You must be certain of what will drive online growth and engagement before launching a content marketing campaign. While text-based content will always be important for marketing, in the digital age, you need to focus all of your efforts on creating visual content if you want to truly stand out.
It makes sense to use material types that individuals have a natural psychological resonance with, given that 90% of information processed by the brain is visual, 65% of people are visual learners, and presentations that include visual aids are 43% more compelling.
These six categories of visual material will raise the bar for any marketing initiative.
1. Pictures
People are more likely to read through a body of text if you intersperse it with some captivating photos (as long as the images are of a good caliber and are relevant to the context). According to marketer Jeff Bullas, publications using photos receive 94% more views than those without.
Big blocks of text are highly off-putting since people’s attention spans are shorter than ever due to the overabundance of digital content and the rising popularity of mobile internet access.
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Using your own photos or original ones is recommended since it gives your campaign the much-needed personal touch. Purchasing or creating visually appealing photographs of superior quality can be costly and time-consuming. Thankfully, there are tools like Canva where you can use a simple drag-and-drop interface to generate original, eye-catching photos for free. Alternatively, a seemingly limitless supply of high-quality images are available for free download on photo-sharing websites like Flickr and Morguefile. These sites feature a ton of photographs, so it’s unlikely that other companies in your niche have already used them. Make sure you have permission to use them, though.
2. Motion Pictures
Videos are a great way to explain common issues and then demonstrate how your product can solve them. Even if there are many more affordable options for visual content, a strong film gives your campaign more credibility by showing that you’re willing to go above and beyond for excellence. A landing page with a video on it increased conversions by 86%, according to one research.
There are many different kinds of videos that might improve your business. Some ideas are demonstrations, animated explainer videos, client testimonials, and how-to videos. Whichever option you use, it’s critical that the videos match your brand’s overall aesthetic and values. With the right tools, you can really conquer the video marketing game with InVideo.
3. Graphics
Infographics are a great way to take all of your complicated data and statistics and combine them into a visually appealing and understandable display. Infographics can become a crucial component of your content marketing strategy when used in conjunction with persistent promotional efforts (such as social media, landing page optimization, and networking with important influencers).
An infographic needs to have the most impactful layout and design in order to really pay off. To communicate your crucial information, the designer needs to put the appropriate colors, shapes, and fonts together.
The data you decide to use into the infographic needs to be precise (ideally from peer-reviewed sources) and pertinent to the context. When presented as striking visuals, even the most uninteresting information can occasionally be made to seem more interesting. But make sure every graphic component contributes to the tale as well; it’s not worth ruining your plot to show off your Adobe Illustrator prowess!
strong infographics are popular among bloggers, so if you market yours successfully, there’s a strong chance it will be shared on social media and across the blogosphere. Increased shares translate into increased exposure for your brand, particularly if it reaches the coveted “viral” stage. It’s advisable to include a thumbnail image along with a reference to your website, which hosts the full image, when you share your infographic on social media. This helps you increase traffic (and inbound links) to your website by getting over any social media platform size limitations.
4. Emoticons
Richard Dawkins originally used the term “meme” in 1976 to describe a concept that might replicate itself and take on several meanings depending on who you ask. These days, funny captions accompanying photographs are generally referred to as memes.
When memes initially began to become popular online, not many people imagined that they would be used in content marketing, since they were mostly shared and popularized by college students as a kind of amusement. But they now stand for a simple, humorous type of visual material that can be produced quickly.
Making your own meme is a fantastic method to stand out from the competition and elicit favorable feelings. First and foremost, you need to ascertain whether memes are relevant to your area and whether or not your audience would truly engage with them. You have the solution if a younger demographic connects with your brand! Making in-jokes about your sector with memes is another special advantage. This is a terrific approach to get people laughing and establish a community around your business.
5. Talks
Presentations are no longer limited to boardrooms; because to websites like SlideShare, you can now share your presentation with the entire globe, significantly increasing the reach of your company. No matter what device your audience is using, you can enlighten and communicate with them with a fantastic SlideShare presentation.
Similar to infographics, presentations rely primarily on eye-catching color and design to entice the viewer into reading the content. They are different, though, in that their scope is larger. Therefore, if your topic is too long for an infographic, a well-designed presentation might work wonders to keep viewers interested in what you have to say.
Keep your fonts, borders, and colors consistent because your presentation will probably contain a lot of information. As with any type of content, it is crucial to proofread for spelling and punctuation errors. Just as with infographics, you should always use reliable sources (quoting wikipedia.org is not the best practice). Instead, check the credibility of the sources listed on Wikipedia. If so, you can cite them rather than the Wikipedia entry.
6. Images from screens
You can give your audience an inside look into the inner workings of your product or service by using a screenshot. You can use a direct view to demonstrate the services and features you provide, and to increase your credibility, you can even pair your screenshot with some promotional text or a client endorsement.
When defending the statements you make in your sales material, screenshots come in rather handy. For instance, if you are promoting an app that has specific features, a screenshot accompanied by a caption may provide your audience with the visual evidence they need to believe what you are saying. You can also annotate your screenshots to highlight specific elements of the image (such the button to click) or to give a more detailed explanation of the workings of the program.
Even though they might not appear like the most impressive kind of visual content in this article, screenshots are a very useful tool for establishing credibility. Think about utilizing them to gather client endorsements or reviews from social media or trade forums.
Additionally, since they might add additional context to the data or statistics you are presenting, you might want to include screenshots in your SlideShare presentations and infographics.
Skitch is an excellent tool for adding text and graphics to pictures. It’s free and easy to use.
Utilize Visual Content to Its Fullest
By appealing to your audience’s visceral psychology, visual content entices them to learn more about your company. Your brand’s recognition and visibility will soar if you can create excellent visual material that genuinely connects with viewers and consistently promote it.
But, you will cause more harm than good if your content is boring or poorly structured. Always think about your audience’s demands and avoid creating content solely to meet an upload schedule. As with any kind of content, the important thing is the content itself, but good style is definitely valued.
