The Importance of Images in Digital Marketing

Your posts are thoroughly researched and well-written, so why do you need to add images? If you use your blog or social platform for marketing, and your goal is to reach actual humans, quality images are vital for maximum effect.

For thousands of years, powerful images have been used to evoke emotion through the mediums of storytelling, advertising or propaganda. Today is no different. With the rise of image-based social media platforms over the years, beginning with Tumblr in 2007 and Pinterest and Instagram in 2010, it’s become clear that we appreciate virtual visuals. And the studies don’t lie – 65-85% of people report they are visual learners. (source: https://www.trendreports.com/article/imagebased-social-media)

Following are 5 reasons to add images to your marketing strategy:

1. Most of your readers are skimmers and only read 20-28% of the words on a given webpage. With the vast amount of information and marketing out there, you’ll want to spice up your text with powerful or emotional images to capture your audience’s attention and drive home the message you’re trying to convey. (source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-little-do-users-read/)

2. We retain more information from images than from text. When we hear a piece of information, we remember 10% of it after 3 days. Add a picture, and we remember 65%. (source: http://www.brainrules.net/vision)

3. Posts that include images produce 650 percent higher engagement than text-only posts. That’s over 6x more engagement when you attach a photo or well-designed graphic. When you look at those numbers, it’s a no-brainer to invest a little time or money to create or curate quality images in digital marketing.

4. Good photos are so easily accessible. We have the world at our fingertips and a wealth of free stock images at the click of a button! However, just because these images are readily available doesn’t mean they’re the right fit for your business. Although stock photos will do in a pinch, it is always a better idea to use high-quality original photographs of you, your team, your products or services, your business behind the scenes, etc. Most cellphones take decent pictures but if you’re unsure of your capabilities, consider hiring a local photographer to capture and edit images for your brand.

5. When posted correctly, your images can boost your SEO. Pictures, videos, and infographics used on your blog or social media feed can be tagged for SEO, increasing your traffic. We recommend hiring an SEO expert to maximize your SEO through tags, keywords, and alt text, ensuring your images are optimized for SEO.

This is a small glimpse into the importance of using images in digital marketing, but we’re always happy to meet with you one-on-one to go over any questions you may have. Our team includes experts in Graphic Design and Photography, as well as SEO optimization.