Web content continues to become shorter, simpler and more visual in nature, with an apparent trend towards video content and images over long-form articles.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the whole story – but it’s undeniable that visual content is important online. Accordingly, all businesses should seriously consider how their visual content reflects their brands.
Statistics about visual content online
Here are some interesting stats on visual vs. text content on the web:
- 79% of internet traffic will be video content by 2018
- posts that have images produce 650% higher engagement than text-only
- users are 85% more likely to buy a product after seeing a product video
- 81% of people only skim read online content
- the average user gets distracted from online content after only 8 seconds.
Why you should create your own visual content
Stock images and video have their place, but in the age of authentic content, they’re becoming very easy to spot. Consumers become dubious when your visual content comes across as phoney, especially if it doesn’t line up 100% with your business offers.
Audiences these days are demanding real, personal experiences from brands and it starts with how they perceive a brand through their visual content. They would rather see a real photo of a lower quality than a pixel-perfect image that’s obviously been taken from a stock site.
It’s for this reason that ephemeral content, live videos and user-generated content are becoming more popular with consumers. They can relate to it and it feels, on an instinctive level, more genuine and human.
Trends in visual content marketing
Trends in content marketing tend to change quite often. You have to keep track of what’s popular with consumers in order to stay current. These are some of the top visual content trends in 2018.
Live video
Streaming live video has taken off in recent years. As far as content goes, it’s as fresh as it gets. Viewers also enjoy the interactivity of live video. A viewer is able to comment or react and could, theoretically, get a reply or shout out while the video is still going. Viewers comment 10 times more when a Facebook video is live than when it is static.
User-generated content
It can be any type of visual content; photos, videos or even artworks. User-generated content is appealing to consumers because it acts as a recommendation – visual word-of-mouth marketing, so to speak. 84% of consumers say they trust recommendations from other users over any other type of marketing.
Square video
It used to be standard to capture video in a landscape format. Then, with more content being viewed on mobile, vertical became more popular. These days, square video which is easily viewed on both desktop and mobile is on the rise. View rates for square videos are 28% higher than horizontal video.
Ephemeral content
Content that only lasts 24 hours might sound a bit counter-intuitive, especially when such a fuss is made about evergreen content, but ephemeral content quickly gained popularity when it was first released, especially on Instagram. The spontaneity and often unpolished feel these videos and images have, gives the content that much-coveted authenticity.
What you can do to improve your visual content
Investing in professional photography and videography is invaluable for businesses. Having a library of genuine photos or videos of your products, services, facilities, staff and events means you’ll never have to fudge your visual content with obvious and tacky stock footage.
If you’re unsure how to go about building such a library, it helps to work with a digital agency. They can advise you on finding a professional photographer or videographer, what to capture on film and how to use this footage in your marketing campaigns to the greatest effect.
Visual marketing content with Gnu World
At Gnu World, we work closely with our clients to help them identify areas of their marketing strategy that could benefit from custom visual content. We offer in-house graphic design that supports digital marketing campaigns and, when necessary, can help our clients source suitable photographers and videographers.
We also offer a holistic range of services, including web development, social media and content marketing, AdWords marketing and PR/outreach – individually or as part of a comprehensive digital marketing packages.
Contact us to find out more about what we offer and to discuss your needs.
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