Wherever visitors may go within your website, it’s paramount that you’re making sure they know the following:
Who you are.
What you are.
Where you are.
What you do.
Why you do it.
How you can help them.
But don’t just tell them — show them. Because in In 2021, content marketing is all about visuals, baby.
Visual content has always been relevant in the grand scheme of marketing, but every day, the online space becomes more populated. With more people comes come greater competition. And with greater competition comes the need to stand out among the rest.
Blending good copy with captivating visuals makes for a perfectly symbiotic relationship that can take your marketing efforts to a new level. Here is a menu of five types of visuals to consider adding to your blog posts.
Images
Sort of the low-hanging fruit here, but images are not only great for capturing the reader’s attention, but they’re great for breaking up text. They can be in the form of screenshots, original photos, purchased photos, etc. Tactically place them throughout the article or kick it off with a header image to showcase the theme and vibe (like we did!) As long as you’re adding high-resolution images optimized for web display, you should be in good shape.
Infographics
These information-focused visual pieces are multi-faceted in their use and purpose. Talking about a complex topic? Infographics break down data and help you articulate it through visual storytelling. Another benefit of infographics is that they can be an original visual piece, not found anywhere else on the internet. As a matter of fact, here is an infographic on the importance of infographics. As shown, the inclusion of infographics, blogs receive 8x more clicks than those without them.
Quotes
Okay, we know what you’re thinking. You can’t quote an image. What you can do is integrate quotes — whether they be direct from the article or relevant industry leaders — in the form of images. Using this tactic helps break up the content while showing its importance. Visualizing quotes can help you make statements backed by people with knowledgeable industry insight. A compelling quote can be the heart of your article.
Video
You knew this was coming. Integrating video into blog posts — and for that matter, social posts — makes your content more dynamic. As an example, if you were developing a story about a customer’s experience with your product or service, a supplemental video would provide prospective customers with a visual representation of what they should expect. Whether it’s a social media live stream, an embedded YouTube video, or even something as simple as a self-shot video snippet taken from a cell phone, the people have spoken. Video is still on the rise.
Here’s a quick video from HubSpot talking about the importance of adding video content to your blogs.
GIFs
Ah, the 21st century, how we thank you for the invention of the GIF (JIF phonetically, but either way, we know what you’re talking about.) Now, if you’re apprehensive about GIFs because you might not think it’s appropriate for your brand, hear us out. When used correctly, GIFs can hit all the points of lead generation. You can convey them professionally while at the same time showing your “human side.” You don’t have to stick with them, but it doesn’t hurt to try! Who knows, maybe it’s the boost you need to outshine your competitors?
The bottom line is, visuals are as important. They can also be as fun as you want to make them. If you’re considering stepping up your blogging game, let us know, and we can make a plan for you to show and tell.