Visual Content Marketing has taken on an increasingly important role. In fact, a good Digital Marketing strategy today cannot do without the use of visual content.
The creation of visual and video content must take competition into account: online, users are bombarded with information, and it’s becoming more and more challenging to capture their attention.
In particular, the activity of Social Media Marketing Certification, to achieve good results (measurable in ROI, engagement, conversions, and leads), must necessarily involve the strategic use of visual content, using images, graphics, videos, or gifs.
In this article, I will talk to you about Visual Content Marketing, specifically:
- What is Visual Content Marketing
- Why the use of visual content is important
- Statistical data on the use of images
- Types of visual content
- Free visual content tools for online creation
Visual Content Marketing: What is it?
First, let me give you a definition of Visual Content Marketing to help you understand what it’s about: It’s a type of activity, primarily carried out online, aimed at achieving a predetermined goal through the use of visual content such as photos, videos, or graphics.
This type of graphic and video content, leveraging immediacy, simplicity, and versatility, all characteristics of visual content, must be able to capture the user’s attention by appealing to emotion, interest, and curiosity.
Exploiting a characteristic of the human brain, which processes images much more easily than words, visual content must convey your message effectively.
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Why Visual Marketing Matters
As I mentioned earlier, the use of images has become crucial in web strategies. Online competition is fierce, and to stand out, you must know how to capture users’ attention in just a few seconds. Utilizing the impact and power of images, along with useful content, is now essential. That’s why, in a Digital Marketing strategy, integrating Visual Content Marketing is highly important.
Over the years, social networks themselves have pushed in this direction, focusing heavily on visual marketing. Just think of Facebook’s changes to the newsfeed the introduction of Live videos, or Twitter and the Periscope app. And if we consider Instagram, we see a social platform based on Visual Content, which has experienced significant growth in recent years.
The goal of social networks is clear: promote the use of visual content to increase user engagement and keep them on their platform longer. One last, no less important consideration: an image conveys information much faster than text because it doesn’t require the time that reading does.
Visual Content Marketing: Statistics
To support what was mentioned in the previous paragraph, I now present 5 significant statistical data demonstrating the importance and impact of visual content on people.
1. According to brainrules.net, when you listen to information, the brain remembers only 10% of it after 3 days. If the same information is accompanied by an image, the brain remembers 65% of it three days later.
2. A study found that content accompanied by an image gets 94% more views than content without images, which is almost double! (source)
3. According to BuzzSumo, out of 100 million Facebook updates analyzed over 3 months, a post with images gets 2.3 times more engagement than one without. For every like obtained without an image, you get 2 more by adding one.
4. On average, visual content is shared 40 times more on social networks than any other type of content. This data alone shows how important images are for the success of online content.
5. 90% of online buyers have found videos helpful in making purchase decisions.
These statistics leave no room for doubt: In your digital strategy, you cannot do without Visual Content Marketing.
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Types of Visual Content Marketing
After analyzing the data, let’s explore the various types of visual content you can utilize in your web strategies. The most commonly used formats include:
- Photographs
- Video
- Infographics
- Memes
- Gifs
Photographs should be chosen with care; they require relevant and high-quality images. Avoid using those that are overly used or clichéd; strive to be original to capture attention. It’s even better if you apply filters to enhance your photos, focus on a specific filter to characterize your communication, and ensure that your photos become instantly recognizable.
Video content is highly useful when you need to provide solutions, demonstrate what can be achieved with a product, or showcase customer testimonials. High-quality videos may require a significant budget, but they undoubtedly yield results, as demonstrated by various statistics.
Infographics are essential when you need to convey a lot of information simultaneously, provide quick statistics, or present data. By using free tools and a bit of creativity, you can achieve excellent results. To make your infographic more shareable (and possibly viral), it’s best to focus on simplicity and immediacy, leveraging visual elements.
Memes are images to which phrases are added with the aim of piquing interest and capturing the user’s attention. They are straightforward to create and, therefore, accessible to everyone. Here, you can truly get creative by using impactful and amusing phrases. The only consideration you need to make is whether the audience you’re addressing is suitable for this type of visual content.
GIFs are very brief videos that repeat in a loop, and like memes, they are visual content that should be used judiciously depending on the type of audience you intend to reach. The primary advantage you can gain is the ability to convey tedious or less easily digestible messages in an original manner. Another use can be providing brief instructions on the use of a platform or software.
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Visual Content Marketing: 4 free tools
You can create all these types of visual content yourself, using free or paid software and visual marketing tools. There are many visual tools available online, and I’ll mention 4 free ones below that you can use to create a logo or create and edit photos and infographics.
You can either purchase ready-made images on specialized platforms or create and customize them using Canva.com. Once you’ve registered, the platform offers you numerous resources such as icons, illustrations, grids, photos, and text in the formats you desire. Everything is available for free; you just need to add your creativity. For maximum features, you can upgrade to the premium version.
Pixlr is a free online tool for editing and retouching photos or creating images. You can utilize two versions: Pixlr Editor and Pixlr Express. With Editor (similar to Photoshop), you can upload and retouch photos or create images using the tool’s panel of tools. With Express, you can create collages, add frames, and apply filters (similar to Instagram) to your photos.
Using Piktochart, you have the opportunity to craft visually appealing infographics without any cost. It’s straightforward to use and doesn’t require any specific graphic design skills. Thanks to its user-friendliness, you can easily create charts, statistics, presentations, and posters. The tool provides useful templates for inspiration to create your customized graphics.
Easel.ly is also a free online tool for creating infographics. You have access to about ten ready-made templates that you can use and customize, as well as a library with various elements. You can add text, customize the font and size, and choose the color.
It just takes a bit of practice to get comfortable with the tool, but the results are guaranteed.
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Hello there! I’m passionate about a variety of interests, including playing badminton, diving into video games, indulging in movies and series, and exploring new destinations while listening to my favorite tunes. I thrive on learning, constantly seeking out new knowledge and experiences. My professional journey started in a call center, but I’ve transitioned into freelancing, dedicating myself to continuous improvement and striving to be the best at what I do.
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