What is visual marketing?

Psychologists and scientists say it: a beautiful image, a well-crafted visual content, or a thoughtfully produced video work better than flat and boring texts!

We are bombarded with information and only a very low percentage of it is truly assimilated. New communication strategies are primarily based on one element: the image! Let's discover what visual marketing is and its importance in a marketing strategy.

On average, only 80% of visual data is assimilated by the user but when we talk about textual content we drop to 20%!

Not only that, our own brain "thinks" in images!

Visual contents are processed by the brain 60,000 times faster compared to texts!

In short, an image is more immediate and impactful compared to words alone!

Here comes visual marketing into play: the communication strategy of small and large companies that prefers images and visual content to communicate itself!

What is Visual Marketing and Why It's Crucial for Your Company's Success

The new channels of communication, such as social media but also websites, are decidedly more visual than textual and, to be successful, it is essential to create a visual marketing strategy (or visual content marketing) that is simple, effective, and has an immediate impact.

Important examples of visual marketing include infographics (those graphics with elements and colors that attract attention and develop vertically), GIFs and memes (yes, those much-maligned memes are really becoming important for communicating on the web!) in addition to illustrations, cartoons and of course beautiful photos for posts, not to forget video content (equally important and trendy)!

The real benefits of visual marketing

The great advantages of visual marketing lie in the immediacy and speed of the message!

This type of strategy is important to increase your page's engagement, that is the average amount of comments and interactions with the posts.

Visual marketing also includes all elements that represent your brand through images.

The logo or brand, banners, business cards, in short, all the visual elements that represent you, fall into this strategy.

The real goal of a strategy based on images should be: to excite the user about the brand, to move them emotionally and to be absolutely immediate.

Through visual content, tell who you are and how you want to present your company to the world!

Therefore, the goal of visual marketing is to surprise, enhance the brand reputation of the company, and increase the engagement of your community!

Visual Storytelling

The next step beyond simple visual marketing is visual storytelling.

The most striking examples include stories on Instagram and WhatsApp. These tools are very useful for creating content that narrates the daily business life through images and videos!

The strong impulse to view content (which self-destructs after 24 hours) leads to extremely high viewing numbers (due to Robert Cialdini's principle of scarcity) and increases corporate reputation given by massive web exposure!

Winning Examples of Visual Marketing

Starbucks' Visual Marketing: When Images Perfectly Describe the Company

A truly successful example of visual marketing is the management of Starbucks' Instagram profile.

A uniquely managed page, to make the browsing experience truly inimitable.

The company and its values are narrated through images of products, which are far from obvious and often blended with nature (for example with clouds), there are photos of smiling staff, and graphics and illustrations that are meticulously designed.

https://www.instagram.com/starbucks/

Airbnb: A Fusion of Visual Storytelling and Visual Marketing

Analyzing the home-sharing giant, one can appreciate their skill in merging visual storytelling with customer-generated content.

The result is an enviable management of social channels, especially Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/AirbnbItalia/

The Most Common Mistakes When Creating a Visual Marketing Strategy

When creating a visual marketing strategy, one must adhere to the rules of classic marketing to avoid significant communication issues.

Mistakes in Visual Marketing Strategy: Psychology of Colors

In a strategy that relies on imagery, the choice of colors is crucial.

In the dedicated post, I explain that each color elicits a different sensation and emotion to the user.

A wrong use of colors can really be a fatal element for your visual campaign.

Mistakes in visual marketing strategy: errors in positioning

Creating a visual marketing strategy is not easy and, as mentioned, one must respect the rules of more traditional marketing.

It's essential to identify a target audience so as to understand what kind of communication to use (humorous, serious, out-of-the-box, provocative).

A daring choice with a target audience that will not see that content positively can be a difficult mistake to rectify.

Lastly, a piece of advice.

Well, beautiful and impactful images are good, but the content should not only be aesthetic but also useful.

The perfect image or visual content for visual marketing gives something, a help, a suggestion, it evokes an emotion and gets closer to the community, creating empathy. 

Only in this way can one enjoy the great benefits that a good visual strategy can bring with it!