November 4, 2020 Published by Andre Oentoro

The Importance of Visual Content in Digital Marketing Strategy

What makes visual content better than other types of content? Visual content can help your brand get off the ground faster regardless of your industry.

The Importance of Visual Content in Digital Marketing Strategy
(Image by Lisa Fotios on Pexels)

Since our world continuously has become more visual, visual content can be an undeniably powerful tool you have in your marketing arsenal.

Let's just admit it; you prefer to watch explainer videos rather than spending hours understanding the text-heavy user manual just to understand a product or a brand you're about to purchase, don't you?

In this matter, don't be surprised if there are at least 75% of marketers say that they invest in visual content. From designing their websites to creating enticing images, they're fighting tooth and nails to grab audiences' attention faster and better.

At this point, you might be wondering, "what makes visual content better than other types of content?"

Well, let's find out!

Integrating Visuals into a Digital Marketing Strategy

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we need to define first what it means to integrate visuals into a digital marketing strategy.

In a winning digital marketing strategy, there are some popular types of visuals you can utilize:

  • Images
  • Infographics
  • Flowing charts
  • Videos
  • Website designs
  • Screenshots
  • Memes and GIFs

While text-based content is always going to be an integral part of marketing, visuals can help break up the text and highlight crucial takeaways. This way, the audience can easily scan through content and understand the message in no time.

So, no matter how brilliant your writing or website copy is, they alone may not be pulling their weight without any visuals.

Digital marketing strategy becomes more successful when well-crafted visuals are involved. According to the stats, 95% of marketers say that visual content performs better than text-only content and bring them better results.

Need to be even more convinced about why you should use visuals in your digital marketing strategy?

Here you go.

The 5 Essential Reasons Why Visual Content Is Crucial

Now that you have a solid grasp on the integration of visual content in a digital marketing strategy, it's time to break down some of the reasons why it's essential and such a worth-considering type of content in the field.

#1. Most of the Audiences are Visual Learners

A lot of this comes down to how our brains work. Scientifically speaking, the majority of people (65%) are visual learners.

The brain tends to process images ridiculously 60,000 times faster than all-text content. What's more, 90% of the information sent to the brain is visual.

It means that most of us can easily retain crucial information when it's presented visually. It's just our nature to respond to the visuals faster. That being said, if you want to engage and increase audience retention, simply provide them with eye-catching visuals.

#2. Convey Message Better

Do you remember the old adage that says a picture is worth 1,000 words? A compelling image can help you deliver a message in seconds what text would take minutes to communicate it -- and the audience can still easily understand it.

In the age of shrinking attention spans, you have to create the high-performing type of content that's easily digestible and skimmable. In this matter, visual content is definitely such.

No matter how much you want to deny it, the fact is that 79% of web users scan, while only 16% read word-by-word. So, you don't have to waste your time writing a thousand words of blog posts when visuals can help you convey the message faster and more expressively.

#3. Catch More Eyeballs

Visual communication is a highly effective way for savvy marketers to reach more audiences and expand their reach.

Since most of us easily retain information in a visual form, it's not that surprising if visual content gets viewed 94% times more than content without any visuals.

And do you know what it means? It means that displaying visually attractive content will undoubtedly help you catch the user's interests and increase engagement in no time.

Visual content provides the audiences with colors, characters, shapes, or easy-to-digest stories that can make your message more enjoyable to learn and understand.

#4. Extremely Shareable

Another reason why you should create visual content is that it has such incredible shareability. It only takes a few clicks for you to spread the information across your social media profiles or other digital platforms.

With this high shareability, you won't only be able to appeal to a broader audience but also to boost your brand awareness. That's because the more it gets shared, the more people know your brand.

And do you know what happens if your brand gets more exposure from those engaging visual content? An increased traffic and conversion rates -- of course!

#5. Increase Brand Recall

Well-designed visual content can leave an everlasting impression on the audience's mind. It helps you deliver the message in a light-hearted way, making it easier for audiences to remember.

Let's say that you have a captivating website design that relies on visuals, for example. The enchanting colors, shapes, and patterns are closely associated with your brand, which can increase cognitive recall among your visitors.

It gives your audience a reason to recognize and remember your brand. That's why you should also consider hiring a professional designer as a critical element of a digital marketing strategy.

Visual content can also be a powerful medium to weave a compelling story into the cloth of your brand. With creative storytelling, you can easily develop an emotional connection with your audience, which can lead to customer loyalty.

Wrapping Up: You've Got This!

In the loud digital sphere out there, words aren't enough. You have to go the extra mile when it comes to engaging your audience. That's where visuals came through the whole affair like a breath of fresh air.

If you want your marketing message to stick to your audience, you need to present it in a captivating and memorable way. Don't just say it, but show it with engaging visual content.

Regardless of your industry or organization, visual content can help your brand get off the ground faster. So, make sure you keep up to date on the latest design trends to stay ahead of the game.

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Andre OentoroAndre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).


Andre Oentoro Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreoentoro/