Content marketing has never been challenging as it is today.
Its landscape continues to rapidly evolve and the demand for engaging content that adds value, teaches, and entertains has never been higher.
As a savvy marketer, you know that it isn’t just about the quantity of content you can create. After all, readers can consume contents more than you can produce. In a “busy” generation we’re in, where attention is the new economy, you need to create contents that can cut through the “noise”.
Needless to say, it makes sense to keep yourself up-to-date with the latest trends and patterns that will amplify your marketing strategies.
In this post, let’s delve into the 3 not-so-secret secrets to make your graphics more shareable.
1. Add more visual variety to your content arsenal
Have you noticed how contents are visually presented these days? The age of large blocks of text is passing away. At the dawn of 2017, marketing experts unveiled the rise of visual contents:
As humans, we’re visual creatures. We eat with our eyes, we travel with our eyes, we fall in love with our eyes. It makes sense that the future will be very visual.
– Purna Virji
The good news is, the variety of contents is endless. Here are some sample ideas which you can incorporate into your plan:
#Memes
Memes are hilarious, highly engaging and could even make you think and perform actions like sharing them with your friends.
Memes are a great way to show off your wits and build a connection with your audience. It gives the impression that you’re not entirely concerned of making sales, but you know how to have fun as well.
Creating memes is a no-brainer. With the help of online tools like Youzign, you can create memes on the fly!
#Infographics
An infographic is best at juicing up long series of texts to something that’s visual and can be easily understood. As its name implies “information in the form of graphics”.
The demand for infographics is still high. One study found that infographics are liked and shared on social media 3x more than any other type of content and 29% of leading marketers use infographics to repackage their contents such that transforming an old blog post to an infographic to make their content available in another more shareable format.
Creating infographics isn’t as easy as creating a meme. It would require in-depth research because these forms of visuals are fact-oriented. It can be pretty expensive and time-consuming as well. Some designers charge around $1000 for a single infographic. However, there are low-cost online graphic tools like Youzign (you can try it for free here) to help you create one easily.
#Videos
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more a video?
The average reader only spends 37 seconds reading an article or blog post. This is where videos can help a lot. They are a powerful way to communicate your brand story and build relationships with your customers and prospects. The most recent study shows that including videos on a landing page can skyrocket conversion rates up to 80%, and 92% of mobile consumers share videos on their social media channels.
Videos are an adaptable form of contents as well (from recipe videos, how-to videos, product showcasing videos, music videos, etc.) They can be used for almost all types of niche. It’s important to note though, that videos aren’t just about the moving pictures. A well-written script is equally important as the quality of the video itself.
Adding text overlays on your videos such as your brand logo, taglines or lower thirds can also help your audience relate to what your content is about. Uploading your videos on Vimeo or Youtube will also help boost organic searches and social signals for SEO.
#Gifs and Cinemagraphs
From the dancing baby to the obnoxious space cat, GIFs are omnipresent on the internet but it hasn’t lost its charm still.
GIFs and cinemagraphs are now widely used in marketing by the big brands in almost all types of industries. They are easier to produce and cheaper than video but, covers more than static images.
Some of the ways you can benefit from animated GIFs is when you use them for ads, presenting data, when showing off a product, to show steps in tutorials and so much more. Cinemagraphs on the other hand, are mesmerizing living photos. Today, more fashion brands are adapting these to their core digital marketing campaigns.
Creating GIFs has never been easier today. There are several tools you can use such Gifzign which specializes in creating GIFs and beautiful cinemagraphs.
2. Use High-Quality Images
We see an extraordinary conjunction these past few years as both high-end cameras and photo-based apps like Instagram stepped up the game of visual marketing.
I could write a whole separate post about the reasons why you should ditch those old cheesy stock photos and start using high-quality images, nevertheless here are the top 3 reasons you shouldn’t miss:
- High-quality images have higher visual appeal making people notice it, like, and even share it across the web.
- Your visuals represent your brand. High-quality images can boost your brand credibility and professionalism.
- People loves visual imagery. Adding a relevant photo can evoke readers’ emotion without using too much text.
If you have a low budget, don’t be put off by pricey tags of high-end cameras or high professional fees. You can now get high-resolution photographs which are as cheap as free from the internet. These huge libraries of high-definition images are offering copyright-free license (you can always check the license type for each image).
At Youzign, we’ve tapped into the internet’s largest free image libraries so you can fetch high-quality images straight from your work area. Youzign is integrated with Pixabay, Unsplash, StockUnlimited, Iconfinder and more.
3. Tap into visual trends
Being able to know what’s “in” can make your brand look modern and up-to-date. Since trends come and go, it’s important to tap into it while it’s still increasing in popularity.
There are lots of ways to know what’s trending. You can read through statistics released every year. Expert brands like ShutterStock share their forecast of the trends that will influence all things design, advertising, visual and communication for the next 12 months.
You can also browse through Pinterest. This bookmarking site has been my go-to source for our hero graphics. In the image below, I simply typed in the keywords “quotes+work+motivation” on the search tab, and it has pulled up all relevant graphics for me to choose from.
Notice the quote graphic at the middle part of the screenshot? It’s just white texts on a plain pink background, but it’s got 8k pins already. See how simple it’s done? Now, check out the quote at its left side. A powerful work quote placed on top of a picture of a man in tie and suit, and it almost doubled the number of pins by 15.8k!
What can we learn from here? You don’t need to overthink your design to make it stand out. Every element of your design should help make your point across, not distract or compete with it. This minimalist style can also be applied on your site banners and featured images.
Fin
That’s it for now I guess… Please take note that you don’t need to try all these samples. One type of visual content may be a gold mine for a certain brand but not suitable at all to another. Use only content types that you think will do well in your niche.
So how do you plan to incorporate these not-so-secret secrets in your marketing strategies?
It’s time to share your thoughts with us in the comments below. 🙂
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