Nowadays, more and more businesses, especially those that are really working to come up with more effective marketing campaigns, are realizing the important roles social media marketing plays. This only makes complete sense, seeing that billions of people from all over the world are active online. Millions of them have some sort of social media account. With the implementation of a proper social media strategy, businesses are able to spread their message, no matter the distance of their target audience.
You should know this, if you are like most people. If you are, then you probably are active online. It is also highly likely that you maintain social media accounts, such as the likes of Facebook and Twitter. If such is the case, then you may have noticed how the recent posts in your feeds are filled with images and videos, along with brief captions or descriptions. Your interest was probably quickly piqued by these posts. This immediate attraction is the result of an effective social media strategy.
Highly visual content has quickly taken over the World Wide Web. So if you own and run a business, you need to keep up and start making use of this tactic. If you don’t, your marketing campaigns may not be as effective as you would like them to be. Visual content is now a must, and without it, you have lower chances of making it to the top.
Why Visuals?
There are many good reasons as to why visuals are effective when used online. Listed below are just some of them.
Attention-Grabbing
Possibly the greatest reason is that images are able to quickly grab a person’s attention. This is due to the fact that the brain is quicker to process graphics compared to text. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies here, since a well-created image can already tell someone a lot even without any caption or description.
Greater Shareable Quality
Another good reason is that graphics are more shareable compared to just simple text. When you create an astonishing image that is able to capture the attention and interest of consumers, they are most likely to want to share it with their peers. If these images provide something worthy and of value to people, they are able to generate buzz, which then leads to conversation, finally leading to engagement.
All in all, with the use of high resolution pictures and images, your chances of having your message reach the people you are zeroing in on are higher. Your social media reach extends. Always keep in mind that your goal when using social media marketing is to boost your reach, and to have your message and content go as far as they possibly can. Highly visual content is definitely going to be of great help to you.
Best Tactics To Use When Using Visuals
Of course, when using visuals, you should not forget to enforce proper social media management tactics on it as well. You should have the right social media strategy, or even the most attention-grabbing images are going to fail in their purpose. There should be a well-thought of plan, and most importantly, balance between the rest of your marketing campaigns, may it be Facebook marketing, Twitter marketing, or Google Plus marketing.
So before you start implementing just any type of visual content marketing via your social media platforms and other online properties, keep in mind these tactics.
Types of Visuals To Post
The type of visuals that you should share should be based on your target audience. How people are going to react to posts depends on who they are, what they need, and what they want, so it is a must that you have this figured out first, prior to investing in quality graphics.
If your business is selling products, then they should be featured in the images. If not, the content you are going to post should be one that directly speaks to your audience. The pictures should be able to evoke emotion in your readers. These emotions should be positive, such as being funny, interesting, informative, and happy. Memes, infographics, and quote cards are some of the best visual content to start sharing.
Where to Find Shareable Content
As a rule of thumb, the most effective social media strategy for sharing visuals is to create your own. This way, you are sure to present your target audience with something unique and one-of-a-kind; something that they haven’t seen yet. Just make sure that the meaning is factual, honest, and unbiased.
In the event that you want to start sharing visuals as soon as possible, and your created images are not ready yet, your next option is to curate. Repurposing content that has successfully evoked great response in your audience is also a great tactic. Say for instance, your business sells hardware supplies. You can share content that talks about DIY projects.
All in all, your best source for shareable content is your social media feeds. Figure out what makes your audience tick, what they like to post and share with their peers. Once you have collated information, you can start building your social media strategy for sharing visual content.
Tools to Generate Visuals
Your best bet is to, of course, work with a highly reliable and trustworthy graphic designer. By having an expert on your team, you just need to come up with ideas on what you like your visuals to be. The graphic designer is then going to use his/her expertise, skills, and knowledge to create what you want, even give you advice on what works best.
Just in case you are still in between graphic designers, you can try creating your own images. There are plenty of visual content-creating tools available online, with many of them free. Those with advanced features are offered for an affordable price, so you may also want to consider investing a bit of your money on them, if you are sure that you really are going to make use of them.
Do not underestimate the power of visuals when creating content marketing strategies and implementing social media marketing. These images are very powerful, so take advantage of them.
