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How Visual Marketing Can Boost Brand Awareness

 

Growing up, you may have been told not to judge a book by its cover. But, we all know that this is easier said than done. After all, it's human nature to form opinions and make a judgment.


So, throw what you know out the window as first impressions count. In fact, they are so important that they can make or break an opportunity for your business and digital marketing brand awareness efforts. 

Hold on a second; let's take a step back. You may be thinking: "why is brand awareness so important?"

In short, it drives potential customers' decisions when choosing between you and your competitors. Not to mention, brand awareness through digital marketing can encourage repeat purchases, lead to an increase in sales, and develop long-lasting relationships with customers. 

So, how can you make your brand awareness efforts stand out?

By leveraging visual marketing for digital marketing brand awareness.

Done right, you will leave a long-lasting impression on your target market, which in turn, will ensure that your brand is the first thing that comes to mind when looking to make a purchase.

Want to know more about digital marketing visuals for boosting brand awareness?

Let's dive in.

The Importance of Visual Marketing for Brand Awareness

In this day and digital age, no brand can be without visual content. Just consider the stats:

  • Image posts attract 650% higher engagement than text-only posts
  • A product is 85% more likely to be purchased if a potential customer watches a video
  • 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual

Clearly, sight is our strongest sense. After all, we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, which, fun fact, is more than just a saying! Studies have proven that images have the power to evoke feelings more effectively than words. 

With all this in mind, it's easy to understand why visuals are a big deal in digital marketing, especially content marketing and social media marketing.

How Can Visual Marketing Boost Brand Awareness?

Visual Marketing

Did you know that 66% of consumers prefer designed content over something plain and simple?

But digital marketing visuals aren't just about being easy on the eye. A great visual can help you create a strong identity that communicates who you are and what you stand for. With this in hand, you'll be able to foster credibility, loyalty, and a strong brand presence.

Why is this important?

It all boils down to feelings. With so many brands on the market, why should a customer choose you to purchase from? Customers want to engage with brands who understand them, hear them, do good, and make them feel good. 

And once you've nailed this, you've hit the jackpot. After all, when customers are emotionally invested, they're more likely to come back for more (as opposed to wandering over to a competing brand). Therefore, rewarding your efforts with great customer retention. Remember: the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70% while selling to a new prospect is only 5%. And you can also expect to gain stellar recommendations, which in turn, leads to more customers.

Win-win.

Visual Marketing & User Intent

Now that we understand the importance of brand awareness, where do visuals fit in?

Of course, this will depend greatly on your brand, audience, industry, resources, and so on. But, no matter, there are several types of visuals that you can include in your visual marketing strategy.

Here is a list of the top types of visuals we recommend you consider: 

  • Banners
  • Branded images
  • Video Marketing
  • Presentations
  • Charts
  • Logos
  • Animated GIFs
  • Memes
  • Infographics
  • Interactive elements

Including visuals in your content can increase response rates and engagements and appeal to Search Engine's complex algorithms that identify search intent, one of the most significant ranking factors.

Remember, according to Google, content that satisfies user search intent includes relevant specific keywords and indicates web page quality. Visual content is less likely to get lost in the shuffle of hundreds of similar content pieces on the web and grab the user's attention, therefore, helping to satisfy user search intent. 

 Visuals in Your Marketing Strategy

Visual Marketing Strategy

When building a visual marketing strategy, it's important that the visual content you create ties into your business value proposition and solves a need or problem that your audience has. Remember: adding value is key!

So, with that in mind, let's understand a bit more about the effectiveness of visual presentation. 

1. Delivers Information More Directly

According to research, 69% of consumers prefer to learn about products or services from short videos, as 73% of consumers are time-starved and have less time to devote to reading.

But, with that in mind, consumers are willing to spend 10-plus minutes on interactive content, visuals, and audio.

And it makes sense!

Visuals have the ability to capture your audience's attention as they break down complex subjects into easily digestible bits. In other words, with visuals, time-starved audiences don't have to sift through long texts and can rapidly receive the information your brand wishes to deliver.

Therefore, it is crucial to include visuals when creating social media posts, website copy, ads, articles, and any other type of content.

However, don't simply include any visual and call it a day. For your visual marketing for brand awareness strategy to work, you must ensure visuals draw people further into your messages and fit well with your brand. The right visuals can become powerful motivators that entice your audience to purchase from you.

2. Visuals Help Build a Strong Brand Identity

brand identity

Building a strong and highly-recognizable brand identity is crucial to differentiate yourself from the competition. 

And to do this, you need something to set you apart, something unique that makes your brand one of a kind.

Sounds like a job for visual marketing, no? 

Visual marketing can help familiarize audiences with your brand - not to mention, it is an essential step in building strong customer relationships.

After all, a unique brand image can showcase your brand values, ideology, and mission, which are crucial in attracting and retaining customers these days. 

Don't forget customers want to purchase from brands they feel make a difference. So, by demonstrating your values, consumers are more likely to feel connected to your brand and choose you over the competition. 

With that in mind, how can you use visuals to aid your efforts?

  1. You can include logos and branded colors to create a uniform identity.
  2. You can share behind-the-scenes footage to showcase what goes into developing your company culture or products.
  3. You can create share-worthy, viral visuals and encourage consumers to reshare this content to build positive sentiments around your brand. 
  4. You can create user-generated visual campaigns - 77% of consumers always or regularly seek out visual content from others who have already purchased a product before making a purchase.  

But don't just take our word for it; see for yourself.

Doritos: used its customer's voice content to keep users engaged with its brand. They created a site where users could create images and videos that Doritos then shared on its various social media profiles.

Glossier: encourages customers to share vulnerable make-up-free selfies with heartwarming stories and targeted hashtags. 

These are only two examples of brands that successfully utilized visuals in their brand awareness efforts - and you can be on this list too!

People trust user-generated content more than brand or influencer-generated content. 

Sharing customer visuals can help you spread awareness about the benefits of using your products and build trust in your brand. 

You can also encourage people to check out your website or products by offering social proof through customer visuals.

3. Encourage Storytelling 

From the earliest recorded history to modern-day society, storytelling is a fundamental human tool used to educate, motivate, foster intimacy, cultivate trust, and drive connections.

Now, remembering all that we've said about visuals, imagine infusing visuals with storytelling - your brand will be an unstoppable machine with all the components for making a sale and creating meaningful relationships.

Just think about it! Storytelling provides us with a means to connect with consumers and share values in a way that is less spammy and more authentic.

With visual storytelling, you can create narratives that address various problems you have in common with consumers and, naturally, offer solutions.

All in all, a powerfully emotional story can help you send messages that attract and engage numerous audiences, generate a great brand perception, and create a deep, emotional connection.

It's Time to Use Visual Marketing for Brand Awareness

As mentioned in this article, visual marketing can do wonders for your brand awareness. And the best part? With the right strategies, visual marketing lets you reach a broader audience, grab their attention, and boost your engagement rate.

If you are still not leveraging visuals to grow your brand, it’s time to get started.

Need help building your visual marketing strategy? Reach out to us today for a free consultation to unlock all your brand's digital marketing needs. 

Topics: Digital Marketing Lead Generation Growth Brand Awareness