The benefits of using visual content in your marketing strategy are remarkable. Brands who incorporate visual content see an increase in traffic, leads, and sharing. For example — on average, publishers who use infographics get 12 percent more traffic than those who don’t.
No surprise here. People are visually-driven creatures.
According to Forrester, 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual and visuals are processed 60,000x faster than text. 46.1 percent of people say a website’s design is the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the company. So whether you’re using visual content in your marketing strategy or not, your brand is being affected.
There are a million articles out there about why brands should should be using visual marketing because of the traffic, lead generation and SEO benefits. I want to talk about why you should use visual content purely from a user experience perspective.
Reason #1: Thumbnail Previews and Clicks
If you’re using social media at all in your marketing strategy, you’ve probably noticed that a link with an engaging image hosted on the page posted to any major social network displays in a much more attention-grabbing way.
For instance, which of the two images below would you be more driven to interact with at first glance?
The primary social networks have incorporated thumbnail previews with content sharing and brands who use engaging imagery reap the rewards of increased interaction.
Reason #2: The Rise of Visual Networks
Pinterest has more than 48.7 million users. YouTube is the number two search engine. Visually-specific networks are here and they’re huge and your buyers are using them.
Pinterest and Instagram are particularly easy for brands to use because they provide an easy way to both curate and create a visual brand through content in-house at almost no cost.
Reason #3: Attract Your Viewers and Buyers to Lurk
Content containing compelling images attracts 94 percent more total views on average than content without images. Understanding how your audience likes to interact with content — be it text, audio or visual — is essential to your content marketing strategy. Just because you’re a B2B marketer doesn’t mean you can’t engage your prospects and clients with visual content.
You can use infographics, presentation and ebook covers, white papers, video and any other visual media to promote your products and services.
For examples of B2B brands using Pinterest effectively, check out Constant Contact, GE, Hubspot, Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle.
And while you’re at it, connect with The Starr Conspiracy on Pinterest.
