The extraordinary rise of Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat wasn’t the result of happenstance.
Nowadays, visual marketing is becoming big business due to its extraordinary potential. According to a study by KISSmetrics, photo-augmented content gets 53% more Facebook Likes and 84% more click-throughs than mere text.
The reality is that images can double page views overnight. If you’d like to successfully leverage image marketing, you’ll need to keep the following tips in mind.
1. Ditch the Clichés
If you’ve spent more than 30 minutes on the web in the past year, you’ve no doubt witnessed countless examples of lazy photography on a variety of sites.
Using stock images to convey a message won’t work. Any visual material should be striking, unique and relevant to the subject at hand.
You’ll need to either take photos yourself or hire a competent professional to do the job.
2. Tell a Story in Pictures
Whatever your goal may be with a particular image, you need to do more than simply show off some hardware or visually back up a concept.
Instead, you should focus on using your images to convey a narrative. Draw the reader in with an image that resonates emotionally with the desired target audience.
The best images speak for themselves without the need for any explanation.
3. Clearly Imply Utility
If you’re using platforms like Instagram or Pinterest to improve the standing of your business, you can’t be vague regarding what you bring to the table.
Your visuals need to show consumers using your products in realistic, relatable scenarios that make sense.
Better yet, you should ideally provide examples of novel uses for your hardware, software or services that ordinary users might not have thought of already.
4. Include the General Public
User-generated content is clearly the next step in marketing ROI maximization. Combined with image-centric social media, it can kick things up a notch in unexpected ways.
Instagram is the fastest growing social network at the moment, a development that underscores the potential of image sharing as a promotional tool.
You need to get users on board with the idea of sharing your multimedia content with their peers. Run contests and other audience participation promotions to prime the sharing pump.
5. Give Images Inherent Value
Nothing promotes rabid sharing like a visual that’s more than just a pretty picture. Think infographics, visual how-to guides and flowcharts.
If an image explains how to solve a problem or can act as a handy reference, it’s far more likely to go viral.
Ultimately, virality is the end goal of any visual marketing effort. Add an artistic flair to your helpful images to make them stand out.
Putting Visuals to Good Use
Implementing the preceding strategies will require you to familiarize yourself with more specific tactics like graphic quotes and color psychology.
Learning to use online apps like Pixlr and Fotor to optimize your photos for any given situation is equally clutch.
The main takeaway is that visual marketing is booming in a big way nowadays and it will become all the more effective in the coming years.
