Humans are vision-focused beings. We process images significantly faster than we process plain text. We are more likely to remember information when it’s accompanied by visual aids. We notice, appreciate and engage with visual content more than simple copy.
For all of these reasons, not to mention that many digital channels prioritized visual content, it’s important that you are creating imagery and video content for your company. These types of visuals can call attention to your content, helping it to stand out, and add an emotional or tonal layer that isn't present in plain text.
Yet, creating any ol’ image or video doesn’t cut it in this new decade. There are important things to keep in mind when creating visual content to ensure you’re reaching your audience and reaching your objectives. Following are seven important aspects of creating custom branded content in 2020:
1. Personalize Content for Particular Audiences
Personalizing content for your audience means keeping your existing audience in mind. Ask yourself: What brought them to your brand in the first place? What are they looking for in your content? How can you create content that suits their needs? This will help you build a strong relationship with your existing audience and attract new consumers with similar interests.
2. Piggyback on News & Current Events
Posts and articles about popular, trending current events and news will generate greater traffic in the days immediately after hitting the news cycle. Taking advantage of this trend will help your content reach a wider audience. Timely content with a strong point of view elicits a strong emotional reaction, which can improve engagement.
3. Conduct Your Own Research
Original research helps you to stand out in a crowd of regurgitated content and, if done well, can improve your brand's trustworthiness and reputation.
4. Mind the Micro-Influencers
While it may seem counter-intuitive, working with social media influencers with smaller (<30,000) follower counts can often generate more sales than celebrities with much larger followings. This is because smaller influences are seen as more genuine than celebrities, and therefore more trustworthy.
5. We’re Not Done with Video Yet
For years, video content has seen more and more engagement when compared to text-based or even image-based content, and this trend isn't going away any time soon. Customers are more likely to pay attention to, remember, and engage with content presented in a video format than the same information presented in a text format.
6. Less Ads, More Stories
With social media feeds becoming overrun with ads, consumers are more likely to trust and engage with content that doesn't look like an ad. Content written and presented in a down-to-earth voice, or content telling personal-sounding or heartwarming stories, is more likely to be interpreted favorably by consumers.
7. Creating Trust Has Never Been More Important
Especially in the upcoming presidential election. People are more suspicious of online content than ever before. Garnering and keeping your audience's trust is essential in this time of suspicion, doubt and blatant lying.
For more information about visual content and how to help your brand stand out online, contact us.