Being a part of the 21st century, if we look around, we will notice that technology has become part and parcel of our daily lives. We are living in a digital era where the old methods of advertisements have been replaced, or in short, outdated. Visual marketing has taken over the world by a storm, so it is safe to say that visual content has become an integral and vital part of any smooth running and flourishing business. Especially with social sites like Facebook, Instagram and many others, the digital marketing trend has been increasing and growing.

Even after having such great importance and significance, business owners/entrepreneurs often neglect or overlook this factor. According to several kinds of research, it has been concluded that visual content has a quicker and profound impact on triggering human emotions as compared to other advertisement or marketing tools. Visual content plays a role in building a brand identity. Here’s a quick example; what comes to mind when you think of McDonald’s? A yellow lower case alphabet “M”. Now this logo, although very simple, has become its identity. Wherever we go, when we see this letter when we instantly recognise it. So, visual content helps with recognition too.

Let us take a look over the statistics to understand the importance of visual content in figures. It has been recorded that a Tweet with visual content gets retweeted 150% more. Moreover, studies have shown that visual content has become one of the top five tools for business to business marketing.

Types of visual content

Following are the two major types of visual contents.

Videos

We are a part of a fast-moving world. There are hardly people who spend time in reading large paragraphs to know about something. Video here is the best option for masses. A 60-second video which covers all the parts and prospects of the product or service you are selling is the most convenient and liked option for the masses.

Photos

Photos, when combined with terse bullet points, are the second-best combination of letting the target customers know about the product or service in the quickest way (using stock photos or customer photography).

Apart from these two major categories, illustrations, screenshots and screencasts, graphs, flowcharts etc. are also a part of it.

Advantages of visual content

Now let’s talk about the benefits of investing in visual content, especially for small business owners.

Eye-catcher!

Number one reason why visual content is appreciated by the buyers/customers so much is that it grabs their attention. Now, the probability of a person randomly scrolling through Facebook to stop and look at a colourful, eye-catching visual content is MORE than something written on a white piece of paper. There is already too much text-based information in the world.

What we as entrepreneurs need to realise is that with time, the content needs to be unique, creative and innovative because the competition is too much, and one can only win through his or her creativity.

Easy to read and grasp

A fact about visual content is that it is easy to understand by the audience. While text-based information takes time for the human mind to grasp, visual content-based information is quicker to understand.

Generates more engagement

It is a very famous tactic used by bloggers and now, by business owners. You can even test it, post a colourful and creative picture or video of the product you are selling with little but important bullet points and on the other hand, share a status full of information about the product without any picture or video. It is guaranteed that the visual content will get more likes and shares as compared to the second scenario.

Once there is engagement, your post ought to get more likes and attention, which will ultimately bring more traffic to your brand.

Tips and tricks for great visual content

• Don’t skimp on the professional photo and video equipment. The audience is accustomed to high-resolution visual content.
• If the business concept is complex, prefer using infographics. Infographics explain a complex concept visually. It is one of the most effective marketing strategies.
• Memes! Create memes that are relevant to the content and are targeting the correct audience.
• Vlogging is another trend that has taken over social media by a storm. Business owners can also use this to spread awareness of their product or service.
• For processing and editing, use intuitive software, but with a wide range of features. Here is the example of good one to create a video blog.

To add it all up, business owners often neglect the importance of visual content marketing and the role it plays in transferring traffic to the brand. One reason is that they believe it is a lot of hard work, or it is not their cup of tea.