8 Types of Visual Content You Need To Use on Your Marketing Strategy

Visual Content

In a 2014 post on T-Sciences, it was revealed that a human brain process images 60,000 times faster than text. After all, we are visual by nature.

Which also explains why 80% of marketers use visual content in their social media marketing.

In today’s world, that is cluttered with a lot of content, and visual content happens to be one of the most efficient and effective ways to stand out from the competition.

That said, here are ten visual content that you can leverage to kick off your marketing strategy.

1. Infographics

In an infographic shared by Canva, what makes infographic an ideal visual content is the fact that it can compress tons of information into a single medium. This results in readers being able to follow a lot of details.

Nowadays, with people having an attention span that of a goldfish, this type of visual content is an effective and creative way of presenting information without losing your audience’s attention.

Infographics are liked and share three times more than any other piece of visual content, which is also why business reports 12% higher profit when they use infographics compared when they do not.

When designing an infographic, here are some points that you should remember:

  • Your infographic’s design should allow your audience to interpret and process information efficiently.
  • Use globally recognizable icons and images that everyone will understand.
  • Each infographic design should be original.

2. Memes and Branded Quotes

Memes are known as images with humorous superimposed captions. However, not everyone thought it could play a role in content marketing.

According to Neil Patel, “creating your meme is a great way to evoke positive emotions and set yourself apart from your competitors.”

If your brand targets younger market, a meme can be a great way to engage with them. It is a great way to create an inside joke about your niche. This can lead to community building around your brand.

However, you need to remember two things:

  • You have to determine whether including a meme on your content is appropriate with your brand or niche.
  • Be wary of the images you use for your meme. Whether memes are protected by copyright is debatable.

3. Charts, Diagrams, and Graphs

While infographics are great in compressing a lot of content, data visualization is ideal when you need to present data. This comes in the form of charts, diagrams, and graphs.

Statistics and statistical information can be overwhelming to an average person. Thus, you should make the most out of graphs and diagrams to make it easier for them to digest complex information.

Data visualizations are fantastic in making complex, statistical data into something easy to understand. Not to mention that it makes your content shareable. After all, no one’s got time to make sense of all the numbers.

And if you want to leverage the sharing power of your data visualization, make sure to share some of your best charts on social media such as Pinterest.

4. Visual Representations

In mathematics, visual representations are used to make abstract concepts to be concrete. This can be as simple as placing numbers on a number line or as complex as graphing lists of data.

As for marketing, it is used to backup texts with imagery. Robert Katai explains it as such:

“When you see the image of a house, your brain automatically understands what it means. When you see the word ‘house’ written somewhere, it takes time for your brain to process the letters, to understand their meaning and then, to transform them into a visual representation.

“Both visual representations process by the brain are virtual. However, one is processed faster than the other.”

As mentioned earlier, human brain process images 60,000 times faster than text.

5. Annotated Screenshots

A screenshot allows you to provide a glimpse of the work behind your products or services.

This type of visual content lets you show the services and functions that you offer from the right perspective. It is like an in-depth explanation of what’s happening behind-the-scenes. Add some smart marketing copy, and it can boost your credibility.

On the other hand, a screenshot is also useful in backing up your sales pitch.

If you are marketing an app, for instance, a screenshot is a visual representation of its particular function. You may even annotate it to draw your audience’s attention on a specific button, such as what button to click.

Screenshots may be the least exciting visual content, but they can bring meaning and data visualization for your statistics or product demo.

6. Presentations

Nowadays, your PowerPoint presentations are no longer restricted within the four corners of the boardroom. Sites like SlideShare and Prezi allows you to expand your brand’s content reach.

The great thing about these apps is that they allow you to communicate with their audience, regardless of their devices. Thus, they can view your presentation even while on-the-go.

Similar to infographics, presentations use attractive design and colors. The difference is the scope they can cover.

Presentations can be an effective way to convey a lengthy topic. But it is also the same reason that you should be consistent with your fonts, borders, and colors. You should also look into your grammar and spelling.

Doing so can help you keep your audience’s attention on your content. After all, your presentation is likely to include tons of information.

7. Videos

While there are less costly ways of producing content, videos are a great way to showcase your expertise visually. It also demonstrates that you are willing to go the extra mile in connecting with and engaging your audience.

The types of video that you can include in your marketing strategy are:

  • How-to videos
  • Explainer videos
  • Customer testimonials

Regardless, your content should be in line with your brand. Congruence is key to an effective visual marketing campaign. According to a study, adding a video on a landing page can increase your conversions up to 86%.

You should also keep in mind, though, that high-quality content is essential. After all, your videos can be a chief representation of your brand online.

8. Strong Calls to Action

Karisa Egan of IMPACT defines call-to-action as “a button or link that you add to your website to guide your visitor and tell them what to do next.”

A strong CTA is meant to drive leads, those who are likely to have a transaction with your business. Thus, it is essential you action button or link has an attention-grabbing and a compelling text.

However, there is more to a CTA than a red button with a white “Click Me!” text. Tamon Sukhraj’s shares some best practices when creating a CTA:

  • Make your CTAs action-oriented: Be mindful of the language you use and describe the benefits that your audience will receive when they click your CTA.
  • Use consistent messaging: You CTA should directly reflect the content that came before it. Say, you wrote a post about local SEO. The CTA button you place after it should be relevant to local SEO (i.e., “Download our free local SEO guide!”).
  • Make it stand out: No one is going to click your CTA if they do not know that it is there. Experiment with the size, color, and image of your CTA to make sure that it pops.

Boost Your Marketing Strategy with Visual Content

Visual content is easy to consume, which makes it integral in your marketing strategy. Hence, we encourage you to start with any one of the visual content types listed above and see how it can impact your brand.

2 thoughts on “8 Types of Visual Content You Need To Use on Your Marketing Strategy”

  1. Hey! I am personally using canva for my blogs and even for my website images. I agree with your post that infographics are the best way to attract the target audience because people prefer animated content over textual content now. Keep Sharing…

  2. Hi John,
    Very interesting and informative piece.
    Yes, the days ahead are indeed for visuals. It’s really interesting to note that a human brain process images 60,000 times faster than text. That’s really a surprising note.
    Canva is an amazing platform to make different kinds of images. I am using it since few years.
    The 8Types of Visual Content You mentioned in this post is worth usable in our marketing.
    I found this post on the pages of Bizsugar and I upvoted and commented.
    Thanks fort sharing
    Best Regards
    Philip

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