Pictures With Words

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When you write a best selling book on content, people tend to ask you for your thoughts on different tactics and strategies.

A few months ago all the talk was about Pinterest and before that people were getting excited about Google+. Now everyone seems to be fascinated with the knowledge that they can put words on top of their photos instead of making yet another brightly colored infographic.

I know. Photoshop has existed for years. We've all been looking at print ads, billboards and movie posters for as long as we can remember. But, still people are amazed that they can add words to their photos right from their phones. Oh, how far technology has come!

I giggled as I watched this trend begin and now I see people doing it all the time. My Instagram feed is full of them and my Facebook newsfeed is litered with more and more of them.

Guess what though?

If your brand is thinking about diving into this because everyone is doing it, remember that it is a tactic and not a strategy. Where does it fit into your other marketing programs and what can you do with this trend that is unique and relavent to your business? Always ask why before you do anything. Make sure it is a fit and that you are not doing it simply because everyone else is. Following the herd rarely gets you noticed.

We as a society love shiny new toys and are scared of doing the grunt work. We see other people doing things, so we have to do them. If there is a shortcut that looks like it'll make things easier we take it.

Does anyone else find the humor in the classic saying that "a picture tells a thousand stories" and yet here we are with people feeling they need to add words to their images in order to tell a specific story?

I do.

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Update: Shortly after hitting post on this, I saw that Chris Brogan was talking about this too. Great read from him.