When you think of marketing, you probably think of business cards and a business website. Most forms of marketing are text-based, like your company’s blog or it’s social media posts, but visual content marketing is a huge part of building your brand’s reputation. Visuals boost brand recognition and visibility.
Did you know that we only remember 10% of what we hear or read? Did you also know that if an image is paired with other content, consumers are 65% more likely to retain the information? The fact is, we live in a world of visual learners.
There’s no better time than now to introduce visuals into your marketing. Keep reading for ways to seamlessly include graphics into your marketing plan.
Email Marketing
Email-based campaigns still stand as some of the most popular ways to build engagement with your customer base. Emails can be used to announce a new product or to provide details about an upcoming sale, but purely-text based emails are things of the past. Nowadays, if you want users to read an email, it needs to be visually appealing.
Adding a personalized image to your emails is a great way to turn bland emails into unique creations. These images are dynamic and change based on recipient information. For example, the image could change based on:
- The recipient’s name
- Birthday or birth month
- Location or time zone
Aside from an image, you can also spruce up emails by adding a countdown. Remind users just how soon you’ll be releasing that new product. Countdowns build excitement and buzz around your announcement.
The best part? There are tons of places like Nifty Images that let you create these email images for free.
Social Media Marketing
More than 88% of companies use social media for marketing purposes, but any company can post a status update on Facebook or tweet on Twitter. To make your social media marketing efforts stand out from the crowd, embrace visuals!
Photos posted to social media receive more likes and views than text posts. Ever heard of that site called Pinterest? It’s the 4th largest traffic driver in the world. Visuals sell, but how can you use them?
When posting on any social network, add a graphic to further emphasize the topic. What you’ll want to avoid is attaching an image to your post just because. The visual you choose needs to flow with the topic of the post. It also needs to align with company values and the mission of the marketing campaign. It’s also important to consider your audience. If you’re looking to target older generations, a meme may not be the best visual to use.
To succeed with visual-based social media marketing:
- Create original graphics
- Focus on using gifs and memes (as appropriate), as they get the highest viewer engagement
- Avoid using stock photos
With the right visual content techniques, you can grow your social network following and boost company visibility.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is all about creating content that draws in readers. This content is often provided in the form of blog posts and informational articles. While short concise blog posts can be catchy, sometimes you want to change things up a bit for your readers. Instead of relying on entirely text-based content, use a visual.
Infographics are a great way of conveying important information in a new form. Infographics are visually appealing and are more likely to draw a user’s attention. Aside from infographics, you can also share content through diagrams, flowcharts, and more.
Videos can also be used to share content. DIY videos as well as product reviews are quite popular on YouTube.
How to Leverage Visuals
As with any content, the most important part of visual marketing is to be original. Reusing content that’s been posted dozens of times before won’t garner the attention or buzz that you’re seeking.
But how can you create original visual content? In-house or outsourced, your company will want to:
- Hire a professional graphic designer
- Create training for basic photo editing
- Learn how to use DIY image programs
There are also plenty of free and low-cost apps that can be used to edit photos on the go. Take time to get your staff involved with the visual marketing campaign. The more creativity you can put towards it, the more likely it is that your campaign will produce measurable results.
If you’re a small company, in-house work may not be in your budget. Outsourcing visuals is low-risk and can save time and money.
Consider working with a company to determine your visual content needs. The right company will offer insight into visual marketing as well as ideas that will work within your target audience.
Conclusion
As the face of marketing changes, your company must be willing to change with it. Visual content marketing is an important piece of any successful campaign. No matter the marketing techniques that your company employs, adding a visual touch is an important factor in its success.
