Like little children, we all love pictures and pretty colors to go with our words. Just think about the dozens of new memes shared on social media everyday!
Ever heard “a minute of video is worth a million words?” Humans are more likely to recall textual info combined with video and graphics than text alone. So use this knowledge to your advantage!
Inform (or entertain) your audience with effective visual content in your presentations, your website, and your marketing. That means more pictures, more slideshows, and more videos (especially videos)!
Here are five benefits to adding visuals to your strategy:
- People Are Visual Creatures
And we’re not just talking about the guys here. We all “think in pictures.” Visuals are simply more memorable and eye-catching.
Are you explaining something technical? Why not use a five-step how-to infographic? Or why not use a slideshow to display boring info in an interesting way?
- Visuals Are Time Savers
Many of us take time to read, but most of us still have Road Runner-like attention spans. Images and video maximizes the few precious moments you do have with your audience.
Instead of a blog post, could your message be more impactful in a Youtube video?
- It Shows and Proves
If you’re a professional speaker, people may want to see you in action, before they book you. Show your stuff with a demo reel or an excerpt from a recent speech. Video testimonials from satisfied clients are great, too.
- It’s Shareable
The more your content circulates, the better. Make sure your content is share-ready. Enough said.
- You Can Optimize It
Don’t count out SEO. Optimizing your visual content can put you closer the top of a Google search.
Add alt text to your images. Use schema code for your videos. Add closed captioning or transcripts to your videos. (If you don’t know what any of this means, click here.)
- You Can Do-It-Yourself
With plenty of content creation services to choose from (many of them are free, or freemium like Canva), you can create a world of visuals on your own.
Websites like Lynda.com offer budget-friendly courses from Photoshop to Final Cut Pro. So do yourself a favor and invest in a videography or design class.
Or just hire a professional. Whatever.
One More Thing About Video…
The importance of video content is worth its own book chapter. Have you seen Facebook lately? It’s become a video-sharing format now. And Youtube processes millions of searches per day.
This proves video works. It’s such a simple, effective way to explain your products and compel visitors to take action. And it’s easy to share!
As always, quality content is king. Don’t join Instagram just because you think you should. Your visual content should work in tandem with your strategy as a whole.
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