Content marketing is regarded as one of the most effective marketing strategies by marketers today. The essence of every marketing effort nowadays is content.
The main reason is that online consumers demand content and they expect companies and brands they do business with to provide them with top-quality content.
This is oftentimes quite a challenge. Over the years, marketers have used content in every possible situation. Producing original content is now harder than ever. Fortunately, marketers are creative and they know how to repurpose old content so that it can suit new consumer needs.
The key is visual content. Nowadays, consumers are starting to lose their ability to focus. Back in 2015, the average attention span among consumers was 8.25 seconds. In other words, long-form content is going out of the window and marketers need new approaches that will hold consumer attention.
That’s where visuals come into play. With that in mind, here are a few tips for using visual content marketing.
Use images
Visual content is nothing without images. Consumers only need 1/10 of a second to understand an image, whereas it takes around 60 seconds for them to read between 200 and 250 words.
Therefore, use images whenever you can and ensure that they are quality images that are highly relevant to your audience.
For instance, websites with quality images on CTA (Call To Action) buttons have a 47% higher click-through rate than other websites.
That said, you must use a variety of images across all media channels you plan on including in your marketing campaign.
The power of video
In a world where attention span is diminishing, video is still able to hold the attention of consumers. People love to watch video content and using it in your content marketing is essential.
This is especially true if videos are regarding products or services and their purpose is informative and educational.
For example, in 2021, 78% of data traffic will consist of video. The average watch length of a single video today is 2.7 minutes.
Furthermore, 90% of consumers claim product videos are helpful in their decision-making process and 64% of consumers are willing to make a purchase after watching a product video. Moreover, videos can generate up to 80% more conversions.
Leverage infographics
Infographics contain both textual information and visual elements. In other words, they hold the better of two worlds. Infographics can generate up to 12% more traffic and up to 200% more shares than posts without images.
However, creating quality infographics can be a challenge mainly because you need to focus on bot images and information that will be relevant to your audience.
Luckily, companies, such as Infostarters create infographics that will meet your needs. Just make sure that the infographics you provide to your audience are consistent with your branding and your messaging.
Be wary of the copyright laws
It’s no secret that you won’t be able to keep creating new images all the time. For every piece of content, you publish, creating new images would mean a monumental undertaking. Therefore, you’d do as any other marketer would; use images you find online.
However, every image or other form of visual is protected by copyright laws. If you’re about to use images you found, you’ll have to be wary of infringement.
Even though there’s the fair-use rule, you’d still have to consider contacting the owner of the image and getting permission to use the image in your content.
Optimize visuals for SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential for online visibility, whether for your entire website or for individual pieces of content. Optimizing visuals for SEO is, therefore, vital. Here are a few things you can do to optimize for visual search.
- Use relevant images
- Leverage the right keywords
- Include ALT text for images
- Use captions
- Optimize image titles and descriptions
- Use high-resolution images
- Use the right format
Social sharing
Visual content marketing works best on social media platforms. That said, don’t forget to add social media sharing buttons to your visual content. Consumers who like your content will want to share it with their friends and family.
This will generate more exposure for your content and more web traffic for your business. Moreover, with social sharing, your content has an increased chance of going viral. Viral content creates unique opportunities for companies and provides you with a lot of other benefits as well.
Social media promotions
As mentioned before, visual content marketing works wonders on social media. Don’t wait for your audience to start sharing your content. Instead, publish it on your social media pages as early as possible.
For example, visual content marketing on Facebook alone can generate 65% more engagement after just a month’s practice.
Moreover, tweets with images get up to 150% more retweets and Facebook posts with visuals see 2.3 times more engagement than posts without visuals.
In other words, social media is an ideal channel for visual content marketing so don’t hesitate to use it to its fullest potential.
Visual marketing can not just hold consumer attention but also ensure their engagement. Creating a visual content marketing campaign is one of the surest ways to ensure both exposures for your company and a good reputation in the online world.
