Brands continue to invest more in visual communication.
Why is this?
It helps them connect better with audiences. Marketers understand that using visuals inspires, entertains, and creates lasting impressions.
Visuals are also great when you want to educate your customers and improve your brand loyalty. 95% of marketers say that videos help them increase user understanding of their brand.
In another study, it was found that marketers consider visual images as the single most important form of content for their businesses. Visual content also drives the best return on investment.
In fact, 63% of marketers say that video drives the highest ROI, while 56% said photos and graphics drive the best ROI.
Image via Animoto
But what about consumers? What kind of content do they prefer?
Consumers are willing to spend more time with visual and audio content. Nearly 73% of them said they have less time to devote to reading. Visual search, shoppable videos, and images are also some of the technologies millennials like to use when shopping.
What does this mean for you as a marketer?
It means that you should start incorporating visuals into your strategy.
But how can you use it to improve your content marketing?
This post looks at different ways you can leverage visual communication to improve your content marketing efforts.
How Can You Use Visual Communication to Improve Content Marketing?
While text content is necessary for your content marketing, you must focus on visuals to optimize it.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can do so:
1. Use it to Increase User Engagement
Reading through a big block of text can be time consuming, and you might find it challenging to find the information you’re looking for.
Through visual communication, you can display information faster, and consumers can consume it quickly too.
Have you analyzed the engagement of your posts on social media and websites?
What kind of content drives the most engagement?
According to 71% of marketers, using visuals increases a consumer’s time on site.
Image via Renderforest
Strategically using visuals in your posts can attract and retain website visitors. They engage more with the content, and this could eventually increase your conversion rate too. Also, you can compare two different types of content templates using A/B testing your cold emails to find out the best content/template to increase the open rate of the emails.
But how can you tell which visuals will drive engagement?
You can find out by using AI-powered tools like Cortex, Stackla, and Linkfluence. They can help you create content that resonates with your audience and drives engagement.
Cortex, for example, helps you discover the ideal videos, images, colors, keywords, and hashtags that resonate with your audience. It also checks the latest industry trends and suggests styles that are performing well. This way, you can create powerful visual content that can drive engagement.
Image via Cortex
2. Use it to Optimize Your Blog Posts
Most people skim through the content of blog posts, and only 20% of readers finish reading blog articles. The average visitor will also only read 25% of the entire article.
Disappointing, right?
Imagine working for hours writing an article, but only 25% of it gets read.
It means that visitors leave before they can fully engage with your content.
How can you solve this problem?
You can do so by adjusting your writing style and incorporating engaging content that holds their attention.
Start by getting rid of blocks of texts and lengthy paragraphs. Use short sentences and paragraphs that make it easier for readers to skim.
You also need to create content that resonates with your audience. For this, you can use content marketing tools that can help you identify top-performing content for various keywords or topics.
The tools can also help you analyze the performance of the published content so that you can optimize your efforts.
Combine this with visuals, and you can increase the time consumers spend on your website.
Even if the consumer skims through the content, they will probably spend time looking at the visuals. They will read some information either before or after the visual to understand it, thus increasing the time on site.
3. Use it to Connect With Your Audience
Have you ever connected with someone emotionally?
It leaves a lasting impression, right?
A study by Forrester found that how customers feel and think about your brand drives business outcomes like purchases, advocacy, and loyalty. They also noted that how a customer feels impacts their decisions more than how they think.
According to the study, increasing positive thoughts and feelings towards the brand raises the likelihood of subscribing by 10.2%. It also increases the probability of making a purchase by 11.2%, and the possibility of becoming loyal by 14.8%.
Image via Forrester
Visual communication and storytelling can help you build that connection. It could be that persuasive product description, an emotional ad, or even a genuine customer story that can do the job for you.
Use videos and images to tell your audience how the company came to be and what it does. Showcase your employees hard at work, customers enjoying your product, or employees taking part in a Corporate Social Responsibility program.
Use visuals in your blog content, emails, social media posts, and elsewhere. Leverage them to create positive emotions related to your brand and connect better with your audience.
4. Use it to Give Your Social Media Content a Boost
When scrolling through your social feeds, what content draws your attention?
Visuals, right?
It’s that funny meme, hilarious GIF, entertaining video, or image that gets your attention. You can, therefore, use visuals to give your social media efforts a boost.
But how can you stand out from all the marketers trying to hold the audience’s attention with visual content?
Focus your sights on creating engaging content and use ample visuals to get the attention of your target audience. Try coming up with visuals that can create an emotional connection, lead to instant gratification, or offer unique value.
But what visual content should you post?
To figure this out, you can use listening tools. Using them, you can discover trending topics in your industry on social media. You can then create content around those subjects.
Visual content can also help consumers solve a problem or understand a concept. You can choose from a variety of visual formats like infographics, how-to videos, or even memes to get the attention of your audience.
Ready to Improve Your Content Marketing?
Visual communication provides you with numerous opportunities to grow your business. It can help you increase traffic to your website and grow your engagement. Additionally, it can help you improve the time spent by visitors on your website.
Changing how the audience feels about your brand can drive purchases, loyalty, and advocacy.
By using the right visuals, you can create emotional connections with your target consumers, help solve their problems, or help them understand concepts.
Lastly, you can leverage visual content to give a boost to your social media efforts.
Do you have any questions about using visuals to improve your content marketing or any insights to add? Let us know in the comment section below.
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the co-founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.