It’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but when you’re marketing online, it’s also true that your pictures are competing with thousands of others. It’s important to use images that will not only help distinguish your business from all of the competition, but that will also let your audience know a lot about you as simply as possible. As you’ll see, this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to create breathtaking pieces of art, just some visual content that will interest and engage potential customers. Here are five types of visual content key to connecting with consumers:
1. The Video Demo
If you’re looking for a flashy new style of marketing, this might sound a little dry at first. But the video demo is a great way to let your customers know that they can rely on you. A step by step tutorial video that shows the consumer how to use the product is going to work a lot better than a wall of text. Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” videos are a perfect example of using a video to promote consumer trust.
Plus, if you’re the company that relieves the stress that sometimes comes with installing something or putting something together, then that’s going to create a positive association in the customer’s mind. Of course, the video demo won’t work for every kind of product, but for those that need a little explaining, it’s the way to go.
2. The Story Approach
Try to find visual content that can tell a story in order to capture some part of your company’s mission or values. Stories reach audiences on an emotional level and they’re much more likely to have your business stuck in their mind when you become more than just words and numbers on a page.
Don’t limit yourself to videos; a single powerful image can tell a story as well as a video can and the message can be delivered in the split second. With videos, you have to convince people to give up somewhere around three minutes of their time, but you don’t have to worry about that with a picture.
3. Encouraging Customer Engagement with Social Media
The people who really know the best things about your products, of course, are your customers. Why not give them a platform to share their love of your product with each other? Havahart is a great example of a company that is engaging its customers with social media.
Their Pinterest board is full of happy customers showing how they use their product. Potential customers see firsthand how effective and humane their traps are with the added bonus of it not feeling like such a direct aggressive attempt to sell something.
4. The Quick-Witted Approach
Having humor in your visual content always give you an edge, but consider making timely quips as well. Social media isn’t just a way to let customers share their good experiences with your company; you can also use it to send quick thinking funny pictures relevant to your product. The attention span of the Internet is notoriously brief so being ready to create and tweet a funny picture or even Vine with your product when an opportunity presents itself is really valuable. Of course, rushing things out can have drawbacks. It goes without saying quick humor shouldn’t be offensive humor.
Empire Cat regularly uses this technique on their Facebook page. Although it may seem difficult for a construction company to post relevant and engaging content, they manage to stay true to their brand while promoting fan interaction.
5. Quotes and Images
I’ve been touting the benefits of images over text, but I’m not saying to completely forgo any and all text in your visual content. A short quote over a picture or a design can resonate with people and make them associate the wisdom or humor of the quote with your product. Naturally, you want to be careful whose quote you choose since you don’t want to make it seem someone is endorsing your product who isn’t. But this shouldn’t scare you away completely since there are plenty of great quotes in the public domain to choose from. They can range from inspirational to witty, and with the right background, they can help your product stand out.
Published: May 30, 2014
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