‘’Visual marketing does not just sell a product or service – it sells an experience around your business’’.
– Rebekah Radice
A whopping 84% of all communication is visual.
Visual communication refers to any form of content involving images, infographics, videos, memes, slides, or interactive tools.
And, these days, creating captivating imagery and stunning visuals is one of the most powerful ways to engage with customers.
How many times have you been staring at a beautiful photo of an exotic, palm-fringed beach somewhere and immediately felt transported there?
And how many times have you found yourself drooling over the picture of a mouth-watering burger or cake?
Striking, crisp, and high-quality imagery can provoke intense emotions and positive reactions, enticing viewers to embark on the journey a brand is offering.
Now, you might be wondering why visual content is so powerful and how to create compelling imagery for your brand?
In this article, we’ll answer these two questions for you.
Why is Visual Content so Important?
Human Beings are Visual Learners
‘’65% of the population reports being visual learners’’.
The adage ‘’a picture is worth a thousand words’’ has never been so true.
As humans, we’re highly visual creatures.
In fact, our brains can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Incredible, isn’t it?
And as a result, our brains respond better to visuals.
They’re easier to digest and easier to remember. Studies have shown that adding images to a text can help consumers remember 65% of the information three days later instead of 10 % without images!
So, as a business, you should leverage the power of visuals as they’ll help consumers remember your brand and your brand messaging.
High-Quality Imagery Increases Engagement and Sales
Studies have shown that visual content increases engagement, website traffic, and sales. In fact, visuals get the highest level of engagement across all marketing channels.
For instance, click-through rates are 47% higher for websites containing images as opposed to websites containing only text. Facebook posts featuring an image get 352% more engagement than posts without a picture. What’s more, posting infographics can lead to 200% more shares than posts without images and a 12% increase in website traffic.
But visuals aren’t just good at driving engagement, they also help with conversion.
67% of consumers say that images are critical when making a purchasing decision.
High-quality imagery will help your potential customers process the content you’re sharing, making it clearer, more engaging, and appealing.
Leveraging stunning photography is the best way to grab consumers’ attention and entice them into browsing your offer. So, make sure to carefully craft your visual content marketing strategy to drive engagement and boost your sales.
Visuals Allow You to Tell Compelling Stories and Connect with Your Audience
“We are, as a species, addicted to stories. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.”
– Jonathan Gottschall
As a species, we’ve been connecting through stories for millennia. Stories create emotions and allow us to connect and bond.
High-quality imagery can be a powerful marketing tool because it allows brands to tell compelling stories and trigger emotions much faster than words. And emotions are the silent driver behind purchasing decisions.
Visuals also add depth and context to a written story or description, providing consumers with a more immersive and captivating experience.
After all, would you rather gaze at a fantastic picture of a bottle of Rose on a yacht moored off the Amalfi Coast or read a 500-word post about the characteristics of the wine?
We know what we would prefer 😉
Lastly, they allow you to connect with your audience by conveying the authenticity factor consumers are craving. Through imagery, your audience will get a glimpse of who you are as an individual and what your brand is all about.
As a result, adding quality images across all of your marketing channels will make your brand more memorable, relatable and help you better connect with your audience.
Visual Content Improves Your SEO
Since visual content is more appealing and engaging than text-only content, adding stunning images to your pages can make your audience stick around for longer. And the longer they stay on your pages, the higher you’ll rank on search engines.
That’s because algorithms favor websites and content that attracts a higher dwell time.
And algorithms also browse websites looking for relevant images and rank those featuring visual content at the top of search engine results.
How to Create Powerful Marketing Photos?
There’s no two ways about it.
If you want to grow your business, you need to develop powerful imagery to market your brand across your social media channels, newsletters, website, landing pages, etc.
But with over 3 billion images shared per day, it can be hard to cut through the noise.
So, here are three tips to help you up your marketing photo game and stay ahead of the competition:
Harness the Power of Natural Light
If your subject isn’t well-lit, no one will be able to see it, and it will produce a dull and underwhelming photo.
Lighting is everything when it comes to photography, and natural light is the holy grail.
That’s because it can really work wonders.
For instance, soft and evenly distributed light coming from a natural source can smooth the skin of a subject, add vibrancy and texture to your visuals and help you establish a unique tone and mood. It will also brighten up your imagery and allow you to get more defined and more interesting photos.
Create Dynamic Images
Competition for consumers’ attention has never been so high. So, chances are your competitors are also embracing visual content to help their content stand out. That’s why you need to differentiate yourself by constantly giving your photos a unique and dynamic perspective.
Shooting through something is a great way to add depth, dimension, interest, and a new perspective to your imagery. For instance, you could snap your team through a glass door or through foliage in the office. Don’t hesitate to be creative and use a trial and error approach.
The idea is to produce entertaining, dynamic, and original shots that look professional and reflect your unique brand personality.
Focus on the angle
Depending on what you’re shooting, take a few seconds to think about what angle would produce the best shot.
For instance, when shooting products or objects, take the pictures from a waist level and spend some extra time moving around the product to really capture the best angle. Based on the location and subject, don’t hesitate to get above, under, over, or shoot upside down to capture this fantastic shot.
You might feel embarrassed for a minute if you’re shooting in a public space, but it’s totally worth it, we promise 😉
Let’s Create Magic Together!
We’ve got plenty of other tips to help you enhance your brand photography on our blog.
And if you don’t have the resources or equipment, we also have a fantastic photo studio for hire in San Diego and a team of passionate photographers ready to help you create stunning visuals. As a business owner, it’s critical to focus your time, money, and energy on creating magical visuals that elicit powerful emotions as part of your content marketing strategy.
And it’s your lucky day as we are branding photography wizards 😉