Visual Marketing: Say It with Pictures

Visual Marketing, what is it and how do i use it?

As attention spans become shorter, so too does the amount of time people are willing to spend reading long-copy marketing messages. To effectively grab and hold the attention of consumers, photos and graphic images are becoming more important in integrated marketing efforts.

Anita Campbell, CEO and founder of the online community Small Business Trends, published a book called Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design. She was quoted in Forbes about the importance of this new marketing medium: “Harnessing the power of images and visuals will make your marketing more powerful and more memorable. Images—when done deftly—can turn concepts and intangible things into something concrete. That helps people envision your brand and your message in their mind’s eye—and remember you when it comes times to buy.

“For small businesses, that’s particularly important. We don’t have a lot of money, time or staff to spend on marketing. So everything we do has to pack a punch.”

Images Get Shared

The popularity of visually based social media has exploded with sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest and the mobile Instagram app (acquired by Facebook) for iPhone and Android users. According to a study by ROI Research, when people interact on social media sites, pictures get the most responses and “likes.” In addition, as many as 44 percent of users are more likely to engage with brands when photos or images are posted.

Photography on the Go

Another reason for the rise of visual media is the improvement in mobile phone photography. It’s now much easier for mobile users to quickly share photos than to laboriously type out text on a tiny keypad.

As more people do their social sharing using mobile camera apps and photo-editing tools, traditional cameras have nearly become obsolete. Books on iPhone photography, such as “The Best Camera Is the One You Have With You,” tout the advantages taking and sharing pictures on the run with a high-resolution phone camera.

SEO Advantages

​There are also SEO (search engine optimization) benefits for marketers who use images effectively. Social conversations and content sharing are major factors into search engine rankings. Smart marketers can use product images on social sites like Pinterest and Instagram to drive traffic back to their websites, increasing the likelihood of customer engagement and viral sharing.

Transaction Coordinator

Transaction Coordinator