Why You Absolutely Need Visual Content In Your Marketing
It’s no secret that we live in a visual society and respond more to images and video than written content at times. While copy is definitely still an important way to convey vital information, the rise of platforms like Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest proves that pictures really do say 1000 words, and that consumers respond especially well to marketing efforts that include a bit of eye candy. Everyday, we take in tons of information on line, and typically skim and scan most digital spaces until something catches our eye. That something is more likely to be a picture or video rather than a long block of text. Embedded between larger blocks of text like a long blog post or native advertisement, imagery can aid to visually break up the copy as well as add context for what’s being written about.
Consider the mood or message you’re looking to convey when thinking about the visual content you hope will grab your target audience’s attention. Posts that include images have a whopping 650% more engagement than those without, so it goes without saying that they’re important to have in everything you post. Even a visual rendering of simple text with a variety of colours and fonts can be the difference between posts, emails and other marketing initiatives that are opened, liked and shared vs. ones that aren’t. You may be stuck on what types of images to share with your posts – especially if you don’t want to use the same ones more than a few times. Here’s just a few ideas to get you on the right track.
Branded or Related Stock Images
Depending on what your brand is all about, you should have a whole host of custom images features your products or services that you can share every time you create a blog post, advertisement or social media post. These images should be branded with your logo when you’re sharing them on social media, so it’s instantly recognizable when it’s being shared and can be traced back to you if it ends up being reposted on its own without the written content it was accompanying. Some brands, however, aren’t set up to really have custom photos available if you deal with more intangible services. This is where quality stock photos come in. There are tons of sites and millions of photos you can licence for use in your digital posts & sharing. No matter what your business is about, there’s an appropriate image, graphic or drawing that can go along with it to convey the idea being written about.
Infographics
Infographics are a great way to take the ideas from a longer written piece and make them digestible as visual content – making your content highly sharable based on the informational value. Gathering and sharing data, statistics, analytics & progress can be dry topics for some; so creating something that’s visually appealing and presents the information in a succinct flow can encourage more people to read in and then move on to the full written work. Any custom created infographic should have your logo located somewhere, especially if it has information that would be widely useful. This ties it back to you and your brand in the event that it goes viral.
Branded or Related Videos
By 2018, nearly 79% of all internet traffic will be video-based according to Inc.com. Does this spell the end of written content? Probably not, but it’s important to understand the role video has and will take in the next few years. Video content is an important factor within advertising and can help to condense longer written content into an engaging format. With all of the online research that occurs before consumers make their purchase of subscription decisions, consumers are about 85% more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it. From creative storytelling to how-to videos, video content makes consumers feel more connected to the brand – seeing a relatable brand persona or the product in action will help them feel more comfortable with taking the plunge. Whether you can have your own content or video ads made, or you share others that are relevant to your market – videos are a great way to enrich the written content and marketing that you share.
It’s worth noting that there’s a tiny window of time to make a first impression, so relevant, appropriate, high-quality imagery and video that speaks to your brand will be important factors in getting a second look.