Detailed, written content is a great way to pitch an idea in a creative and engaging manner or raise one’s profile through think pieces and guest appearances. However, there’s a simple reason content creators tend to break-up written content into short sections: people don’t want to read through a long and exhaustive block of text.
These margins are where visual content really shines.
The Psychology Behind Visual Content
Line after line of solid text comes across as boring, annoying, intimidating and difficult to follow, leading many readers to skip over to the next article without engaging with the content. That’s why no matter your industry, product category or clientele, you can’t overlook the value of good visual marketing.
Understanding the psychology behind the concept is a major component to deploying visuals in the most effective manner possible. So, why exactly does this form of content work?
Visual content:
- Appeals to peoples’ short attention spans.
- Stands out from text and is appealing to the eye.
- Breaks down complex ideas in a simple way.
- Leads to greater information comprehension and retention.
- Increases shareability
We are predisposed to seek out, identify and process visual information. Although the jury is still out on whether visuals are really processed 60,000 times faster than words, we know that humans are wired to comprehend visual information in the blink of an eye.
Four Primary Modes of Visual Content
We can divide up most visual content into four general subcategories, each with specific applications that complement the unique attributes of the format. Even though the best option for a specific situation is not always clear right away, a comprehensive strategy will manage to capitalize on each of these effectively:
Images
Images are the most basic and fundamental form of visual content. Marketers can use images either as standalone content to share on social media, or in collaboration with written content to provide some variety to readers.
Interspersing text with some eye-catching images is a great way to engage readers, and adding images to blog posts and other written content can nearly double its total views. This can be an original image or illustration, some more lighthearted meme content for social media, or screenshots for step-by-step tutorials—each has its own best application.
Videos
Video is something of a “prestige piece” among visual content—doing it right is expensive and time-consuming, but it demonstrates a commitment to providing quality. This is especially important for lead capture, as video can really set you apart from the competition.
People are very attracted to video as a format; as much as 80% of all internet traffic by 2019 will be from videos. People like absorbing information in this format, and there are many different avenues to explore including how-to guides, animations, product demos, Q&As, and webinars, just to name a few.
Infographics
As popular as video is, people love reading infographics. They love to share them as well—in fact, a reader is three times more likely to share an infographic than any other type of content.
The strength of an infographic is that it takes large amounts of complex information, strips away the verbiage and present data in an engaging and easy-to-understand format.
In terms of application, infographics tend to be best for information that is very stat-heavy. When deciding between traditional text and an infographic, one good way to think about it is consider the actual focus of the piece—are you using stats and data to reinforce a point, or is the data the point? If it’s the latter, you’re probably better off with an infographic.
Slideshows
Imagine slideshows as being “infographics-plus.” Slideshows and infographics perform a similar function in taking complex information and condensing it into important points, but slideshows are more in-depth and have a broader scope.
If the content you’re working with seems to fit the infographic wheelhouse, but is too unwieldy for such a concise format, you might have a slideshow on your hands. It achieves a similar end, but lends itself better to analysis and drawing conclusions than the raw data of an infographic.
Slideshows are exceptionally valuable when attempting to directly persuade an audience of something. Research shows that verbal presentations which incorporate visual elements are 43% more successful than verbal-only ones.
Expanding to New, Visual-Based Platforms
Marketers in every industry understand the value of a diverse approach to online content. Making the most of visuals, though, calls for social media platforms designed to capitalize on visual content.
Everyone understands that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are indispensable channels, but B2B organizations tend to be much more skeptical of visual-native platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.
That’s understandable—after all, since they’re not really trying to attract the eyes of the average Insta-star or build brand awareness among Snapchatters, most don’t see the point. However, there is a great deal of tangential value in these platforms if businesses know where to look. Take Pinterest for example: as Monica Cardone explained in a blog post, this image-based site is a vital tool for businesses marketing directly to consumers.
If 93% of users visit Pinterest site to plan purchases, you can bet that B2C businesses are paying attention, and if B2C businesses are paying attention, then B2B companies should be as well.
Pinterest can be a great place to host images and infographics, and to get that content in front of potential clients who already use the site to reach their own customers.
General Benefits to Visual Content Platforms
Being present on visual-based platforms like Snapchat and Pinterest offers a few unique benefits for B2B marketers:
- It helps tell the brand story. Look for example at FedEx’s Instagram—most of the images are simple, yet well-composed images of FedEx vehicles in countless different terrains, settings, and time zones. The story these images tell is that FedEx is out there, everywhere, and hard at work to serve their customers.
- It builds connections. Maintaining a presence on these sites is not always about selling B2B services, but rather about connecting to an audience. Unlike sites like LinkedIn, the thought leaders, clients, and other industry figures you’re trying to reach won’t be in “work mode” when they’re on Instagram or Snapchat, so they wouldn’t be in the right mode to be sold to. These sites are where you go to build and strengthen connections with individuals so that they’re more engaged later.
- It reinforces brand authority. The way in which a brand communicates reflects on whether that brand can be trusted to deliver on their promises to clients. Mailchimp has proven very successful at this; their use of video and images conveys the idea that the company is cool, smart, and stylish, and therefore is a great option to help you market your product.
- It humanizes the company. B2B organizations tend to be more “background players.” As such, it can sometimes be a challenge just reminding others that there are real, breathing people involved here. However, using photos and videos snapped around the office can be a quick, easy, and effective method for connecting human faces to the work you do.
- It creates a community. Content marketing isn’t as simple as firing content out into the darkness. Marketers need other people to interact with the content to give it more traction, and visuals help create a community of users around your brand to re-share that content.
You Can’t Afford to Ignore Visual Content
Publishing content to visual-driven social media can help reach new audiences, boost engagement, build greater brand awareness, and showcase the company’s creativity. But, even if the projected returns simply don’t justify investing in new social media platforms, creating informative and eye-catching visual content is still an absolute must for B2B businesses.
No marketing strategy is really complete without visual content, and the business’s bottom line will clearly reflect that fact.