High-quality content is invaluable when connecting your brands to your customers. Encouraging target audiences to participate through the delivery of useful information will ensure customers keep coming back for more and spread the word. It improves audience engagement and retention. But what can help support this?
It has been proven that an effective content strategy which also includes supporting visual imagery can deliver higher levels of engagement, as it is processed 60,000 times faster than simply having written content.
B2B audiences value engaging written content but it does need to stand out. It’s why successful businesses use a variety of techniques to ensure their content is eye-catching as it encourages the audience to read on and learn more.
With 65% of the population categorised as visual learners, it’s no surprise that your targeted audience is 80% more likely to read content supported with high impact imagery and 40% more likely to share it on social media channels, than if it were plain text. Therefore, incorporating a portion of your marketing budget into formulating a visual approach is important.
Furthermore, interactive media such as; motion graphics, images, GIFs and infographics, can portray your key messages across to target audiences in an engaging way, and help build your brand personality.
In B2B as much as your audience value content, sometimes showing can be better than telling i.e. an infographic can condense a vast amount of information down into a single image. The main reason people prefer graphics and imagery to overwritten text is primarily due to its speed of absorption. This is an extremely important component of consideration and also a major drawback concerning a long body of text.
Infographics, or information graphics as they are sometimes referred to, are visual representations of data intended to simplify information clearly and quickly. They are more enjoyable to read and are extremely useful for boiling down data and making it palatable, and they’re suitable for use in any B2B sector from manufacturing to medical statistics.
While they are not a new concept, newspapers, for instance, have used them for years, more recently they have become invaluable in B2B marketing and as a marketing tool.
Facts and figures from surveys can be difficult to display yet lend themselves to being presented in simple and attractive graphics. A good example also carries authority as they do take some researching but using them well will mark you out as an expert.
In print, infographics can also be used to illustrate features in place of photographs. Not all subjects are easy to capture in stunning or even mediocre photos; an infographic, however, can be used to illustrate what might otherwise be a somewhat uninspiring concept.
From a marketing point of view, they can even be created using corporate colours to reinforce a brand image. Logos and website addresses can be worked into them to maximise brand awareness. Even the most niche markets lend themselves to the infographic as to a certain degree it doesn’t have to be about the actual business, just of interest to your B2B target audience.
Considering they are high impact and pleasant to read, infographics are ideal for use on social media. E-shots, blogs, press releases and even whitepapers can all benefit from their use to simplify complicated concepts and share statistics at a glance.
They’re also relatively easy to handle. They can be embedded simply and be tracked with analytics, and because they are simple, eye catching and more likely to be shared they can be part of an SEO strategy.
Research has shown that 90% of the information transmitted in the human brain is visual, meaning your business needs a strong design focus in order to communicate its purpose, play an essential role in conveying the underlying message of your product or service and promote a strong brand.
It’s definitely worth investing in an expert to create something outstanding that can be read enjoyed and shared across any media be it print, website or social media.
To find out how Shrewdd Marketing can help you, visit our website or give us a call on 01422 363 424.
