Social media is rapidly evolving and followers are not engaging with text only posts the way that they used to. Getting people’s attention has come down to who has the best and most appealing visuals to go along with their messages. Below are three reasons you should be spending time finding quality visuals for your social media.
Visuals make connections and boost engagement
Quality visuals only take a moment to connect a viewer to a message or experience. This connection has the power to instantly link a follower or prospect to your brand and foster a connection that will imprint your message in the minds of the audience you are trying to attract long after they view your content.
Although visuals can boost engagement, it is important to use them correctly and avoid using the same content for different types of posts. It is also crucial to have a style that fits your brand because that is what your viewing audience will identify you with. Tyler Trainer, Senior Social Media and Digital Marketing Associate at 10Fold, explained this “Imagery is very context dependent. For example, your brand posting about attending an event should have different visual content than if they were posting about thought leadership, but keep a consistent visual style that works.”
We live in a visual world where many people learn best with their eyes
Online consumers retain only 10-20% of the information they read but when it is paired with a visual, the information retained goes up by 45%. (Brain Rules) With the right visual, a company can give their brand relevance and the feedback obtained from their posts tends to be much more favorable. Not only do people remember more of the information they are receiving when it has a visual aspect
Putting effort into finding the right visual elements to go with the written content on your social media will give your brand two things that can be hard to find: relevance and individuality. Businesses are constantly putting out content so it is important to find exactly what will set your brand apart and bring the right audience to your posts. More than 500 million people are watching videos on Facebook every day as well as on other channels. Is your text-only post going to stand out to someone who is looking to be educated, impressed, or entertained?
Visuals also entice consumers to visit your website if they are crafted well. According to Demand Gen Report, infographics have the ability to improve web traffic by 12%, and landing pages with videos are 40x more shareable than landing pages without. This means that infographics will take a viewer to your webpage, and the video attached to that page will likely be the reason that they share it, further increasing awareness of your brand.
Don’t be left behind – think visual