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Marketing is a vast industry that encompasses many different kinds of strategies and methods. From traditional marketing and email marketing to influencer marketing and shopper marketing, there are so many different opportunities for your business to take advantage of. With the increasing digitalization of the world, there are more opportunities than ever before.
A visual content marketing strategy is all about sharing visuals with your audience, and this form of marketing is only growing in popularity. Keep reading to learn more about visual content marketing, the different kinds of visuals used in this strategy, and how they can bring your campaigns to the next level.
What Is Visual Content Marketing?
Visual marketing involves using visuals to grab attention, convey information, and engage with your audience. There are different types of visual content, such as images, GIFs, videos, diagrams, infographics, and so on. Each form may be used for a different situation, or might be used within the same marketing materials. Outlined below are some of the most common forms of visual content creation and implementation.
Photos and Images
Photos and images are often the first thing people think of when they hear the term “visual marketing.” Photos are worth a thousand words, and they’re effective at drawing people in without actually using any words at all. They can elicit emotions and communicate information quickly, and they’re usually easier for people to process than blocks of text. In fact, research from MIT proposes that people can process photos in 16 milliseconds—much faster than someone can process a sentence.
Using photos in your visual marketing strategy can help you share your message and leave a lasting impression on your audience. After all, the end goal is to draw people in and make your content memorable.
Short and Long Form Videos
Much like photos, videos are used in visual content marketing to grab attention quickly. The difference is that videos have to keep the viewer’s interest to ensure they stick around for the whole thing (optimally).
Many people are visual learners—about 65%, according to a 2004 study—which means that videos are a great asset for any marketing team to have. There are many ways you can use videos to your advantage in your campaigns, including product demonstrations, educational videos, product or service introductions, expert interviews, webinars, entertainment videos, and more.
When trying to create video content, there are several different paths you can take. For example, longer form videos like podcast recordings or behind the scenes looks can be useful for people that are already somewhere in the middle of your sales funnel, and short form videos may be more effective at capturing attention straight away (think TikTok and Instagram Reels).
Infographics and Data Visualization
First things first: infographics and data visualization are not necessarily the same thing. Infographics are a type of content good for sharing critical insights about your industry or your brand in a visually appealing and digestible way. Data visualisation visuals can be more effective for outlining certain data points or highlighting a key finding or metric.
They both help you connect to your target audience in a more relatable and accessible way. Sharing real data and key findings about your business, products, or industry in a way that’s easy to understand can improve trustworthiness in your brand and help people get a better read on the subject at hand.
Both infographics and data visualisation content might include charts, graphs, plots, statistics, etc. Though, infographics may contain more text than something created for data visualization, as they are often used as a summary of important points in addition to a medium for sharing data.
Animation and GIFs
While videos are a powerful marketing tool, adding other forms of dynamic visual material, such as animation, is a great way to draw attention to your business. To engage with their target audience, many brands create GIFs or animated videos to assist customers in comprehending a specific subject.
Because the animated style and GIFs are so popular nowadays, publishing marketing content in this format can help your company increase visibility and relatability among your target audience. There are several ways to incorporate animation into your visual content development, including digestible how-to videos, animated company logos, entertainment videos for social media posts, and more.
Get Interactive With User Generated Content
Getting your audience to engage with your content is a great goal to have, and if they do, use that! Incorporating user-generated content into your visual marketing campaign can help customers feel more connected to your brand and show your general audience that you care about what they have to say. Implementing user-generated content usually involves looking for relevant content from someone posting about your brand’s products and services.
User-generated content is not influencer marketing. It is a result of the voluntary creation of content from someone talking about your brand or products on social media platforms. An example of how you might integrate user-generated content into your visual strategy is sharing a user’s Instagram post on your page (with credits to them).
Why Visual Content Marketing Is So Important
The name “visual content marketing” may make it seem like this is a strategy entirely separate from other subsections of marketing, but this isn’t really the case. You will likely find yourself implementing visual content marketing in nearly all of your campaigns and on all of your channels. Campaigning with social media, email, blog posts, etc., means that you’ll also be using visual content marketing.
The importance of visuals in marketing can’t be understated. Imagine your current marketing efforts, but without any relevant images or visuals at all; it would only be walls of text! Utilizing visuals brings a much needed element to marketing and helps audiences stay engaged and stimulated.
Final Words
There are many advancements in the world of visual content marketing, and keeping up with them is essential for businesses focused on growth. Visuals are undeniably crucial to any successful marketing campaign.
Don’t miss out on any traffic or lead generation, and make sure your marketing materials are enjoyable to look at! If you’d like some guidance on how to revamp your digital marketing efforts, contact the experts at Markerly to get help creating a one-of-a-kind visual strategy today.
