The way we’ve consumed content has shifted dramatically. Visual intelligence is on the rise. We’re bombarded with over 10,000 marketing messages and processing 100,000 words a day. When we encounter verbal information, three days later we’ll only remember 10% of it, but if we’re exposed to an image, we’ll remember 65% of it — perhaps because we process visual information 3X faster than a single word.
What does this mean? We’ve calibrated our brains to take processing shortcuts in the form of visuals.
We know telling stories can have a demonstrable impact on consumers and society, and visuals bring narratives to life in an increasingly image-consumptive culture. Marketers are taking notice. In a survey of 500 marketers, 56% of them used visuals 100% of the time in their content in 2018, and plan to double their content marketing investment in 2019.
So let’s talk about the visuals that can up-level your content marketing strategy.
1. Infographics
Infographics deliver complex information in an easy-to-consume format. According to a Nielsen study focused on behavioral patterns and online behavior, people only read 20–28% of words they encounter — meaning, they’re skimmers. People ferret out the information they believe to be important, and infographics offer a concise and digestible view of powerful, insight-driven content. Infographics not only have the ability to increase page traffic, but they also drive high levels of engagement.
Marketers can use infographics to highlight key trends and consumer behavior or deliver a “year in review” of their performance as well as engagement from their best customers. Check out one of Lyft’s EOY personalized customer infographics.
2. Custom illustrations
Illustrations provide a visual representation of a concept, text, or process — the central point being to help consumers understand or imagine a simpler, more convenient process. Consider how you design and develop your mobile apps, product detail pages on your website, or even sales confirmation emails. Illustrations render cold processes warm and inviting. When you’re explaining your product’s features and benefits, illustrations tend to make the process simpler and entertaining.
For example, iconic auto parts brand, JC Whitney was known for their illustrated mail-order catalogs, which elevated the shopping experience.
While you may use stunning photography and video to showcase your products and the benefits and outcomes customers would experience as a result of buying them, you may want to think about how, and if appropriate for your brand, you want to use illustrations to communicate how you can assemble and use your product. Think IKEA, but illustrations that don’t require an M.I.T. degree to decode.
Why could this be key in the sales process? Remember, people perceive pictorial elements faster than words and important the brain often fixes information as visual images, so if you don’t want anything to impede their path to purchase, illustrations might be your best bet.
3. Videos
Here are two heart-stopping video stats:
- Videos will comprise 82% of all online traffic by 2022, according to a Cisco study.
- Mobile video usage has increased by nearly 10 million daily viewing minutes in the past two years.
Video has become the lingua franca of the content age. Since consumers demand a seamless and integrated cross-platform information gathering and purchase experience, it’s key that marketers consider how video can be a core element to your story strategy online and via mobile. You could use video in every element of the customer journey. Ethical clothing retailer Eileen Fisher employs videos on their product detail pages to show the fit and movement of clothing. No longer do you have to rely on flat photographs on models. Now, you can see products in action.
Regarding the customer journey — let’s say you’re in the hospitality business. From showcasing the rooms, suites, dining, and spa and wellness facilities when they’re deciding where to book to giving them a virtual explorer’s guide of the local area and attractions when they arrive, video can breathe life into a property in a way that staged images can’t.
For example, Ritz Carlton Santa Barbara whets your luxury palate, showing you all that the area has to offer in terms of entertainment, relaxation, fine dining, and more, while Thompson Hotel’s #ThompsonUncovered program gives customers an all-access pass to living like a local.
4. Visuals in VR
Sophisticated consumers, who’ve adopted the “experience economy” mindset, are intrigued by virtual reality (VR) and the way it can transform their experience. Virtual reality gives prospective customers the opportunity to “try before they buy” — merging physical and virtual worlds — as they experience and interact with a 3-D world via a head-mounted display.
A Tourism Australia study revealed that 20% of consumers have used VR to select their travel destination and 25% plan to do so in the near future. In analyzing VR in China, 74% of customers are interested in VR experiences as it relates to travel, tourism, and adventure. Back in 2015, when Marriot launched their VRoom Service 51% of people who sampled the program wanted it implemented in more Marriot properties.
Let’s stick with the hospitality example. Imagine soaring over a hotel, surveying a hotel from all possible angles and then swooping down and gliding into the lounge, through the rooms, dining area, and all your property has to offer. Customers could step onto a sandy beach, savor a frothy tropical cocktail, and slip into a hotel bar after a long day of excursions — a high-sensory impact experience, all from the convenience of their living room.
Not only does VR afford customers the opportunity to access a 360 panning view of their room, but they also can scout out their nearby surroundings and area attractions. Your storytelling could morph into their story living.
While you can’t imagine a world where people are reliant on sunglasses and headsets, know that the VR industry is booming. A third of consumersglobally will be using the technology by 2020. The market is said to surpass $49.7B in 2023, at a 59% CAGR from 2018–2023. So you may want to consider how your storytelling can be amplified by VR technology.
As marketers, we have to gain our prospective customer’s trust. We do this by attacking their pain-points head-on and providing solutions to their problems. And while your customers are in the throes of sifting through a sea of noise to find solutions, why not make their search process simpler? Why not consider how you can use visuals strategically to augment and amplify your message. Because we have to consider not only the kind of stories we tell but also the variety of forms they could take.
