Some experts called the year 2017 as the year of visual content. However, that’s not really accurate, because every year afterward is also the year of visual content. That’s because visual content becomes more important than ever with every year that goes by. In this article, we will be looking at visual content and its importance, and letting you know how to use it better in your marketing efforts.
The Definition of Visual Content
The definition of visual content is just exactly what it sounds like – content that has some sort of a visual element. For example, a picture that is included with an article or blog post would be a form of visual content, as would anything with pictures sent to an email inbox. However, that is the most basic form of the term. What really defines visual content is the content itself. One perfect example of this is the infographic. Not only does the infographic give the reader lots of content to read, but it presents that content in such a way that the average user does not regard it as content at all – but instead considers it an image.
Visual Content Statistics
In order to understand the value of visual contact, it might be useful to look at some of the statistics that are out there regarding them. There is been a great deal of research done on how customers respond to various types of content on the Internet in a marketing campaign. Visual content has been included in most of those studies. As a result, we have a great deal of solid information on how people see visual content and respond to it when they encounter it on a search engine.
The first thing that you have to understand is the 90% of the type of content transmitted to the brain is visual. Your brain is optimized to receive visual content. In addition, according to the digital marketing Institute, content has 94% more views when it has visual images included then content that just has text with no images added. Here are some other quick statistics about visual content that you should be aware of.
- By 2019, experts are predicting that video will account for 80% of Internet traffic.
- Posts with images get more than twice as much engagement on Facebook then post the do not have images.
- Tweets that have images with them are retweeted almost 3 times as often as tweets that do not have images.
- Nearly 40% of marketers say that visual content makes up the majority of their conversions.
- Three quarters of social media marketers use visual elements as part of their standard marketing practices.
- People retain written information after a few days only 10% of the time, while people retain images after a few days more than 65% of the time.
Types of Effective Visual Content
Let’s take a look at some of the most effective types of visual content that is out there. These are types of visual content that you should definitely be using in your own marketing efforts. Everything is visual now, including articles and news delivered.
The first is infographics. Infographics have gone viral quite often, because they imparted amazing information in an entertaining way. The infographic is so effective because it is able to put a great deal of information into a small space, and presented in such a way that the reader is entertained and excited throughout the entire thing.
Images are pretty much the standard are pretty much the standard and comes to visual content creation. You should always be including images with your marketing content. As you can see by some of the statistics above, adding images to your social media posts and other types of content increase retention rates and make people much more likely to convert. However, make sure that you are choosing the right images and that they are eye-catching and give a positive impression of your company.
You also need to be using visual calls to action. A call to action is a section within a product description or website that tells the reader to do something. A lot of people simply use text and links is there calls to action, studies show that visual calls to action are much more effective. Big colorful buttons and unique images are going to be the most effective ways to get someone to take action.
Graphs and other data visualization can be important components of any marketing strategy. If you need to demonstrate something to your customers, putting in graph form whenever possible will be the most effective way to get that information into their brains and allow it to stay there long enough for them to make a buying decision.
Visual puzzles and polls are some of the best ways to get customers to interact with you. If you can use of visual to get someone to give their opinion to you or to complete a puzzle that will take them along the buying process, you are going to be able to improve your conversion odds by at least 10%.
Making use of memes is also a great idea. Memes are loved by just about everyone on the Internet, and if you can use a familiar image with something new about your product or service, you will be able to make an impression on the customer as well as entertain them. Just make sure that you are writing clever memes. You definitely don’t want to be boring.
Expert Tips: How to Make Visual Content Stand out
Here are some expert tips on how to make visual content stand out.
- Test your visual content on different networks and with different groups of people, to find out what is most effective.
- Find out what sort of visual content your audience wants and then use it.
- Visual content that works is never going to feel businesslike or inauthentic. You definitely don’t want your visuals to feel like stock images.
- Bring something new to your customers through visual content that they have never seen before. Come up with something really creative.
- Above all, make sure that you are seeking out visual content for almost every single thing that you publish online and through other mediums as well.
Summary
Visual content is an important part of any marketing strategy. If you are able to use visual content successfully, you will improve your conversion rates and get customers to remember you much better. You have to use visual content correctly. There are dozens of different types of visual content out there. We have listed a few of them here that are most effective. Use the expert tips as you create visual content in order to have the best chance of them performing the way that you need them to.
