The Role of Visual Content in Marketing Strategy
Regarding brand promotion, “visual content” is not just on everyone’s lips. However, it is an integral part of a marketing strategy. Visual content means anything that a potential audience can see: images, videos, infographics, presentations, newsletters, etc.
Visual content can engage users more than other elements because it is clear, appealing, and requires less concentration. As a communication tool, an image demands less effort from the user but still delivers what the creator wants to say. Indeed, visual content has an advantage over verbal communication due to the peculiarities of the human brain – the mind better absorbs the message presented in the form of iconography than written text. In addition, many people equate visual content with a quick way to solve problems. For example, road signs are designed to convey the right message instantly.
What’s Hiding Behind the Visual Content Promotion Plan
When you’re developing a content marketing strategy with visual content, it’s essential to answer the following questions:
What is your goal?
The most simple goal of visual content is to grab the audience’s attention at first contact. But besides attention-grabbing, visual content can increase brand awareness and credibility. Recognition and trust lead to an increased average brand check. Hence, the ultimate goal of visual content marketing strategy is sales. In an aggressive competitive environment, visual content serves as the “packaging” of a brand online.
When creating content, it’s important to uncover the purpose and be clear. Brands can use it to showcase a product, service, or portfolio, create an atmosphere and set the mood, improve the user experience on the website, provide cues, illustrate a guide, and appeal to emotions.
Who is your audience?
For visual content to reach its audience and not get lost in the vastness of the Internet, you need to understand who you are creating it for. It is crucial to understand who you will work with and who you will sell to. Marketing activities should target the audience so that you would save your budget on the development and promotion of the company. There are a lot of software development tools on the web that help research and analyze it.
Age, gender, interests, and users’ location are important aspects of content creation. What are your target audience interests? What kind of content does it prefer? How can you benefit from it?
Buying activity is influenced by income level, type of employment, education, and living conditions.
Where is your audience?
Here we are talking not just about the literal location of your users, although for many small brands, it is also an important step in planning a digital marketing strategy.
We’re talking about where your users are on the Internet. Depending on your niche and target audience, you must be clear about which platforms to place your visual content. Of course, the best platforms for posting visual content are Instagram and YouTube. But in addition, you have the opportunity to use your website and social networks, place content as sponsored posts and publications from opinion leaders.
What is your format?
Format matters in branding. Consistency in brand visuals and communication forms a unified perception of the brand image in the minds of consumers. It increases trust. Understanding formats help you make a good content plan and calculate your monthly content production budget.
Content formats are not particularly interesting to the reader. Still, they are important for SMM specialists and content managers because they help to balance the content in the community and properly package the material.
What message do you carry?
Visual content must carry a clear message to reach users. Emotions and experiences play a bigger role than logic and facts when evaluating a brand. The message through visual content incorporates brand elements and appeals to the customer, revealing the product’s value or your company’s mission. You can distinguish yourself from the competition through imagery, showcase your brand voice, and demonstrate your slogan through design.
How do you measure the result?
Many people mistakenly believe that more visitors equals the successful implementation of a visual marketing strategy. Today, however, we have several metrics that can quantify whether or not your content is successful. As we said above, the goal of content is not just to attract visitors but to convert them into customers.
Truly effective visual content should prompt the user to act. You can use CTA click-through statistics to calculate how much the content encourages the user to go to the page, register, download, or purchase.
In social media, interaction through visual content is also measured through the number and quality of comments, likes, subscriptions, or shares.
