This post was originally published on Business2Community.

In the social media world, images are exploding, just look at the Facebook design changes, Linkedin layout overhaul and In October the Twitter shake-up. Twitter improved its visual content game by bringing rich media more directly into users’ news feeds. Now, Twitter-based visual content is immediately viewable and no longer needs to be expanded to be seen. Utilizing visual tools within your Twitter strategy is essential for maximizing your social media success and achieving a deeper level of engagement with your customers.

1. Invest more in your visual strategy.

Images attached to your direct tweets on Twitter are 94 percent more likely to be re-tweeted. This means investing more time and money into your visual strategy, for a larger and more continuous return on investment.

3. Understand and Utilize Twitter Cards.

Twitter Cards provide a summary and image of your content whenever it is tweeted, allowing your business to generate more visually attractive content (rather than a text-based headline and a short-link). This can prompt a higher open rate and more web traffic, but may require coding help from your web design/development team.

4. Adopt Vine.

Shared videos from Vine have a much higher engagement rate than those that originate from Instagram. Focusing your strategies on creating short, yet captivating, branded videos is crucial to your business success.

5. Ensure your Twitter page has a LOGO

If you don't have a logo, get one (try our twitter logo maker). If you do, great! Make sure you modify your existing logo correctly for the twitter profile pic or incorporate it well into your twitter banner!

BONUS TIP: Get Creative With Your Visual Tweets

If you want to stand out, you’ll need to do more than simply post solo images. Twitter now lets you share up to four images in a single tweet to create a collage. You can also tag up to 10 other users in any photos you post.

Which tip did you find most helpful? Got more ideas? Let us know in the comments below.

Written by Jo Sabin on Thursday, July 17, 2014

Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.