y'. 

So, What Are The Benefits?

Combining the inbound methodology with your paid search strategy allows you to understand your audience and create extremely effective ads that will engage at all stages of the Buyer’s Journey.  Moreover, ads that are inbound-y are smarter and will be more inviting to people searching online rather than traditional interruptive paid searches.  

We've scoured the web and collected 11 smart examples so you can see some inbound-centric paid advertisements in action.

1) EA Access

This EA Access ad was seen on the user’s Facebook account after they had preordered the Xbox One game FIFA 16. The buyer had reached the buying stage of the journey by pre-ordering. This ad then retargeted all customers who pre-ordered the game to offer them an exclusive opportunity to upgrade their purchase and gain early access to play before everyone else.

 

Inbound-y ads such as this one are far more intelligent than the interruptive and un-targeted ads we have been used to in the past. As with this example, they are created to engage with the right audience and offer helpful and timely information that encourages the searcher along the Buyer’s Journey.

2) The Blog Starter

To find this inbound-y ad, the user searched the term 'blogging', into Google. Rather than offering opportunities to build their own blog, The Blog Starter ad offered a free step-by-step guide to learn all about blogging. As the user is at the beginning of the buyer’s journey, they just want to know more about it rather than get started themselves, so this ad is attracting visitors with useful information.

 

This ad directs the user to a FREE step-by-step beginner's guide on how to make a blog. This is valuable content that answers many preliminary questions people have before they create a blog. It’s inbound-y because it appears at the right time, to the right people and offers helpful information to educate the searcher.

3) Yext

 

To see this ad, the searcher visited the Yext website and signed up for an online demo. Then through effective retargeting, this ad appeared in their Facebook newsfeed, offering a free gift for the searcher to come back to the website. As the user has visited the website previously, the ad is immediately more relevant which means that the viewer will more likely be interested in this incentive to visit the site again.

This is a great example of bottom of the funnel lead nurturing as this inbound-y ad attempts to close the deal and does so in a relevant format, at the right time.

4) Contently

As a suggested post, this ad from Contently appeared in the news feed of a user who is interested in content marketing. Rather than bombarding every Facebook user, this ad appears in front of the right audience only. In this case, the user works in content marketing so the topic of this type of ad was certainly relevant.

This sponsored ad is inherently inbound-y as it’s offering useful content about SEO, bringing the reader in at the top of the funnel and moving the searcher further down the buyer's journey. 

5) AO.com, Currys and others 

 

Here, the user knows exactly what they want. They aren’t looking for blogs to help them decide what size or type of television they want, they are looking to buy a TV. The 32” curved TV ads by AO.com, Currys (and the others) are further examples of inbound-y advertisements. They are satisfying the user’s exact need by showing the exact television size rather than trying to catch the searcher’s attention with a different size or type of television.

6) Internet Advertising Bureau UK

When the user saw this advert on LinkedIn it was a result of visiting Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) website and signing up to their newsletter. This ad retargeted the user and invited them to listen to a webinar discussion about the future of video in marketing. As the user has signed up to IAB, the ad is relevant to them and attracts them to the website with insightful information - making this ad inbound-y.

7) Money Advice Service

After making a search query about buying a house, this ad offers all the information to questions people will likely have when buying a property. The ad is perfect for visitors at the beginning of the buyer’s journey. At this point in time, they are lacking information and don’t want to be hassled by house sellers, they just want to increase their knowledge.

This inbound-y ad offers all the insightful information first time home buyers would need to attract them to the website.

8) Intercom.io

 

This Facebook ad appeared on the user’s sidebar after they had been searching for more information online on how to improve their business’ marketing strategy. At this stage, the user is still looking for information so this ad by Intercom, a marketing software company, is a perfect example of an inbound-y ad in action. It attracts the user to the site with valuable information and will hopefully guide them onto the next stage of the buyer’s journey. 

9) Michael Hyatt - Virtual Mentor 

This Facebook ad is inbound-y as it appeared in front of relevant people. As the user follows Jeff Goins on Facebook, this invitation to join their FREE online event was a great top of the funnel offer. The ad is being shown to the right people and encourages them along the buyer’s journey as the free session offered insightful and valuable information.

10) Gum Gum

Another inbound-y advert found on LinkedIn. The user follows GumGum on LinkedIn and has been to their website before. By retargeting the user with paid advertising, GumGum’s inbound-y ad works to attract the user to the site with valuable information in the form of a free guide. After the user downloads the guide they are directed further down the journey.   

11) WordStream

After visiting WordStream on multiple occasions, this user saw this inbound-y ad whilst surfing the internet. As the user had visited WordStream before this isn’t a random advert to them, it’s relevant to their interests. This ad is inbound-y because it targets people who have already visited their website and is offering valuable information in the form of a free guide to encourage them to visit the site again and hopefully move them further down the buyer’s journey.

Convinced?

If you're convinced ads can be inbound-y and want to jump straight in, make sure you read our amazing eBook first. In the eBook you will find 5 simple steps you can take to reduce your PPC investment without sacrificing the success of the campaign. 

Download the FREE eBook:

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6 Location-based Social Media Monitoring Tools

Do you want to reach local customers on social media? Are you monitoring the online conversations near your business? Geo-specific social media monitoring tools help businesses engage with customers who are close to their brick and mortar stores. In this article I’ll share six location-based monitoring tools to use for local social media marketing. Why [...]

This post 6 Location-based Social Media Monitoring Tools first appeared on .
- Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

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Are You a Micromanager? Take This Quiz to Find Out [Infographic]

Ever heard the term "helicopter parents"? They're the hyper-present, overbearing parents who take pay excessively close attention to their kids' experiences and problems.

Well, helicopter parents are to their kids what micromanagers are to the people they manage. While being engaged in your colleagues' lives is important, micromanaging their every move can backfire. Overinvolvement often sends the underlying message that you don't trust that they can successfully accomplish anything on their own. That can take a serious toll on self-confidence.

Other consequences of micromanaging include inhibiting their growth, slowing their productivity, increasing their anxiety, and making them feel like they need to wait to be told what to do. 

So, what do you think: Are you a micromanager? Take the quiz below from Wrike, and then total your points to find out whether you're a micromanager, a team player, or someone who's being micromanaged yourself.

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The Ultimate Cheat Sheet of Photo & Image Sizes on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Other Social Networks [Infographic]

When you're designing cover photos, graphics, and other social media assets, sometimes knowing the bare bones image dimensions isn't enough.

What if you wanted to place text or an arrow on your Facebook cover photo without it getting covered by the profile photo? And what about the shared link thumbnails on Facebook or in-stream photos on Twitter ... how big should those be?

Download pre-sized cover photo templates for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube for free here.

If you're looking for a detailed guide to social media photo sizes -- including recommended dimensions, minimum and maximum dimensions, image scale, and more -- then this is it. 

The infographic below from Jamie Spencer of MakeAWebsiteHub.com is a great reference to bookmark or keep close-at-hand the next time you're creating an image for your social media profile. 

Photo & Image Dimensions for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and More

Quick References

Facebook Image Sizes

• Cover photo: 815 px wide by 315 px tall
• Profile image: 180 px wide by 180 px tall
• Highlighted image: 1200 px wide by 717 px tall
• Shared image: 1200 px wide by 630 px tall
• Shared link thumbnail image: 1200 px wide by 627 px tall

LinkedIn Image Sizes

• Background image: 1500 px wide by 425 px tall
• Profile image: 400 px wide by 400 px tall
• Career cover photo: 974 px wide by 330 px tall
• Banner image: 646 px wide by 220 px tall (minimum)
• Standard logo: 400 px wide by 400 pixels tall (maximum)

Pinterest Image Sizes

• Profile image: 165 px wide by 165 px tall
• Board display: 22 px wide by 150 px tall
• Pin sizes: 236 px wide

Instagram Image Sizes

• Profile image: 110 px wide by 110 px tall
• Photo size: 1080 px wide by 1080 px tall
• Photo thumbnails: 161 px wide by 161 px tall

Twitter Image Sizes

• Header photo: 1500 px wide by 500 px tall
• Profile image: 400 px wide by 400 px tall
• In-stream photo: 440 px wide by 220 px tall

YouTube Image Sizes

• Video uploads: 1280 px wide by 760 px tall
• Channel cover photo: 2560 px wide by 1440 px tall

Tumblr Image Sizes

• Profile image: 128 px wide by 128 px tall
• Image post: 500 px wide by 750 px tall

Google+ Image Sizes

• Profile image: 250 px wide by 250 px tall
• Cover image: 1080 px wide by 608 px tall
• Shared image (on home stream): 497 px wide by 373 px tall
• Shared image (on feed or your page): 150 px wide by 150 px tall

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in October 2013 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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