Now that you have read and enjoyed our infographic on why visuals are essential, it's time to see some successes in your own content marketing! Here are 9 simple steps you can take to jazz up your content, and we promise even the most un-artistic marketer can pull this off...
....You're only 9 steps away from top-notch visual content!
1. Think about what you enjoy
Before you make assumptions about what your customers want, you need to think about what makes YOU stop scrolling and click through. Take your daily Facebook stalk, are you more likely to open a video over a text link? Or, when on Twitter, do you stop for a photo and then read the text, but tend to ignore the text-based tweets?
The reason you need to ask yourself this is because the chances are, if you like something on social, then so will your audience.
2. Crowdsource your visual content
You should be aiming to insert your brand into your buyers' conversation – once they see you interacting in their social world then they will see your product as part of their everyday. Don't be afraid to jump into real-time conversations on these interactive platforms. Showing a human side to your brand can be just as effective as showing a visually entertaining one.
3. Develop a brand mascot
What would a rugby match be without a big old bobble-headed mascot to get the crowd excited? Or the ‘Compare The Market’ adverts without a meerkat?
Because we learn to associate emotions with things and people rather than corporations, having a character that acts as the face of your brand allows your spectators to visualise your business as something real, with real people working behind it. Plus, having a mascot gives you great opportunities to tell a story…
4. Tell a story
It doesn’t matter if you are a five year-old riddled with excitement for a bedtime fairy tale or a grown adult giggling around the dinner table about a friend’s drunken antics – stories have, and will always remain entertaining and engaging. It doesn’t matter whether the tales are rooted in reality, such as a project-based case study explained through time lapse, or more fictional, like a quirky animation about a marketer struggling to get her team together.
5. Let yourself be silly
Not everything has to be 100% serious all the time. People like to be entertained. The occasional funny meme or GIF can brighten up a post and bring your business chatter back to life.
If you are not sold to the idea, just have a look at how popular BuzzFeed is. Granted BuzzFeed is not a B2B platform, but successful all the same. The site takes every opportunity to include humorous little snapshots of pop culture.
6. Create top-notch original content
We are not suggesting that you become the next Steven Spielberg and spend hours creating, directing, editing fresh content every week for your blog but going that extra mile with your original content can make all the difference. And it can be super simple.
Perhaps you have a quote in your blog post that you really want to highlight. Rather than changing the colour, italicising or making it bold you could create a quick graphic. The one below, for example, we put together in only 10 minutes, using a handy little tool called Canva.
7. If you don’t have time to whip up new content, just refresh your oldies but goodies
Client demands, pressing deadlines and meetings often mean that creating creative content is pushed right to the bottom of your list of priorities. A brilliantly researched and written blog can take a few hours to put together and that simply might not be feasible with your current workload. But what about all of that amazing content you wrote last year that is still relevant today? Perhaps it didn’t get the most likes on Facebook, or was only retweeted once. With a little face lift your old content can be recycled and re-used. Add a few images, change the headline and add a few recent quotes maybe even convert your old infographics into a fun little animation – a repurposed blog takes less than half the time and has the potential to see double the interactions and results.
8. You still need some words!
Despite us emphasising the importance of imagery, you do still need some copy on your blog posts. Even if you have a corker of an infographic or a blockbuster animation, for SEO's sake you need to put the transcript under your visual content. This lets search engines pick up your content, so that you can reach more people. We also recommend an introduction of around 100 words that is packed with keywords and a few links. Be sure to use relevant alt tags on all your images so that Google has enough information to spider through. To make sure you are ticking all the SEO boxes you can read our blog on the recent changes to Google's algorithm.
9. Bask in the glory
Once your content is splattered with fresh, fun, engaging and exciting visuals it is time to sit back, relax, and watch the leads roll in…
Not that we want to overload you with homework right now, but seeing as you are on a roll... Why not brush up on your content marketing as a whole?! Click below to get your hands on our free eBook. Have a read, and become a content marketing mastermind in no time!
External Image sources:
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3pcpfu
http://www.reactiongifs.com/popcorn-gifs/