How Text Overlays in Social Media Images Affect Engagement

The researchers created an app to test the composition of social media images as discussed in this article. Try a beta version of the app here.

Social media is overwhelmingly visual. Users upload an estimated 2 billion images daily, making it difficult for brands to capture attention. Consumers scroll rapidly, processing content through automatic, visually driven behaviors rather than deep text analysis. This shift forces social media managers to rethink how they incorporate text without disrupting the visual experience. Text overlays (TOs), which embed text directly within images, offer a solution—but their effectiveness is not always clear.

A Journal of Marketing study finds that certain features of TOs and image characteristics significantly influence consumer engagement. The research team explores how TO size and positioning interact with image dynamism to affect consumer responses. They demonstrate that when a TO is too large or centrally placed alongside a dynamic image, engagement drops.

When text overlays are too large or centrally placed alongside dynamic images, engagement drops.

Combining Text Overlays with Images to Optimize Social Engagement

The authors find that visual appeal is a key factor influencing engagement. Poorly integrated TOs create a sense of disorganization, reducing the aesthetic appeal of social media posts. In contrast, when TOs are placed strategically—accounting for image dynamism, size, and centrality—they enhance engagement.

Results of the study indicate that dynamic images naturally draw attention, but when paired with large, centrally placed TOs, they create a conflicting focal point that reduces engagement. Static images, however, can accommodate larger TOs without disrupting the viewer’s experience. When an image lacks motion, a centrally placed TO can effectively guide attention without overwhelming the visual composition. These findings suggest that TO integration should be tailored to the type of image used.

Implications for Marketers

For practitioners, these insights offer clear guidelines for optimizing text overlays. Marketers should avoid placing large TOs in the center of dynamic images, as this creates visual overload. Instead, using smaller TOs at the periphery maintains balance and improves engagement. Static images provide more flexibility, allowing for larger TOs without negatively affecting perception.

To assist marketers, the researchers introduce a classifier that predicts whether an image is dynamic or static and an app that recommends the ideal TO size and placement. By automating TO optimization, brands can enhance visual appeal and increase consumer interaction.

In an era of declining attention spans and increasing content saturation, these findings have critical implications for digital marketers. Well-designed TOs can amplify brand messages without disrupting the user experience, but poor design choices can deter engagement. Social media managers, advertisers, and content creators should rethink how they integrate text into images to maximize effectiveness.

Source: Stefania Farace, Francisco Villarroel Ordenes, Dennis Herhausen, Dhruv Grewal, and Ko de Ruyter, “Standing Out While Fitting In: Visual Design of Text Overlays in Social Media Communication,” Journal of Marketing, 90 (1), 132–51. doi:10.1177/00222429251322773

Go to the Journal of Marketing