Make sure your tweets include a photo

Twitter has just got a little more visual. Mobile users can now upload four photos at a time, and tag up to 10 people.

Before this update, Twitter made a big change when it introduced inline images to tweets. Which means that images are automatically visible to the viewer, rather than hidden behind a link.

Here is what tweets with images look like on Twitter:

@SurbitonHigh | @SHSBoysPrep

And here is what tweets with multiple images look like on Twitter:

@SurbitonHigh | @SportsSHS

Buffer has done some research into how inline images have affected their engagement rates. They found that tweets with images had the following effects:

• 18% more clicks
• 89% more favourites
• 150% more retweets

Not every tweet will require an image, and the image link will reduce the number of characters remaining in the tweet.

Dan Zarrella explains the benefits of using Twitter’s own image platform (pic.twitter.com), over other photo sharing channels. He found that tweets using pic.twitter.com are 94% more likely to be retweeted. And somewhat unsurprisingly, tweets including Instagram links are 42% less likely to be retweeted. This is because the image is hidden behind a link, and not instantly available.

If you are linking to a photo gallery on Flickr, or a news article, then make sure you include at least one photo within the tweet. This will not only entice people to click through but they will also be more likely to share it.

People respond emotionally to photos. Most of your tweets will be about the stories currently happening at your school, and there should always be a photo available.