Everything we see on the internet is a multiple combination of a single major element: visual.
Even if we talk about text, lines, dots, photos, graphs, videos, infographics and other visual elements, they are here to stay and we, as marketers, need to understand how to use these visuals to make our work become more significant in our consumer’s mind.
It was kind of hard to talk about “The Art of Visual Marketing 2.0” and what is “visual marketing” in a world where everything is moving so fast. But I thought about it and saw that there are a lot of people who need to understand how they can use Visual Marketing at their maximum potential.
First, let’s define what is “Visual Marketing”
According to Wikipedia:
“Visual Marketing is the discipline studying the relationship between an object, the context it is placed in and its relevant image. Representing a disciplinary link between economy, visual perception laws and cognitive psychology, the subject mainly applies to business such as fashion and design”
Wow, what a fancy definition for such an interesting and great term such as “visual marketing”, right?
Well, let’s try to make it shorter.
Visual Marketing means a brand is using a visual element (infographic, photo, video) to connect with a user.
I didn’t specifically mention the terms “online” or “offline” because you can find visual marketing in both. It only depends on the creator, brand, consumer and the market.
So, here are my 10 points that define the art of visual marketing 2.0:
1. Understand the type of visual
Every visual we use has many types. That means that when we create a type of visual we should think about where we want to use it and what we want to achieve with it.
For example, if we want to use an Instagram photo we should think about the platform and who are the people that use it. The context and users of Instagram are different from the context and users of Twitter or Pinterest.
2. Designers should design and marketers should marketing
I believe that everyone has its own place in the space. This is why the designer should design and work together with the marketer and the marketer should marketing the visual and work together with the designer. Why? Because when they are both doing their own job, magic can happen. But what if a marketer doesn’t have enough talent/resource/money/time to work with a designer? This is why there are different apps like Bannersnack that helps them do a great job.
3. Every visual for a specific place
When you work a lot for a specific type of visual, you want to be recognized by as many consumers as possible, that’s why you share it on a lot of social media channels. I believe that every visual should be shared in the right place with the right format. That means you can’t upload a 800x10500px infographic on Facebook because this platform isn’t compatible with the vertical format, but you can upload it on Pinterest and then cross promotion and share it on Facebook.
4. Think about your audience
When you design a visual you should think about your audience first. Because you create it for them and you want to connect with them. This is why you need to make the fonts readable, use the right colors, use high quality images and make it easy to consume. A very crowded Slideshare presentation with a lot of text and information on the layer won’t be as easy to digest as a simple one where you put the right elements in the right format.
5. Then think about your brand
Be proud of your brand and let the consumer know who created that great visual. If you created a video, let them know at the end who was the brand behind this video by inserting your logo. Or if you designed an image with a quote on your Facebook, you can mark it in a corner with your logo. Just try not to be aggressive with your brand.
6. The “Why” question is a must
Every time you design a visual and create a strategy to share it, ask yourself the next question: “Why will this visual matter to people?”. Asking this question will help you understand the big impact your visual will have and how you can share it so that it reaches as many consumers as possible.
7. Give time for the content to be consumed
Even if your visuals are the best, your community still needs time to consume them. That means that you should create a strategy of when to share, where to distribute and how to distribute them. By giving your community time to consume your visual, the audience will also share it forward to their community because it will make them look good.
Do you remember what I just told you about thinking about your audience first?
8. Don’t just sell, create an engagement
Don’t use visual marketing to sell your product. Today we have social media to connect with our users, to listen them, to see what the market is talking about the brand. Having a “seller” attitude will keep your audience away from you. Create a engagement with visuals and let them connect with each other on your network by providing them great visuals such as motivational images, educational graphs or entertainment .Gifs.
9. Optimize your space
Whether you have a Facebook, Twitter or a Youtube account and you can optimize them with covers or visuals, you should use that space. Because people who want to connect with you on social media want to know more about you at first sight, so why not help them by optimizing your social media covers.
10. Experiment every time
Try new things every time and see what fits your brand or not. Maybe you are not good in designing great valuable infographics but you are a rock star on video. Or maybe you can’t take a great photo on Instagram but you are the best at creating creative snaps on Snapchat.
Experiment new things every time and be the star in what you can do best.
Here are my 10 simple tips on how to use the art of visual marketing to make your brand more powerful and have an impact in your community.
Shutterstock | Photo
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