The Benefits of Visual Content
There is no denying that humans are visual creatures. We like watching our online videos (viewing 1 hour and 16 minutes per day on average) and we like information that is easily digestible. Humans retain only 10 percent of what we hear, 10 percent of what we read and a whopping 80 percent of what we see and do. Surprisingly, there are far too many companies and organizations that have yet to put two and two together.
Compelling visual content + eyeballs = brand loyalty.
And while I am certainly a proponent of using video to share your story (it is what I do), it is far from the only tool in our visual toolbox. Below are some examples of other visuals you could use:
- Images
- Video
- Infographics
- Presentations
- Memes
- GIFs
- Boomerangs
- Logos
- Graphics
- Charts
- Illustrations
- Quotes
- Word clouds
- Top 5 Lists
I recently attended a national PRSA conference on visual story-telling and one presenter put it this way: “Visual content is like a gummy vitamin, it is good for you to have information, but putting it into a visual element makes it more enticing to take.”
Using visuals is shown to increase engagement, explain and summarize complex info, speed up comprehension and motivate action - especially if you can make an emotional connection with the viewer, which increases the likelihood that information will be retained.
Video is one of the most powerful tools to raise awareness and drive action.
- Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined
- One-third of online activity is spent watching videos
- Half a billion people are watching videos on Facebook every day
However, social media followers are not the only ones you are seeking to inspire. Visuals can also help make your case with the media. In fact, news releases that contain multimedia get 77% more responses compared to text releases. Buzzfeed, for example, provides exactly what their audience wants – short-form content that is headline driven with multimedia that is easily sharable. So why do media outlets care about having good content to share on social media? The answer is simple: the more clicks to their website, the more attractive it is for advertisers.
Reporters want visuals like high-res images, infographics, videos, tweetable quotes, etc. Remember: many multimedia files are large and may be hard to send as attachments via email. Instead, try embedding them in the email or sending them using a file hosting service, like DropBox or OneDrive.
Interested in creating your own visual content? Inspire offers in-house video services that are an impactful and cost-effective way to share your story. Visit and subscribe to our YouTube Channel and drop me a line to learn more at katie@inspireprgroup.com.