Visual Media: The Peanut Butter for the Social Media Marketing Jelly

The use of social media networks to promote business products and services, particularly with the use of visuals, is a no brainer. When compared to others, traditional forms of visual advertising, such as billboards, newsprint and television, the cost saved alone is convincing enough to jump on board the social media marketing bandwagon. However, when you add to that the fact that, by using social media to promote your business, you have the potential to reach millions of people, it becomes readily clear why this medium has become the default go-to advertising option.

Since visuals are the engines that drive online advertising campaigns, let’s look at some points to consider in terms of the visual component of your marketing strategy.

First, why use pictures?

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

There is a reason that phrase is so often used, and that’s because it’s true. When words fall short, and, no matter how you try to describe your idea or product, you just can’t convey what you’d like to convey to your target audience, a single picture will work wonders in relaying your message.

Picture this: Would you consider buying a vehicle online from someone who hasn’t bothered to post pictures of the car along with its written description? Of course not, you want to see the car before you even spend any time considering whether or not to purchase it. For that reason alone, the use of visuals is critical in promoting your business products online.

Image is Everything

The first thing to remember when selecting images to help in your promotion efforts is to be as selective in the use of visual media as you are in the use of text. Just as with each written post, every picture you use represents you and your brand. So, carefully consider the images you connect to your business, because if you aren’t sending the right message, what’s the point?

That’s not to say that you should use visual imagery sparingly. In fact…

The More the Merrier

Images are shared through Twitter and Facebook significantly more often than text. When you consider that you are receiving free advertising every time someone shares a photo you posted of your product or service, you’ll want to make sure that you provide as many options as possible to increase the chance of your message being spread. We all like choices, and every visual won’t appeal to everyone, so offer a wide selection to your followers and watch your traffic grow!

The only real caveat to this tip would be related to your home and landing pages. When you direct followers to your business website, make sure that you don’t hit them too hard, too fast…

Want Business? Avoid Busyness

Not to be confused with business, visual busyness is a huge turn off for most people. In the same way we don’t want to mine through endless text, we don’t want to be hit with overwhelming visuals immediately upon entering a business website. So, don’t clutter your landing or home pages with countless images. Don’t forgo the use of pictures altogether, because choosing not to have visuals on your landing or home pages would be a critical mistake. Instead, focus on posting photos strategically. Maintain an aesthetic balance between text and visuals on your primary web pages and you are sure to keep the interest of your site visitors.

Finally, remember the ‘social’ component of social media marketing, and…

Foster a Sense of Partnership and Community

By encouraging your customers to share images of them using your product you are facilitating a personal connection with your followers. Do you have a campsite you would like to promote? Ask past campers to share pictures of themselves enjoying the benefits of your campsite. Post photos of them fishing, sitting by the campfire, or enjoying a hike in the woods. It’s free advertising, and will allow potential consumers to visualize themselves in the same position.

Tip: How about a promotion? Collect and post user photos to your business website, then, via social network mediums like Twitter, link your followers to the pictures on your website, and ask them to vote via hash tags (ex: #funniestphoto). The winner will receive a free or discounted service or product and you will see your site traffic (and hopefully, your sales) increase. This is also a wonderful way to promote community and product loyalty among your followers.

The use of visuals to promote your business online is just as important as any written information you provide to your potential consumers. When used wisely on social media websites, image can lead to an increase in traffic, which will eventually lead to an increase in profits.

* Already knew about the capabilities of visual media? Learn to write a quality post through social media networks here.