Visual marketing has come of age. The growing impact of visual elements in content development has given birth to a new kind of marketing. These elements include photos, videos, infographics, comics, memes, slideshows, and other visual content. One reason for the growth of this trend is in many cases, data and complex ideas are more clearly expressed through visual imagery. Moving forward, any effective marketing campaign will need to make use of a strategic combination of visual marketing content.
What is visual marketing?
Visual marketing is the strategy of using visual aids to communicate your brand’s particular story. Using design elements, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]graphics, and images in your marketing can make your marketing more authoritative and memorable[/inlinetweet] to your audience.
“Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”~Walt Disney
Benefits of visual marketing?
People are bombarded with so much information online that visual marketing can help you cut through the clutter. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]Human beings are naturally inclined to respond to visual storytelling.[/inlinetweet]
According to David Langton and Anita Campbell, authors of Visual Marketing: 99 Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design, “Well done infographics allow businesses to communicate powerful brand stories through compelling graphics. The best infographics have an element of entertainment to them, and people tend to share infographics, when they might not share the same information presented as text.” The same may be said for other forms of visual content.
In addition to increasing the chances that people will share your content, visual marketing offers the following benefits.
Attract busy people who wouldn’t take the time to read long copy
Human beings are hard-wired to respond to symbols. Sometimes visual marketing will get the attention of someone who would not have responded to traditional, text-based marketing.
Help people digest large amounts of data
Visual marketing is “easy on the eyes.” [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]Visual elements can help you share several data points or communicate a complex idea in an effective, easy to understand manner.[/inlinetweet]
Search Engine Optimization
One benefit to visual marketing that many people overlook is the SEO component. Using descriptions, captions, and alt tags with your visual content provides an excellent opportunity to be found through organic search.
Drive engagement
Visual marketing can boost your engagement on the social web significantly. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]The most shared and most clicked viewed links on Twitter are images.[/inlinetweet] Likewise, the Facebook posts that get the most likes, comments, and shares are photos. Photos on Facebook outperform text, video, and links. The most popular blogs also make good use of captivating images. If you want to make the most out of social media, you should be using visual content.
More traffic
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]Publishers who use infographics grow in traffic an average of 12% more than those who don’t.[/inlinetweet] Make certain you are distributing your visual content effectively. Consider that Pinterest generated more referral traffic for businesses than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined.More inbound links
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]Research shows that posts with videos attract 3 times more inbound links than plain text posts.[/inlinetweet]Increase the time visitors spend on your site
Viewers spend 100% more time on pages with videos on them. The more you can interact with your potential customer the more opportunity you have to develop that relationship. Did you know that visitors are 85% more likely to buy a product after watching a product video?
5 Pillars of Visual Marketing
The best way to optimize your marketing for visual marketing is to follow a few guidelines.
- Just like text-based content, all of your visual content should serve some purpose. Use compelling stories to give your audience value.
- As mentioned before, make sure to choose the best medium for your content.
- Work with third-party industry experts to curate and promote your visual content.
- Great design, effective use of colors, and branding can help you appeal to your audience’s emotions.
- Expose your content to as many eyes as possible by cross-promoting it on various channels.
The purpose and function of each format
Do you remember the old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? That may be true, but how do you know when to use text and when to use visual content? I’d like to share a bit about the purpose and function of different kinds of visual content so you know when and how to add visual marketing to your marketing mix.
Infographics — Tell a story with illustrations, data, and copy.
Comics — Share one idea in an easily shareable and potentially viral format.
Memes — Typically, these are images with 1-2 lines of text. A good meme can go viral lightning-fast.
Visual Note-Taking — Express ideas and stream of thoughts in an engaging manner.
Photos — Flickr and Instagram owe their growth to the popularity of online photo sharing.
Videos — Video can provide helpful information to customers, establish thought leadership, or visually convey information that words alone can’t.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]For your visual marketing to work, you must get your content in front of people.[/inlinetweet] Make content on your own digital properties easy to share by providing a working embed code and targeted social buttons. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]Increase the reach of your visual marketing by building relationships, partnering, and co-branding.[/inlinetweet]Even though people are busy, a majority of internet users love to share images online. Use this knowledge to your advantage. Remember, if creating amazing content is part of your digital marketing strategy, then [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@smedio” suffix=””]you should look for ways to create and share concise, shareable, and informative visual content.[/inlinetweet]
Are you experiencing success with visual marketing? How are you integrating visual content into your marketing strategy? Leave a comment and let me know your favorite online visual marketing tool.
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This is a really nice article, Douglas. Thanks for sharing it with us. I’m really glad that among all of the quotes you could have used, you used exactly the one and my favorite from Walt Disney: “Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.” No matter where you are, who you are or what you are doing, you still understand a picture like (almost) everyone else. Thanks again.
Thanks Michal.