It's True: Great Pictures and Videos Sell!
Think for a second about how you decide to buy something. You probably assess price, features, quality. And, whether you're browsing in store or online, you also likely consider what the product looks like. We use visuals all the time in our consumer lives to make judgements. Even when we're not looking at visuals of a specific product or service, the accompanying visuals we see influence our perception of brands.
Our brain processes images faster than words, which explains why we're not only drawn to visuals, but why they have such an impact on our choices. So if your company's digital presence is wanting for visuals – you might be losing out on valuable engagement.
Let's consider:
People only read 28% of the words on a webpage
Content with visuals gets 94% more total views
Content is 50% more likely to make it to the first page of Google if it includes video, according to Forrester Research
Presenters that use visual aids are 43% more effective at getting people to do what they want.
What You Can Do
Add compelling, relevant visuals to your website. If you're selling products, ensure that you have high-quality images of each. If you're selling a service, or simply want to boost brand sentiment, think more about the emotion your images evoke and how they fit into the overall brand persona you want to convey.
Leverage image-centric social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. Social media participation in general is a must (every business needs to be on social these days), but businesses can maximize their presence by choosing to incorporate images into their posts on a regular basis.
And don't forget about video. Videos can be great tools to educate your target audience about your company or specific product/service. Many websites now feature introductory videos on their homepages to get visitors engaged right away and decrease bounce rates. Videos are also useful for conveying content like customer testimonials, and you can use Facebook Live at company events to showcase your culture.
The stats just don't lie. Viewers are anywhere from 64 percent to 85 percent more likely to buy a product after watching a video, according to research from Kissmetrics. So what are you waiting for? Get visual!