Digital marketing is a multimodal environment by definition. In addition to text, content producers can convey their ideas through images, audio, video, and other forms of media. Customers now anticipate media-rich content from the brands they use, particularly in social media posts.
Smaller businesses might recoil at the expense of acquiring or producing professional photography. But producing visually interesting material can be inexpensive. And the effort is worthwhile! An image is worth a thousand hits, after all!
A. Images stick in mind.
We tend to remember something from looking at a beautiful picture or amazing image longer than reading a summary, blog article, or advertising. Compared to 10% of what we hear, we remember over 65% of what we see.
B. Visual communication is quicker.
The average consumer sees more than 5,000 advertisements daily in our fast-paced environment. Because people process images more quickly, they are essential in marketing. In addition to the time needed to read it, it takes readers almost 10 seconds to digest and judge the worth of written information.
However, an image’s psychological and emotional effects occur practically immediately (in about 100 milliseconds).
C. Images retain readers.
Readers are encouraged to stick around through images. TIME reports that most visitors to your website or blog don’t stay for longer than 15 seconds. Intriguing and compelling images can encourage people to keep on your articles and website pages longer.
D. Open and engagement rates increase with images.
Readers want to see visuals, whether your content uses graphics to accompany articles or explain the text. Over 90% more people view articles and blog posts with graphics than without. Press releases that feature a photo or a video get 45% more views overall.
Social media is the same way. Compared to tweets without images, tweets with images get 150% more retweets, while Facebook posts with images get over two times as much interaction.
BuzzSumo discovered that articles with images per 75 to 100 words or more received twice as much sharing as those with fewer photographs.
E. Images aid sales.
Even though online buying is more common than ever, customers are curious to see what their purchases will look like in person. Do you not?
Because of this, it is crucial to use accurate, high-quality product images.
When choosing and buying products, 67% of buyers feel the quality of each product image is crucial.
Additionally, 63% of customers believe that the quality of the product image is more valuable than the product’s content, a thorough product description, or customer feedback and ratings, while 54% of customers agree.
TYPES OF IMAGES:
• Screenshots: Always useful for illustrating your points or supplying context for your content. It might be screenshots of the tools you mentioned, screenshots showing how a process works, screenshots from statistics, or screenshots of websites. To highlight key points in your screenshots, utilize an editing tool to add arrows, markers, and comments.
• Quotes: Include a quote in your image if a well-known person or subject matter expert agrees with what you are saying about your subject.
• Use memes to make your readers laugh as they read your information. A meme may well be the thing that people remember. In the digital realm, a meme is typically an image that has been captured together with a witty or provocative remark. Memes can evoke strong feelings (LINK), grab attention, and significantly impact branding. Memes that people can relate to are frequently shared, which contributes to their marketing potential.
• Social media graphics for the social networks you use, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest -ensure that your photographs are the appropriate size, and don’t forget to include a text overlay for Pinterest.
You must be familiar with the various networks’ best practices and decide which networks your material should be featured on.
1. Create at least one pinnable image if you want your material to be shared on Pinterest.
2. Make sure the image is the right size for Facebook if you want your content to be shared there; otherwise, all your social media efforts will be for naught.
3. Marketing on social media requires visuals.
4. Check out this guide on social media picture sizes if you need assistance determining the best image sizes for your social media postings.
Presentations: Consider the enormous marketing success of Slideshare. Infographic-like content is frequently requested for presentations, and slides are often adhered horizontally to create tall images for infographics. Using a presentation, you can show a ton of material in an organized and simple-to-skim fashion.
Slides may be made into something people love to share and enjoy with a backlink by taking individual slides out of a presentation and using them as images in written content. An excellent presentation adheres to several fundamental design principles when choosing typefaces and color schemes. Ensure that the design of each slide in a presentation is consistent.
Videos: When utilized to enliven your material, they all belong in the same category. Additionally, you may use them to increase your brand’s and your content’s visibility on Youtube or even Instagram.
Videos are not the most affordable material, but they also have one of the highest conversion rates. According to a study, a landing page with a video will convert 84% better than a landing page without a video. Videos are very effective on social media as well. One example is Instagram Stories, but Pinterest video pins also offer a great opportunity to draw more attention to your content.
Stock photos: The most practical marketing image is a stock photo, a professionally taken photograph that has already been taken.
There are many websites where you may find paid and unpaid stock photographs. Popular websites for purchasing stock pictures include Shutterstock and Getty Images.
Here’s how to navigate stock photo legality:
1. If an image is marked as Creative Commons, it can be used without charge, though attribution is strongly advised (if not required)
2. “Editorial usage” refers to the exclusive use of an image for editorial purposes, not for commercial purposes, such as with a product description or print advertisement.
3. When an image is in the public domain, anyone can use it in any way; acknowledgment is welcomed but not necessary.
4. If an image is rights-managed, you can only use it once per purchase (for example, if you use it in a movie, you can’t use it in a blog post).
5. If an image is royalty-free, it can be used for any purpose but cannot be modified or sold again.
Branded graphics or images
Real photography is not always necessary for marketing visuals. The worth of your work and website can be greatly increased by including any pertinent visual stimulation. Graphics are animated or digitally created visuals; many businesses use them to accompany blog entries or sprinkle a little bit of their brand among written content.
Making designs like this is simple with free graphic design software like Canva. You might need to buy professional software like Adobe InDesign or Photoshop for more intricate designs, but Canva is a wonderful place to start.
Infographics
Infographics are pictures with text and other data on them. They use symbols and visual data to explain a blog article or story. Infographics boost website traffic by 12%. Additionally, they simplify things for your readers. According to a recent study, people who follow instructions that include text and images do 323% better than those who only follow the text.
Create an infographic with any in-depth blog posts, how-to articles, or essential reports you publish. Infographics can be made using free tools like Canva, Venngage, or Piktochart.
GIFs
A GIF, or graphics interchange format, is an animated image that incorporates moving elements from a photo or a still frame from a video, TV program, or film.
Although they were created in the 1980s, GIFs have only recently started to gain popularity with businesses and brands.
GIFs can be used in your marketing efforts in a few different ways.
For starters, you can make your own animated GIF from a graphic or other picture. Using various inexpensive or free tools, you can do this with little or no skill.
How to Market with Images
1. IMAGES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Undoubtedly, social media is an image-heavy platform.
Although brands like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others also greatly benefit from photos and graphics, networks like Instagram and Snapchat almost demand images.
Each network advises specific picture dimensions, whether you’re updating your account with new cover and profile photographs or publishing an image to your timeline. It’s critical to size photographs for social media use since improper measurements can hide other images or make your posts look low quality, which will turn off your audience.
Try to use the same identification photos across all networks, whether created digitally or by photography. These comprise logos, profile photographs, and cover photos, raising brand recognition and identity among your fans.
2.EMAILS WITH IMAGES
Every day, a lot of emails are sent to your clients. You want them to stay and read it if they decide to open yours, right? No doubt. Images can be helpful in this.
Sending emails with photos helps keep your readers engaged, interested, and better informed about the goal of your email, whether you’re sharing product photographs, branding images, or amusing GIFs.
3.BLOG POSTING WITH IMAGES
Even though blog posts and articles are often text-centric marketing strategies, your readers will still gain from adding a few photos.
Images help illustrate your points, draw readers in, and liven up a dry text piece when included in your material.
Infographics, explanation photos, screenshots, or product images are acceptable for blog posts. The blog post’s cover image, which appears at the top of the article and next to its summary, should accurately reflect the post’s theme.
4.PRODUCT IMAGES
As we mentioned, product photographs can either influence customers to choose and buy your products or the exact opposite.
Use your best camera equipment or invest in high-quality, professional product photography. Include lots of images and animated GIFs to show how your product appears after purchase if it is a digital item like software or a web application.
Use user-generated content (UGC) and encourage reviewers to include product photographs in their posts.
Let your pictures do the talking.
It’s never been simpler to develop, capture, and use photos to communicate your message to those who are open to receiving it.
Additionally, if your company produces incredible goods and offers remarkable experiences, your audience will be even more interested in hearing from you. As we have demonstrated, images are a terrific tool for doing just that.
Images may be utilized very effectively to help businesses obtain more exposure and generate more business with a sound strategy, some imagination, and a lot of dedication. Brandz on Web aims to assist you, whether you’ve already dived into picture marketing, need some pointers, or are still trying to figure out how to utilize images to expand your brand.
To build and carry out an effective strategy, you may rely on the creativity and experience of our team of designers and strategists.