Our brains are more engaged by storytelling than general facts. Visual storytelling content has permeated all social media platforms and corners of the Internet. The prominence of user-generated visual content is forcing brands to step up their creativity and visual marketing efforts.
Psychologists believe we remember and retain more details when there are visual elements involved. Visual marketing is the study of the relationship between an object, the context in which it is placed, and its relevant image. There is a focus on understanding how images can be used to make objects the center of visual communication – how to connect marketing messages to images. Visual content marketing uses images to communicate valuable information in an engaging visual format.
Authentic visual content is more important to consumers than perfectly polished content. Increased sophistication of technology is allowing a heightened level of personalization as we see in Instagram’s highlight reels. New advances in artificial intelligence-driven recognition technology will take targeted ads even further down the road of individualization.
Why (consider “image” to refer to all formats of visual content)
Many studies have shown that almost two-thirds of people are visual learners.
90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
High-quality, relevant images that share valuable information can help viewers more effectively make purchasing decisions.
The average person gets distracted in 8 seconds.
The human brain can process an image seen for less than 15 milliseconds compared to the brain’s process of identifying letters, words, sentences, etc. First impressions are formed in 50 milliseconds so odds are good that images play a large part in first impressions!
Articles with images get 94% more views than articles without.
Buffer found that tweets with images experience 150% higher engagement levels than text-only tweets.
Visual marketing is more likely to be shared than text-based marketing messages.
BuzzSumo found that articles with an image every 75-100 words had twice the social media shares as articles with fewer images.
How
VIDEO is predicted to take up 82% of all Internet traffic by 2021. A Moz study found posts that include videos receive almost 300% more inbound links. Another study found that conversions increased by 86% when a video was included on a landing page. Using the word “video” in a subject line of emails boosts open rates by 19% and click-through rates by 65%. And yet another study found that consumers are 85% more likely to make a purchase when the advertising includes a video. While these statistics are encouraging, it goes without saying that videos should maintain branding integrity and align with the values and mission of your organization.
LIVE STREAMING features help increase user engagement rates. 80% of consumers say they’d rather watch live video than read a blog. It is an excellent way to share behind the scenes looks at your brand, staff, and more. It is also an easy way to repurpose content that was originally text-based. Less than 50% of marketers use live video even though the evolution in capabilities provides an engaging new means of real-time interaction with viewers.
INFLUENCER MARKETING continues to drive sales. This trend practically mandates that brands acknowledge the power of peer recommendations and find ways to incorporate it into their marketing strategy.
INFOGRAPHICS are an effective way to communicate more complicated statistics and have been found to increase web traffic by up to 12%. Make purposeful and relevant choices for layout, color combinations, fonts, and shapes used as each plays an integral part in how consumers digest an infographic.
MEMES are an entertaining way to present visual content. They are easily shared and often tap into viewers’ positive emotions in a meaningful way that encourages people to pass along the content. Memes can allude to your niche market or be completely random. This is one format that isn’t necessarily focused on your brand.
SCREENSHOTS are an effective way to demonstrate claims about a product or service. They are also easily paired with an annotation to provide more information about the visual content.
VISUAL QUOTES let you pair a fabulous image with an inspirational, humorous, or motivational quotation. Use these to appeal to viewers’ emotions – tug at their heartstrings or top their funny bones.
PRESENTATIONS can be shared using a site like SlideShare. They can be used to push out information in a device friendly format and work well for a meatier topic that doesn’t quite fit into an infographic. When creating presentations, consistency in formatting is important as is maintaining a concise and engaging presentation of the material. And don’t forget to use visuals in your visual!
Glossy visuals aren’t enough. They must be backed by a solid concept. As with text-based content, the goal of visual marketing is to create value for a target audience and to present it in a manner useful to them. Images of any sort should demonstrate the value of your product or service. They should highlight positive outcomes consumers can expect.
Capture viewers’ attention with striking imagery and video. Original graphics perform best so resist the urge to save time by using stock images of any sort. Product demonstrations, endorsements, and testimonials provide great proof or reason to believe your marketing claims.
If you are not a designer, look to the many user-friendly video and graphic creation tools available online. Or contact the professionals at Strategy Driven Marketing and trust us to use our design and marketing expertise to work with you to plan and create engaging visual marketing pieces that showcase your products or services.