Everyone in marketing is looking for the newest trick to increasing engagement. While providing great customer service as well as following and tracking trends is valuable, there’s one area that will automatically increase engagement with some investment: visual content.Lemonly reports that 83% of all learning is visual. They also shared that tweets with images are 150% more likely to get retweets than only text. Clearly, people like to be visually engaged with content.If the content you’re sharing is not prioritizing how it looks, it doesn’t matter how great the info you’re sharing is. No one is looking at it!Graphic design is an easy area to outsource if you’re not interested in learning new skills. However, there are some surprising resources available for free online that make creating your own visuals a breeze.So, let’s get started with visual content!The Big 3 Questions First things first, you have to ask yourself a few questions when getting started with creating any content.
Who is your content for?
The answer to this question will determine the rest of your decisions with your content. You need to decide exactly who you’re trying to appeal to, and why that matters.Don’t try to generalize. By attempting to appeal to everyone, you run of the risk of boring, overplayed concepts. It’s a waste of your time and a waste of your audience’s time.You know your target audience best! If your client base skews older, stay away from flashy colors and hip font. Keep it classic and easy to read. If you’re appealing to other businesses in your industry, keep it professional and don’t be afraid to use industry terms.You can use visual content to follow up with leads from past events. It’s much more exciting to receive a custom e-book or infographic with a call to action than to receive yet another “just following up” email.“31% of surveyed consumers say they wish their...experience was far more personalized than it currently is,” reports Infosys. Make this wish a reality with custom visual content.
What should your visual content be?
The next question you need to ask is what exactly is the content you need to create. The good news is you have plenty of options. This can be a little overwhelming, but you can figure out your answers with help from the audience you established earlier.Infographics, PowerPoints, and e-books all add value to your customers’ time and your credibility. People love visuals in all forms! Think about what content you’re planning to share. Also, consider that your font is part of your visual identity, fonts can make subtle but strong impressions on your users. Thin fonts are more elegant and great for luxury brands, some fonts have a techy feel - make sure to find the right one for your audience ( or consider our favorite, the nexa font ).Are you trying to explain the value of your business with testimonials and case studies? An e-book is your best bet. Are you trying to appeal to a guide audience with interesting facts and get more leads? An infographic is your starting point.Check out examples of content you’ve enjoyed and see what you can take away for your own designs.Resources like r/design and Pinterest are great places for beginners to get started. There are thousands of ideas out there for you to draw inspiration from. Better yet, you can get feedback from more experienced designers by posting. Businesses that offer infographic design, like Lemonly, have great resources like e-books that have valuable info you can learn from.Hubspot has a great list of free resources to get started making graphics. Our favorite is Piktochart, which is easy to use and allows you to create printables, one sheet advertisements, presentations, and infographics.
Where should you post?
This is the last crucial question for your new content. You don’t want to spend time and resources creating beautiful graphics, only to post it in the wrong place and have it ignored.Where you should post is heavily influenced by the 2 previous factors; who is the content for? What exactly is it?You need to know where your audience is actively engaging in social media. Don’t waste your time!When sharing large files like infographics, make sure you’re not trying to share the entire image on sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. The site will not correctly adjust the image, and it will be unreadable. Instead, make a personalized preview image that links to the graphic.That being said, your content needs a permanent home somewhere on the web. If you’re just sharing without your contact info or a call to action, you’re giving away valuable info for nothing. Make sure always to link back to your website.Another great way to get your content out there is to share it in an email campaign. Imagine cultivating the first impression your leads get with a specialized e-book about the benefits of your business. Surprise regular subscribers with a beautiful infographic instead of your regular newsletter.The opportunities to surprise and please your audience are endless with visual content.
Get started making your own content
Creating your own creative content is a huge step towards success for small business owners. No one knows your business better than you, and you can leverage that into beautiful graphics and e-books to build value.You'll learn more each time you make a new piece of content. Enjoy the benefits of visual content for your small business!
