A picture is worth a thousand words

Why is everyone buzzing about videos, charts, images, and graphics — visual content?

Well, research shows that many people abandon static messages before finishing the first quarter of the words therein.

That right there is not a good statistic for online marketers.

With visual content, however, people are more engaged with content and convert easily.

In this article, we will look at why this new trend is becoming the number one tool for conveying information online.

1. People love data but they don’t have the time to read it

People are becoming more and more aware of their surroundings, which make them hungry for information.

Modern customers are well enlightened about the products and services they receive on a daily basis and they want to know even more and more.

An average person now has about 10,000 per cent more information to process and internalise as compared to the average person back in 2008.

However, the global economy is moving so fast that not many people can afford the luxury of time.

Statistics show that people get restless and quit reading a text if it drags on for more than two minutes. Visual content, on the other hand, communicates in an easy-to-remember manner and helps people understand content within 10 seconds.

If you want to attract new business leads, you must focus on visualizing more of your content.

2. Visual data is universally acceptable

Small businesses are now joining their big brothers in the international market.

Social media and the increased use of smartphones have made global reach almost as effortless as establishing a local shop.

However, the major challenge is globalising your business.

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This means that you will be handling people from different social backgrounds, financial standings, and literacy levels.

Some prospective customers may not have the expertise or even the will to decode complex data from a 2000-word long text article, for example.

On the other hand, with charts and graphs, even those with minimal reading abilities can easily figure out what you are putting across — bringing on board more people and giving you an edge.

3. It gives you limitless opportunities to get creative

The traditional text format of conveying data limited web admin’s creativity.

Besides using entertaining language and creating catchy headlines for your articles, there wasn’t much that you could do to make your data appealing.

Content visualization hands you many cool alternatives to get creative with your content.

You can, for example, appeal to the millennials using short, precise, and shareable social media videos – there is a huge chance your Instagram video will go viral.

This is a group of prospective customers who wouldn’t engage with your content if it were presented to them in a static text format.

Gifs and emojis are also helping web marketers to communicate with audiences at a personalized and emotional level.

4. Stories are powerful

The latest sensation in the world of social marketing is the story-telling feature.

Businesses can now use stories to establish connections with clients, create brand awareness, and explain why they need a given product in order to solve a particular problem in their lives.

Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, and Snapchat Stories have become too powerful that without them, not many social media users will recognize you online.

You must post short and entertaining videos or clear photos in order to attract people to your account and then direct them to your other content thereafter.

Stories have now become part of Google in the form of Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) stories.

The search engine is improving its user experience by optimising its Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for mobile.

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AMP Stories enable mobile phone users to click through content on Google and get solutions to their queries faster and conveniently.

5. It humanizes brands

People are now sharing information very fast, which makes it mandatory for you to act as fast otherwise you will be left behind.

Social media friends share every minute of their lives with their online friends and connect emotionally with whatever is happening around them.

If you organize a charity event, for example, people will know about it whether you share it or not.

The disadvantage of other people telling your story is that they can choose to distort it or tell indigestible chunks of it.

On the other hand, sharing information about the event through pictures and short videos makes people see your brand in a more human way.

You can even go live on social media these days and show your followers whatever you go through in order to serve them well.

That makes customers loyal as they are able to understand the pain and struggles behind your brand.

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Image Credits: antishock

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