Content marketing experts predicted a rise in visual content. However, they didn’t expect it to surge to the level it has. Some of the big players are YouTube, SlideShare, Visual.ly, Pinterest, and Vine for Twitter. Their growth amongst consumers has been phenomenal and presents a very real opportunity for business owners.
Pinterest, one of the fastest growing providers of visual content, has 70 million users and 2.5 billion monthly page views. It also experienced a 125% increase in international users last year.
Vine, the six-second looping video tool available on Twitter, was the fastest growing application of 2013 with 403% growth. It has more than 40 million users worldwide and according to website stats, five Vine tweets are published every second. You might also like to know that a branded Vine video is four times more likely to be seen than a regular branded video.
This is just the beginning of visual content. If you want to truly grow your content marketing efforts, visual content is a must. Let’s take a look at how to embrace visual content in your content marketing strategy.
#1 Choose Your Medium
There are many different visual content opportunities. Identify the type of visual content your audience is most likely to embrace. Are they active on Pinterest or do they prefer videos? (Note, you can share videos on Pinterest but that’s not the primary graphic of choice.)
Take some time to research your audience and identify the most popular form of sharing and viewing visual content. Choose one medium or site to focus on first. Once you’ve reached your goals, then you can add another type of visual content to your strategy.
#2 Goals and Strategy
What do you want to achieve with your visual content? You might use visual content to motivate purchases. Or, you can create comparison infographics to promote affiliate sales. Videos can drive traffic to your site when they’re shared on social media. Decide what you want to accomplish and make sure your chosen format is a good fit for your goals.
Keep in mind that your visual content should still be an integrated part of your overall marketing strategy. If your primary goal for example is to grow your email list, then your visual content should also support that goal. Also take a look at how you can use technology to create a cohesive message and experience. For example, if you create a profile on Pinterest, then add a Pinterest widget to your blog that allows visitors to pin images and follow you on Pinterest.
#3 Schedule It
Because visual content may be new to you, consider outsourcing some of the more technical tasks. If you’re not a graphic designer, for example, then you may want to hire someone to make sure your graphics look professional.
Next steps…
- Begin exploring your visual content options.
- Research your audience and determine the best place to focus your attention.
- Start creating a visual content marketing strategy that supports your other marketing goals.