Content Marketing: A Case for Visual Storytelling

Content marketing is nothing new — it’s been around for much longer than most of us have been alive. But developing and distributing quality content is now more important than ever for businesses. Engaging content helps attract, convert and amuse customers.

But what exactly is content, you ask? The simplest definition of content is information delivered in a variety of formats to attract and retain customers. That means content can be a memorable meme destined to go viral on social media. Content can be a carefully crafted podcast for your website. Content can even be a well-written blog (like the one you’re reading!)

In today’s tech-driven world, infinite amounts of content are literally at our fingertips thanks to smartphones and the Internet. With so much information to process, people now scan through content more quickly than ever before. Add to that our decreasing attention spans — which at eight seconds is now one second less than a goldfish! — and attracting customers just got a whole lot harder.

So how do businesses get noticed? Which type of content can cut through the clutter?

Visual content is king.

According to HubSpot, there are many compelling reasons visual content should be part of every marketing strategy.

1. Infographics are “liked” and shared on social media 3X more than any other type of content.

2. 4X as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it.

3. Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images.

Need more reasons to love visual content? Visuals are easier and faster for our brains to process. Visual content is also highly sharable. That’s why social media platforms that focus solely on visual content (Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr, etc.) are so successful: They combine our love of beautiful imagery with our intrinsic desire to share.

Visual content has been proven to generate new views, more clicks, higher conversion rates and increased SEO. The facts and figures that confirm visual content is a winner could fill a whole other blog post.

So if you have the time and resources to make the most compelling infographic of the year, do it. To get your creative juices flowing, check out 15 eye-catching examples of visual storytelling from HubSpot (yes, we have a love affair with all things HubSpot).

If you need a little assistance with content marketing, give us a call. We’d love to help you tell your story — with gorgeous and engaging graphics, of course.