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🧪 The Science behind Text vs. Visuals on Social Media
New research just dropped that every social media manager needs to bookmark.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong and University of Nottingham analyzed 34,610 organic brand posts from 195 brand accounts across Facebook and Instagram — and found a clear pattern for what makes image posts perform.
The short version: Your text and your image need to tell the same story. When they don't, engagement tanks.
📉 What kills engagement
Big text on busy images. If your photo has a lot going on (multiple people, complex backgrounds, social settings), large text overlays compete for attention — and people scroll past.
Text that overshadows the visual. When your copy covers the good stuff in the image, people disengage.
Mismatched messages. Pairing a photo of a model in a summer dress with copy about your free returns policy? That disconnect costs you likes and comments.
📈 What drives engagement
Text and visuals saying the same thing. Think: a photo of a forest with the overlay "Amazonian coffee beans." The visual reinforces the message, and vice versa.
Centered, concise, positive text. Write "New arrivals this season" — not "Check out all the amazing new products we just added this week." Informative beats wordy every time.
Smaller text on complex images. The busier the photo, the more you should let the visual breathe.
🤔 Why this works (the psychology)
We're naturally drawn to visually rich content — faces, objects, busy scenes. But when big text overlays compete with those visuals, our brains don't focus on either one. When the text and image deliver the same message, we process it faster and are more likely to engage.
✅ Quick-reference cheat sheet
Do This | Not This |
|---|---|
Match your text to your visual | Pair unrelated text and imagery |
Keep overlay text short and centered | Write paragraphs on top of photos |
Use smaller text on complex/busy images | Slap large text over group photos |
Write in a positive, informative tone | Use vague or overly wordy copy |
🎥 Bonus tip for video
If you're using video instead of static images, aim for text overlays covering ~11% of the frame on Instagram and up to ~46% on Twitter/X.
💡 Worth noting
This study only measured likes and comments — not clicks, views, or conversions. It also focused on organic content (not paid ads), and the effects were stronger on Facebook than Instagram. But the underlying psychology applies broadly.
Source: When Words Meet Visuals: How Content Composition Drives Social Media Engagement for Marketer-Generated Content — Dang, Kwan, Jia & Shi, Journal of Marketing Research (2025).
How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Now…
Go BIG or go home!
~ Josh from “This Week in Social Media”
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