Why You Need to be Marketing with Images
September 15th 2014 | By Steve Grant
Social media is ever-evolving and keeping up with the latest trends is essential if you’re going to get the most out of it. There is a great deal of research about backing the suggestion that learning via visual means is more popular than absorbing words. People tend to digest information more readily when they view an image or a graphic then when they read text. With this in mind, you can hone your online marketing and social media campaigns to fit in with the latest trends in preferences and get ahead of competitors who focus primarily on written content.
Why Image Based Marketing is the Way to go
When you’re surfing the internet, you have a limited attention span. Too much information can become overwhelming. If something stands out because it’s visually appealing, you’ll be naturally drawn to it. Posts that involve reams of bland looking text certainly won’t fit the bill here. But posts containing images will grab attention and add flow and interest to the material, naturally encouraging readers to engage.
Of course your content is important and needs to be compelling and well written. But the key to really getting people to engage with it is to include some well-placed images or graphics to break up the text. This is particularly important when you are attempting to explain something in step by step fashion, or you want to illustrate a point.
Adding images to posts is a great SEO initiative too. Make sure you use keywords in the image file name, the title and alt and description tags so Google can easily index the images. Post images on social media platforms and include the relevant tags and hashtags and you’ll glean even more benefit.
Using Imagery in Marketing and Social Media
So how can you integrate more imagery into your marketing and social media? Here are two of our favourite image based platforms we believe you should be embracing:
Pinterest – it’s like an online pin board based on an exchange of ideas using visual content. There’s not as much interaction as on Twitter and Facebook as really it’s meant as a platform to be shared on other platforms. You can comment on ‘boards’ and ‘re-pin’ images you like and vice versa, other users can comment on your boards and share your images with their networks. We’ve previously written a post on Pinterest and how to get the most out of it SEO-wise so have a read. It’s worth noting that around 70% of Pinterest users are female, so if this is your demographic it’s going to work better for you.
Instagram – everyone seems to be using it! It’s a great way for anyone to share images with an audience and according to statistics it’s a platform that’s growing rapidly, more so than Twitter and Facebook did when they first entered the social media scene. Up until recently you could only use Instagram via an app on iOS or Android, but now via EnjoyGram you can use it on the web too.
It’s a fun concept and there’s great interaction that helps build rapport by giving customers a real time insight into what’s going on in a business. It’s basically like a photographic reporting tool that allows you to keep followers up to date in a visual way with what’s happening, so promoting a friendly personality.
You can also invite customers to post their own pictures so they feel involved and part of your brand. These brand ambassadors are invaluable in helping you share your messages.
Marketing With Images is Fun!
Marketing with images is fun and can really help you engage with your audience. The key is to keep snapping – make taking pictures a natural part of what you do – and if there’s a special event planned then get yourself a professional photographer so you can really make the most of the photo opportunity!
If you’d like some help implementing a social media campaign, image based or otherwise, or could use a professional photographer, we can help on all counts. For a friendly chat about what we can do please get in touch.