Step aside, text-heavy content - your days of kingship are done
The verdict is out. 91% of buyers prefer interactive and visual content over traditional text and static imagery. This might not shock you.After all, we are in the middle of The Great Video Boom. But if you aren’t using this statistic to seriously inform your content marketing strategy — you’re in deep water without a lifeline. Prepare to tread for the foreseeable future.
What exactly is visual content?
Visual content is any type of content that displays information graphically and with limited text. For example: using icons, animation, illustrations, or graphs to get a point across faster and more efficiently than text alone.
The New York Times now publishes about 15 multimedia pieces every single day. And that’s on top of 150 articles a day, 65 blog posts per day, and 330 graphics per month! Clearly, text-based content isn't going anywhere. But what’s noteworthy is the fact that visual content is quickly climbing the ranks to top priority status.
Why Is Visual Content Wildly Popular?
I could write a book in response to this question, but for your sanity (and the sake of this article’s argument) I’ll keep it brief:
The majority of people are visual learners, which makes visual content the easiest form of information for them to digest. In fact, according to Wistia, only 20% of people actually read articles from start to finish (you’re one of them, right?).
Attention spans are down to 8 seconds and arguably still dropping. Luckily, visual content captures attention longer than text. Fact: video engagement remains strong for up to two minutes before it starts to taper off (Wistia).
Most internet browsing takes place on a mobile device. Ever read an article on your iPhone? It takes a lot of scrolling and screen-pinching…but a video or graphic displays beautifully and gets your point across in one eye-gulp; perfect for on-the-go visitors.
Most marketers know that visual content is the wave of the future. The Content Marketing Institute reported that visual content accounted for the largest increase in B2B content marketing usage in 2016. But something still isn’t right…
Here’s the Problem with Visual Content:
The majority of content creators don’t fully understand what visual content performs best, and when to use it. Their lack of expertise is not for lack of want. The pace of marketing evolution is warp-speed fast, which puts most marketers in a reactionary position. They spend all their energy figuring out how to adopt the latest trend (like visual media) and seldom learn how to use it before the next big trend emerges.
Tips & Tricks for Visual Content Survival:
Start by Converting Existing Content
Take your top performing text-based pieces and find the most important point(s) in each. Cut out the rest; get rid of as much text as humanly possible. Then, decide which type of visual will best serve your brief points. Is it an animated video? A GIF? An infographic?
Limit Your Use of Stock Imagery
If possible, don’t use stock at all! According to AdWeek, 35% of marketers polled frequently use stock images. But only 8% of them reported high engagement from those photos. Audiences want high quality, but they also demand authenticity. They want to see your brand, your company culture, and your true character.
Make Visual Content Interactive
This will increase the time viewers spend on the content. Interactive pre-roll ads increased view time by an average of 44 seconds. And interactive video achieved a 591% increase in user activity versus traditional pre-video ads.
Yeah, yeah…you’ve heard this tip before. But it’s something we’ll never stop reiterating because it’s that important. Did you know that Generation X spends more time on social media than Millennials? Or that females over the age of 18 spend more time on media than males? The more you know about your audience, the clearer and more effective your distribution strategy will be.
Pay Attention to Performance
Try a variety of visual content. What type of media performs best? What type performs the worst? There shouldn’t be so much confusion around “what type” of visual content to use if you read your metrics and use performance data to inform you strategy.The bottom line: marketers must do what audiences demand. Visual content’s performance is only going to continue climbing. You can get on board now while it’s still trending, or you can wait. But make no mistake — change is upon us, and if you aren’t adapting, you’re falling behind.
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