According to Ann Handley, blogger, author and head of content at Marketing Profs there is something revolutionary going on with the use of images online these days. More than 300 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day, so according to Ann, in the five minutes it has taken me to write this, a million more were added–not to mention the charts, graphics, illustrations, doodles and other images that were pinned to Pinterest or posted to Instagram, Twitter, foursquare, Tumblr and Google+. She goes on to say “The fundamental shift toward the visual was punctuated this year by Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of photo-sharing app Instagram.”
Ann asks “Why go visual?” She answers her own question pointing to online publisher Mashable and EyeTrackShop recent finding that participants in a webcam eye-tracking study spent less time looking at Facebook wall posts and advertisements and more time looking at the cover photo on brands’ timelines.
“How do you put visual content to work for your company?” she asks. She warns against using boring stock photos. She shares that the smartest businesses are employing images that help them evolve their brand and tell a visual story of who they are.
A key recommendation is to “Show how your product lives in the world.” She uses the example of how Ben & Jerry’s integrates images on Instagram, Tumblr and Facebook to showcase the beauty of doing business in Vermont. The ice cream maker also uses Instagram to recognize customers by calling out a favorite pic on “fan photo Friday.
Taking it even further she recommends that we embrace images as brand art. She points out that for a lot of businesses, content equals text. She points out that photographs and other visual materials should be staples of your marketing mix. Share your company’s history on Facebook Timeline with visuals from your archives, for example. Or better yet: Populate your e-mails, blog, website and marketing collateral with your own images. To capture attention and entice engagement and click-throughs, you need to have bold, unique visuals in your corner. Even for small companies and entrepreneurial startups taking and sharing photos is infinitely accessible with our smartphones and increasingly affordable, and portable, digital cameras…. There is no reason not to and everything to gain.
