Visual literacy is the ability to construct meaning from visual images. This is an important skill for advertisers to master, and also to be able to interpret images themselves. The goal of advertising is to inform, entertain or persuade, and visuals are an excellent way to accomplish all three.
Visuals help organize our way of thinking…
…which also helps us to learn. If the goal of your ad is to educate people on a new product or service, an infographic or introductory video might be helpful. Studies show that viewers are 85% more likely to purchase a product or service after watching a video about it. If customers are educated on your product, they are more likely to buy.
Advertising shouldn’t have to be boring.
It should be colorful, creative and inspired. It’s been shown that 40% of people respond better to visual information than just words on a page. Don’t bore people with uninteresting ads. Attention spans are getting increasingly shorter, so if you want to hold people’s attention (and ultimately turn that into conversions), entertain them.
Persuasion is also key to getting conversions.
In order to do this, ensure that you are appealing to the correct target audience. Using and understanding visual content will help you to better understand your brand’s image. Looking at user-generated content will also be helpful to see how others perceive your brand. Social media is a great tool for this as three (Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest) out of the top seven social networks are primarily visual. Photos and graphics are great ways to persuade a customer into buying your product.
The world throws all sorts of images at us every day. It’s important that you make yours count. Strategically crafted visuals will work for you and increase profit in the long run. So make sure you are utilizing every possible avenue for turning visitors into buyers.
