Social media is no longer just about text. The marketing landscape is changing; images and videos are becoming a bigger part of branding campaigns. This is a natural progression as consumers become more tech savvy and are less willing to spend time reading text.
What is Visual Media
Visual media is using pictures, video, and logos to communicate with others. It is becoming the most popular choice for social marketers hoping to extend their brand to a wider audience. It is also useful for reinvigorating a brand since there is a freshness about using images and videos instead of text.
How Important is Visual Media
It is important to use visual media to extend a brand stemming from the fact that humans respond more quickly and more favorably to images and video than text. Consumers already have a wide selection of distractions at their fingertips, and the competition for their attention is very strong. Therefore, the ability to quickly get the brand message across to them becomes more important than ever.
Is Visual Media More Effective Than Text
Visual media makes it easy for consumers to absorb the message the advertiser wants. Text campaigns require some effort on the part of the target audience since they have to read it, and it often involves the viewer scrolling beneath the fold or having to click to another page. Consumers have many demands on their time and little patience for things that are slow to develop. They are more likely to click away than read a text advertisement. A clever video or an eye-catching image is more likely to catch their attention.
This is a photo sharing site made specifically for mobile phone pictures. Using the site requires downloading a free app from either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. The are several advantages in using the site.
- Instagram provides filters to improve the way mobile phone pictures look.
- Sharing a photo on Instagram allows a user to instantly share the same photo on multiple sites such as Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Sharing on Foursquare is also possible if the photo includes a location.
- Instagram uploading is faster and easier to use than is common with picture uploads.
This is a site where individuals can save and share images found on the web. Individual users can maintain a collection of images for themselves and also browse the collections of other users. There are options to repin images they see on other pin boards and follow other users if they choose. There are also other options for users of the site.
- Users are able to edit pins on their pin board.
- Pins always link back to the original source. Users can pin their own images and link back to their websites or blogs.
- Users may add prices to their pins to sell them. This encourages professionals to upload images.
YouTube
This is a video sharing site where users may upload and share videos with each other. There are options for users to create channels featuring their videos and then interact with the YouTube community through liking and subscribing to other channels. Users wishing to promote a brand must focus on creative content in order to attract viewings by the community. Sharing popular videos with other social media sites is common practice among users.
