Did you know that the tweets with visuals are retweeted 1.5x more times than those without any visual? Also, interestingly, LinkedIn posts with images generate a 98% higher comment rate, and Facebook posts with images generate almost 40% more interactions.
Human beings are visual creatures. Research has proven that humans can recall more than two thousand images with around 90 percent accuracy. According to McGurk Effect, human eyes can influence what they hear.
Visual content has a 65% recall against the 10% recall of written content, and thus, visual storytelling plays a very important role in bringing stories to life. People love to see a good snackable visual that can be shared with ease. High-quality visuals help you consolidate complex strategies to make the brand message more memorable. Brands worldwide are sharing engaging content through various channels such as blogs, videos, infographics, social media posts, and e-books. No wonder, dynamic and hand-drawn illustrations are some of the biggest graphic design trends of 2020.
The following visual from Amul firmly establishes itself as an example of opinionated visual storyteller for a social cause.
Amul is one brand that has taken maximum advantage of current events, content, and social issues to not only visually tell their stories, but also, show the world where they stand politically. Take a look at the Amul’s interesting video in the video diary marking PM Modi’s 69th birthday (https://twitter.com/i/status/1173669789958426631) that is another stunning example of sending across your message through visuals.
Visual content helps to not only influence and increase brand awareness, it also helps to increase sales, website traffic and customer engagement. In fact, brands with custom visuals have 7X higher conversion rate than brands with no visuals. The unbeatable yet subtle message of “tide hai to white hai’ that was cleverly published around the Independence Day, is an effective example of the same.
Ways to leverage the power of Visual Content
- Through Social media
Have you noticed how Nike uploads esthetically shot, fierce yet subtle images on their Instagram handle, and not even one is incorporated with their logo? Over emphasizing the brand name may have a negative impact on the brand image. Nike’s strategy makes it one of the most respected and highly followed brands with over 88 Million Instagram followers!
- Create good alt tags and personalizing the videos
Creating alt tags that are technically text and not images, provides context, helps visually impaired users, and boosts visibility. Since visual content creates 94% more views than non-visual content and has the potential to increase your qualified leads by 60%, it is a smart practice to incorporate visual gifographics into your social media strategy. - Going live, gifographics and uploading short videos
Gifographics can be used to diversify/repurpose content, and add variety to your winning visuals, thereby showcasing brand’s personality. Similarly, live videos are also very effective for announcements, behind-the-scenes looks, and product information. Visual content is being steadily used to increase engagement with both external as well as internal customers. A fun infographic or a short video can prove to be much more effective than the CEO’s long emails. - Personalize Visual Content For Your Audience
When you personalize content based on your consumers’ lifestyles, interests, and preferences, it engages and converts more people. With personalization comes trust, followed by sustainable success.
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest are great platforms where you can appeal to the target segment by personalizing your content. You just need to know the right social platform! For e.g., Adidas ran an ad campaign on Snapchat for teens that incorporated AR techniques. The audience were hooked and went on to try Adidas’ new Ultraboost trainers through AR, which in turn gave Adidas a huge boost in conversion rates.
If you want to take your storytelling efforts to new heights of success, then hop aboard the Visual Content train! With marketers already feeling the pressure of content saturation, fun and engaging visual content is here to stay. As you create visual content that truly resonates with the audience, the status and responsiveness of your brand are sure to rocket.
– Team WordBerries