We’re visual creatures. So it’s always a shame when “meh” images undermine all of the time and effort that went into creating great sales and marketing content.
No, I’m not going to repeat the oft-repeated factoid that the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text – because it appears there are no credible sources to back it up. (Fact-checking is cool, kids!)
However, it is demonstrably true that images can convey more information faster than any amount of words. Your eye can view an image and take in the entire scene in an instant. It’s a ginger cat wearing a bowtie and looking straight into the camera. Awww. Cute.
Use words to convey the same information, like I just did, and your brain will take longer simply to read them, let alone interpret and draw meaning from them. Even then you only get the details I bothered to put into words. Where is the cat? What colour is the bowtie?
It’s one reason why comics are such an efficient storytelling format. It’s another reason why diagrams can be easier to understand than written instructions (think IKEA assembly guides).
But if we’re using imagery to convey information, then how you produce or select that image becomes much more important.
What are your marketing images actually for?
Let’s look at some of the ways in which marketers routinely use images.
Blog posts
Someone clicks through to your latest blog post and chances are there’s a big image right at the top. But does it add to the content or merely take up space?
Of course, we want people to read our blog posts right to the end; possibly even share them with their networks as well. And that means the content has to grab their attention with an interesting hook as soon as possible. If the content looks boring or generic, why start reading?
Social media
When sharing a link to social, it will usually pull in the same image as used on the blog post or webpage – unless you choose to override it. But images in social media serve two different purposes: capturing attention in a fast-moving feed and helping to drive the click.
Infographics
As the name suggests, infographics use graphics to convey information. Here, the images, icons and other graphics aren’t intended to decorate or echo the words but, as much as possible, replace and reduce them. Infographics work best with as little copy as possible, using words to support the images rather than the other way around.
As much as possible, the mantra with infographics is “show, don’t tell”.
Long-form content
Downloadables, such as e-books, white papers, fact sheets and more often break up the long blocks of copy with images. While sticking any image in there will achieve that, these are also opportunities to reinforce the theme, provide additional context and showcase the personality of the brand.
Websites
Your website is probably the core expression of your brand. As such, the images that appear there – in homepage banners, landing pages or product pages – are also a big part of the brand impression visitors will take away. Do you focus on people or products? Nature or tech? Corporate or small? Your image choices can convey a huge amount about your values, priorities and personality.
The common theme here is the images need to be eye-catching and relevant. Each image should serve a purpose – and therefore selecting them shouldn’t be a final step done in a rush by the intern half an hour before the blog article or social media post is scheduled to go live.
Your choice of image should ideally:
- Convey a little about what the content is about;
- Demonstrate the style, tone and level of original creative thinking to expect;
- Be consistent with your brand guidelines and reflective of your brand personality.
Something tells me that yet another stock image of three smiling, besuited models sitting around a boardroom table and pointing at a series of generic graphs achieves none of these goals. (B2B marketers, I’m looking at you!)
Adopt a recognisable brand style
One of the most important aspects of branding is to be clearly identifiable and distinct from your competitors. It’s hard to build brand awareness if your target audience barely notices or identifies the brand behind your content in the first place.
But with so many companies relying on the same stock image libraries, brands can, and often do, look the same – particularly in off-site channels such as social media. Swap the logos and the audience might not be able to pick who is who.
Why do so many brands and marketers expect their audiences to take particular notice of their updates when, at first glance, they look just as bland, predictable and uninteresting as all of the other updates their followers just scrolled past without a second’s thought?
Sure, not everyone has the resources to craft custom images from scratch every time. And while AI image generators can help, consistency can be a problem. So it’s worth spending a little time taking whichever images you’ve selected or created to give them at least a little brand flavouring.
You’ll notice each of Pounce’s blog images incorporates one of the brand’s graphic elements in the background, or as a watermark or overlay. This makes all of our imagery unmistakably Pounce wherever they’re seen.
Other brands might opt for a simple colour wash, logo placement or text overlay to create a consistent treatment that ensures all of your images are unmistakable “yours”.
Embracing the abstract
How might your choice of image illustrate a key theme or spark their curiosity – particularly when your topic may be rather abstract? Yes, your article might be about cloud computing, but a picture of a cloud is a bit obvious innit?
Sometimes, it pays to be a little less literal in your image choices, looking beyond the primary topic to perhaps reflect a key theme or metaphor used within the content – ideally within the title.
For example, we recently published an article about the relationship between content and SEO. At first glance, an image of a chicken with an egg might seem an odd choice. But when it accompanies the title with its “which comes first …” angle, the brain connects the dots with the age-old riddle and rewards itself with a little dopamine hit. This micro-moment of delight might be small and fleeting, but the brain thrives on these fleeting micro-moments.
The reader is engaged. Now it’s up to the rest of the content to keep them engaged.
First impressions count
Marketing images are about so much more than mere decoration. They are an essential part of how you communicate and convey subtle messages about the content and your brand to your audience.
If you want that message to be a positive one – conveying the quality and originality of your content and the vibrancy of your brand – then don’t treat your images as an afterthought but as a key part of the creative process.
