Pictures size

Please, make sure that pictures you use are not less than:

• Instagram / Facebook post: 1080x1080 pixels

• Instagram / Facebook stories: 1920x1080 pixels

• Twitter post: 1200x625 pixels

Requirements

The pictures we post should meet some requirements in order to attract followers. 

Credits

We should always indicate the owner of the photo. This can be a celebrity if he/she made a photo themselves. If the picture is professional (made by a photographer) we should have their permission and credit the photographer. Please, check photo strategy below for more examples.

Open

Quality

Do not post blurry, uncertain pictures, dark or lit pictures. Post clear images, when you can easily understand what is pictured on them.

Do not post:

Open

Do post

People

Use high-quality upfront pictures of people, where the face is visible well. Avoid pictures with human back, the ones where their faces are cut etc.

Don’t

• Use the pictures, where the face is cropped

• Don’t use low quality casual selfies

Do

• Emotional photos

• Smiling people

• Interesting details

Text layout

Always ensure the readability of the text.

Do not:

• Put the text on a person’s face

• Put the text on the not contrast background

• Put text on the picture with a lot of details

Possible: 

Pictures placement in post

The best options are:

• One square photo

• One vertical photo (4x5 ratio)

• Two vertical or square photos

• Four square photos

Otherwise, the part of the picture will be cropped before you open it

Photo strategy

Our strategy

1. Arrange agreements with local photographers and celebrities

2. Delete old professional photos on our pages

3. Always credit photos properly!

4. Use photo stocks and free-to-use photos

5. Use Getty Images

Use photo stocks and free-to-use photos

Where to take photos from?

1. Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/

2. Free photo stocks: Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash ; https://pixabay.com/ , https://www.canva.com/photos/free/ , https://www.pexels.com/, https://nappy.co/

3. Official social media pages of government institutes. But always credit them in posts!

4. From Flickr and Google Images:

Make sure to choose the following options:

Arrange agreements with local photographers

• Communicate with the celebs and photographers. Try to get written permission to publish their photos on social media.

• If the celeb doesn’t reply for a week or two - connect with their manager via email. Be persistent.

• If the celeb refuses to collaborate with us - this is a good sign for us. At least we know whose photos to avoid.

• We are setting high standards for all Sub-Saharan media. This is just one more step in leading the way.
  
  

How to ask permission?

Here you have a template of the message to the photographer:

Hello …!

My name is … and I represent … - #1 news and entertainment platform in …

We admire your latest photos, wow! Therefore, we seek your permission to share your masterpieces with our readers from time to time. Of course, we will make sure to indicate your authorship and promote you among XXX millions of our audience across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter instead.

This partnership is going to be 100% beneficial for both parties, so we hope you grant us with permission to use your amazing photos.

Looking forward to your reply.

Regards,

… from ...

Here you have a template of the message to the celebrity:

Hello …!

My name is … and I represent … - #1 news and entertainment platform in …

Our audience enjoys reading news about you and reacts amazingly every time we share it on social media. Therefore, we seek your permission to share your photos from IG and Facebook with our readers from time to time. Of course, we will make sure to indicate your authorship and promote you among XXX millions of our audience across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter instead.

This partnership is going to 100% beneficial for both parties, so we hope you grant us with a permission to use your amazing photos.

Looking forward to your reply.

Regards,

… from …