Content should have impact, but to do this it needs to connect with its target audience pretty much instantaneously.
This is why content has become increasingly visual, and why, therefore, how you present your content is as important as what it consists of.
We’re a specialist digital marketing agency in Manchester, and one thing we really focus on is shaping how our clients’ content looks as well as reads.
The Rise of Visual Social Media Platforms
Pinterest had more than 320 million active monthly users in 2019. Instagram reached the one billion monthly user mark in 2018.
Brands using social media now have to do a lot more than simply post status updates or regular tweets.
They have realised the value in showing their followers something rather than just telling them about it.
Humans respond to and process visual data better than any other form of data.
Research also confirms that when it comes to online learning, visuals lodge in the long-term memory and transmit messages faster.
Visual content also triggers emotions.
Why Visual Content Matters
By focusing as much on the presentation of your content as on the content itself, you present your audience with a snapshot of your brand.
It’s the equivalent of multi-tasking through the use of content. While people are reading your content, they are also absorbing your overall brand qualities through your use of images, your typography and your website design.
In this way, dynamic visual content accomplishes several things:
- It boils information down to its essentials to make it easily and rapidly digestible, and
- It adds value to your content, and ultimately, your brand.
How Strong Visual Content Supports Your Online Presence
Visual content is good for SEO.
Google offers Instant Preview, which, in search results, shows you a site without opening it in a tab. If your visual content has impact it’s likely to make your site a more clickable option.
Design and layout of your content can help keep your site visitors interested, reducing your bounce rate.
Visuals help to make your content that much more shareable. Presentation helps content stand out from the crowd. Make the effort to make your content look professional and people will respond to it positively.
Presenting your content in an effective way enhances your online credibility.
Planning Your Content Presentation
Good content requires a clear strategy, including planning how to present it properly.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What will make your content unique but readable?
- What will transform it into something people find compelling?
Can you present your content in such a way that people reading it think that they haven’t seen anything like it before?
Content has to compete to be successful.
Can it do this with text alone? Will a bold headline be enough?
An important facet of good content marketing is that how you say something is important of what you are saying.
This extends to how you present your content visually.
Types of Visually Powerful Content
When considering the different types of visual content presentation that can connect with audiences, there are several to choose from:
It is important to always keep in mind your overall business objectives when designing and using content visually, and you must make sure what you do use aligns with your overall brand image and message.
Get in touch, and find out how to enhance your content through its presentation.
