We have focused a lot on content recently, which most people think covers the written word. However, just concentrating on words is not enough to get shares of your content or even solid links, you need to use visual content to achieve that. Statistics show that;

  • Over 65% of the world’s population is composed of visual learners – who need charts, diagrams, graphs and models to help them to process the information they are reading.
  • Humans process visual data better – in fact, 90% of the information that is passed to the brain is visual.

So, what types of visual content can you use to help your content to be seen?

#1 Images

If you are producing blogs on subjects within your niche, then you should be breaking up text with high quality, compelling images which entice your audience to carry on reading your post. As humans, our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, thanks to the oversaturation of digital content out there; therefore, big blocks of text are a real turn off for the majority of people.

  • Search Engine Journal recently revealed that their research had shown that the articles they posted with images in received 94% more views than those without images.
  • They also found that tweets with images received 150% more retweets than those without.
  • Buzzsumo also had similar findings for Facebook, stating that photo posts experienced 2.3x more engagement than those posts without photos.

So, now you are convinced of the value of images, what sort of images can you use?

  • Image quotes always go down well as long as they are educational, motivational or even funny! Come up with your own quote or find one from an influencer – just remember to keep them helpful and practical.
  • Emotional images that capture a mood, feeling or lifestyle without you having to write anything else can be truly exceptional – anything that surprises your audience (in a good way) or makes them curious to find out more will always generate more click-throughs.
  • Questions and puzzle images tend to get shared a lot as people want to challenge their friends and family.

#2 Screenshots

These differ to images, as they can give your potential customers a quick overview of the functions of your service – a first-hand idea of how your service works and also helping to boost your brand creditability. For example, if you are promoting an app, you can use screenshots to prove that your app does what it says it does. To increase the likelihood of your screenshot being shared, you could accompany it with a witty caption or add some notes to give a deeper understanding of how your service works.

Of course, screenshots are still images as well, therefore come with all the benefits mentioned above.

 

#3 Memes (pronounced meems)

Memes are everywhere these days and are defined as images that are accompanied by a funny caption – get it right, and you could quite quickly go viral. Memes are great for generating positive feelings towards your business from your target audience, but you need first to make sure that your target audience will respond favourably to them.

#4 Infographics

Infographics are a great way to present more complex data to your audience in a way in which they will find more understandable. They need to be done well, with the right combination of colours, fonts and shapes to make sure the information is clearly conveyed. Again, if your infographic connects with your readers, it will get shared and attract backlinks too. If you want to further boost your chances of getting it shared, then add a short introduction to it.

 

#5 Presentations

Now when you think about presentations and slides, you probably think about board meetings, but they are also an excellent tool to use online – with sites such as SlideShare making them easy to upload. Using slides can help you to break down a lot of complex information into smaller chunks that are easier to understand. Again, like infographics, they depend on colour and design to get the message across, and they should be uncluttered and clear. They should also contain information that is practical for the reader and actionable as well. Colour, design and font should be consistent across all slides so that the message stays streamlined.

#6 Video

Video content is still one of the most effective ways of educating your customer about your product or service in a way that is engaging and entertaining. It will take more time and effort than other image options, but there are a lot of statistics out there to show why it is worth doing. For example, Animoto found that four times as many consumers prefer watching a product video to reading about it. Hubspot also found that landing pages with a video achieved an 80% increase in conversions than those without a video. It is the same for social media as well, with organic posts containing videos having an organic reach of 8.71%.

The use of videos can offer significant benefits for your business, but you need to be selective about the type of videos you use to make sure they enhance your brand. You could use customer testimonials, product demonstrations, explainer videos with animations or even how-to videos – the choice is endless.

As you can see, there is a wide variety of visual content available to you to help boost your marketing campaign. The popularity of visuals is probably due to them enabling the audience to quickly interpret the content, more so than text only.

If you want to include some properly executed graphics and other visual content in your next campaign, then we are here to help. Talk to us today about images, slides and even videos.

Visual Content: The Fastest Way to Deliver Your Message

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We have focused a lot on content recently, which most people think covers the written word. However, just concentrating on words is not enough to get shares of your content or even solid links, you need to use visual content to achieve that. Statistics show that;

  • Over 65% of the world’s population is composed of visual learners – who need charts, diagrams, graphs and models to help them to process the information they are reading.
  • Humans process visual data better – in fact, 90% of the information that is passed to the brain is visual.

So, what types of visual content can you use to help your content to be seen?

#1 Images

If you are producing blogs on subjects within your niche, then you should be breaking up text with high quality, compelling images which entice your audience to carry on reading your post. As humans, our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, thanks to the oversaturation of digital content out there; therefore, big blocks of text are a real turn off for the majority of people.

  • Search Engine Journal recently revealed that their research had shown that the articles they posted with images in received 94% more views than those without images.
  • They also found that tweets with images received 150% more retweets than those without.
  • Buzzsumo also had similar findings for Facebook, stating that photo posts experienced 2.3x more engagement than those posts without photos.

So, now you are convinced of the value of images, what sort of images can you use?

  • Image quotes always go down well as long as they are educational, motivational or even funny! Come up with your own quote or find one from an influencer – just remember to keep them helpful and practical.
  • Emotional images that capture a mood, feeling or lifestyle without you having to write anything else can be truly exceptional – anything that surprises your audience (in a good way) or makes them curious to find out more will always generate more click-throughs.
  • Questions and puzzle images tend to get shared a lot as people want to challenge their friends and family.

#2 Screenshots

These differ to images, as they can give your potential customers a quick overview of the functions of your service – a first-hand idea of how your service works and also helping to boost your brand creditability. For example, if you are promoting an app, you can use screenshots to prove that your app does what it says it does. To increase the likelihood of your screenshot being shared, you could accompany it with a witty caption or add some notes to give a deeper understanding of how your service works.

Of course, screenshots are still images as well, therefore come with all the benefits mentioned above.

 

#3 Memes (pronounced meems)

Memes are everywhere these days and are defined as images that are accompanied by a funny caption – get it right, and you could quite quickly go viral. Memes are great for generating positive feelings towards your business from your target audience, but you need first to make sure that your target audience will respond favourably to them.

#4 Infographics

Infographics are a great way to present more complex data to your audience in a way in which they will find more understandable. They need to be done well, with the right combination of colours, fonts and shapes to make sure the information is clearly conveyed. Again, if your infographic connects with your readers, it will get shared and attract backlinks too. If you want to further boost your chances of getting it shared, then add a short introduction to it.

 

#5 Presentations

Now when you think about presentations and slides, you probably think about board meetings, but they are also an excellent tool to use online – with sites such as SlideShare making them easy to upload. Using slides can help you to break down a lot of complex information into smaller chunks that are easier to understand. Again, like infographics, they depend on colour and design to get the message across, and they should be uncluttered and clear. They should also contain information that is practical for the reader and actionable as well. Colour, design and font should be consistent across all slides so that the message stays streamlined.

#6 Video

Video content is still one of the most effective ways of educating your customer about your product or service in a way that is engaging and entertaining. It will take more time and effort than other image options, but there are a lot of statistics out there to show why it is worth doing. For example, Animoto found that four times as many consumers prefer watching a product video to reading about it. Hubspot also found that landing pages with a video achieved an 80% increase in conversions than those without a video. It is the same for social media as well, with organic posts containing videos having an organic reach of 8.71%.

The use of videos can offer significant benefits for your business, but you need to be selective about the type of videos you use to make sure they enhance your brand. You could use customer testimonials, product demonstrations, explainer videos with animations or even how-to videos – the choice is endless.

As you can see, there is a wide variety of visual content available to you to help boost your marketing campaign. The popularity of visuals is probably due to them enabling the audience to quickly interpret the content, more so than text only.

If you want to include some properly executed graphics and other visual content in your next campaign, then we are here to help. Talk to us today about images, slides and even videos.