Why Are Visuals Important in Marketing?

Why are visuals important in marketing?

The human brain can process visuals up to 60,000 times faster than text. Considering that the written word has only been around for a very small part of human evolution, this makes sense. When it comes to marketing, this means that content created with visuals is naturally is more engaging and interesting for users. Tweets with images, for example, receive up to 5x times the engagement of those without. Articles with visuals receive 94 percent more views. It is clear that customers like visuals and prefer the content that contains them. See how this BrightEdge customer increased ranking image results by optimizing visuals using image SEO efforts.

What are advantages of visual communication?

The right visual will complement your materials and support the points you want to make. You do not want to pick images that are just there to fill space. These images will seem out of place and will not add value to your material. Instead, think about the ideas that you want to communicate to users and find images that will help to cement these messages.

Your visuals should also tie in nicely with your brand so that people can easily make the connection between the two. For example, color schemes and language of the visuals can be valuable ways to personalize images and enhance their value.

Remember also that images can help form associations for users with your brand. When customers see images of real people using your products, it becomes easier for them to imagine themselves doing the same thing. Similarly, when they see images of your employees, they begin to feel as though they are building relationships with people instead of just an entity.

Selecting the right image for your content does not have to be a challenge. Here are a few guidelines to help you make the right choice:

• What stories are you trying to communicate to the audience?
• What type of image could help draw people further into the content?
• What images fit well with your brand?

Images are powerful motivators, encouraging readers to engage with your content. Understanding how and which visuals help you accomplish your marketing goals will help you make the right choices for your site, resulting in positive growth for your organization.

What types of images should I use for my content?

There are different types of visual representations that can be used to enhance your content. These are the main categories:

• Infographics
• Pictures
• Videos

1. Infographics. These images present a visual story that help you articulate the statistics and data that you have to support a particular opinion.
2. Pictures. Particularly those of real customers, personnel, or products. Customers like to see images of people to feel connected to the content and your organization. Images of real people are preferable to stock images.
3. Videos. Videos are quickly becoming a preferred type of content. More than half of senior executives prefer videos over text content.

Each of these types of visuals can help you further the performance of your content.

How many visuals should I include for my content?

There is no set formula to deciding how many images you should include for your content. However, here are guidelines that can help you make the decision that is right for your material:

• Do my pictures complement my content?
• Do my pictures add to the message I am trying to convey?
• Do I have a picture near the beginning to draw in readers?
• Do my images align with my brand identity?

Images are an important part of building an effective brand and creating engaging content. Selecting the right images can help you take your marketing efforts to the next level to more effectively connect with prospects and customers.

SEO or Google Ads: Which is Better?

Should I use Google Ads or SEO?

Comparing SEO or Google Ads, previously known as Adwords, is like comparing apples to oranges - both help to get your brand on the SERP in front of prospective customers. SEO works to get your site higher in the organic rankings so that you rank for customers typing queries applicable to your content. Ads allow you to target particular keyword phrases and then create an ad that promotes your site and content for those using those keywords.

Both of these channels can help enhance your overall visibility in Search, but it is important to remember that trying to determine which is best is like comparing apples to oranges. A strong and lasting digital presence requires brands to use both channels and craft a strategy that can employ the two together to maximize the online potential of the brand.

What are the different roles of SEO and Google Ads?

SEO and Ads have unique but complementary roles. The discipline of SEO management revolves around making your site appealing for customers as well as creating content that addresses their needs and engages them. This not only involves the material you write or the videos and infographics you create, it also involves optimizing site layout and design to ensure that it is user-friendly, and easy to navigate, moving users through your site in a logical way.

Google Ads, on the other hand, are a form of online display advertising. It allows you pay each time a person clicks on an ad you create. This ad is displayed to users who type in particular keywords on the search engines, allowing you to target users interested in particular topics. Google Ads, therefore, can help you gain the visibility you want for important keywords, even before you have the site reputation and SEO rankings needed to see results from your organic efforts. Combine both SEO and SEM to maximize SERP real estate.

Do Google Ads help with SEO?

When used properly, SEO and Google Ads can work well together. Brands that accurately track their rankings and organic traffic can strategically use Ads to increase visibility for important keywords, driving paid traffic where they do not have the organic ranking to get on Page 1. Google Ads can also be used to test consumer response to particular keywords. For example, brands can create ads for keywords that they are considering optimizing for. They can then track the customers who click on the ad and see how well they respond to the landing page and the rest of the site. Keywords that bring in visitors with higher conversion rates and more engagement will then take a higher priority to those that do not see as much success.

Similarly, keyword data from SEO efforts can also be used to find the right opportunities for Ads. Uncovering keywords that have high search rates, but that also have high competition -- meaning that it will be difficult for a site to earn a slot on the front page of the SERP -- will likely be good candidates for Ads campaigns. This refinement process can be done across both the major search engines as well as newer avenues for SEO work like vertical and native search engines.

As a brand builds a digital strategy, understanding the different roles of Google Ads and SEO in building a web presence is critical to success. The better that companies can use these two different features together for their advantage, the better their potential results in Search.

What You Should Know About Content Audits

What is a content audit?

A content audit is a process of systematically reviewing all the content you have on your site. This process allows you to look closely at your optimization efforts to see how well you are meeting your business objectives. When done correctly, you will be able to find any gaps in your content so that you can adjust your process to better serve your intended audience. This will allow you to mature your content and digital strategy so that your organization can more effectively and efficiently provide the material that audiences need.

How do you perform a content audit?

A successful audit should follow these steps:

1. Create a thorough list of all your content available. This list should also give you important information about your content, such as its level of optimization and its quality.
2. Research how successful your various pieces of content have been, including your page and keyword statistics from the BrightEdge platform. For an even more complete picture, look at how well different groups of material, such as your early-funnel-stage content, impacts site conversions and revenue to better understand your success at each stage.
3. Map your available content to your different ideal customers and their buyer journeys so that you better understand how your content is serving the customers and guiding them towards conversions.
4. See how well your content aligns with different business functions, including PR, customer services, social media, and SEO, to name a few. A digitally mature organization will use their content to stretch across different specialties to create a strong online user experience.
5. See how well your site is organized. Search engines and users want to see sites that are easy to navigate so that they can find the information they want quickly and easily.
6. Determine what content is missing. At the end of your audit, you should be able to carefully determine where your weaknesses lie and what you should be doing to boost your overall performance.

What are the Best Content Certifications?

What is the value of content certifications?

The world of digital marketing continues to change at a rapid pace. In the last handful of years, Google has introduced major SEO updates, like the Hummingbird algorithm update, the introduction of RankBrain, the BERT algorithm update, content quality, and mobile updates.

Because the digital marketing world continues to change so quickly, content certifications can help digital marketers, writers, and SEOs remain current and relevant with their skills and the latest industry developments. Many courses only take a few weeks to complete, making it easy for marketers to learn the latest best practices on SEO and digital marketing. They also provide credentials so that content developers can show they are prepared to create the material that aligns with the latest search engine updates.

Discovering the newest and best certifications on a yearly basis will help marketers develop their knowledge and skills alongside the industry leaders. Falling back in a fast-paced industry like digital marketing could be a hazard to your business and your career. 

User-Generated Content Explained

What is user-generated content?

User-generated content describes material that is produced by people rather than a brand. The term describes the articles, reviews, and other written content, videos, audio, and posts people publish that contribute to the brand’s reach and reputation. For example, social media platforms are filled with content created by users as people create posts that reflect their experiences.

Reviews are a great way to build trust between users and customers. Having a quality relationship with your audience is a great way to obtain consumer reviews and continue to build your brand's reputation with the public. This form of content created by your users is vital to the success of your business, especially online. Encourage product reviews and testimonials by happy customers.

Land Positive Consumer Reviews ASAP

Why is user-generated content important?

Positive content from your audience can be incredibly powerful for businesses. According to Nielsen, word-of-mouth marketing is the most trusted form of advertising. Similarly, Reevoo found that 70 percent of people found content produced by their peers to be more valuable than content produced by brands - even professionally written material. Having customers create high-quality content about your organization can have a powerful impact on your brand’s reputation.

Content created by users can also help you build a community and following around your content. This allows you to tap into the psychological principle known as the ‘bandwagon effect’. When people notice their friends and family - people whose opinion they trust - using a particular brand, they feel more inclined to try that brand as well. A strong community also helps to build loyalty, which means that your customers will feel more inclined to stick with your brand rather than finding alternatives.

What are examples of user-generated content?

Content created by users is simply that. This can include written content, images, videos, audio, and more. Communication is the key to convincing people to create content. For example, you can encourage people to post pictures of themselves using your products or post success stories after using your services by offering rewards or prizes.

Encourage conversation on your social media pages by asking questions and then participating in, but not dominating, the resulting dialogue. Offering people opportunities to write guest posts for your blog or website about their experiences can also be a fantastic way to encourage bonding and loyalty. Building a strong social media page can be instrumental in encouraging content.

Content from your audience is a wonderful way to build loyalty with customers and also receive trustworthy, free advertising that can improve your brand reach and reputation. By improving your reputation and awareness, you have the opportunity to become a thought leader in your industry. You can also be seen as an expert. Gaining this type of attention will carry over to guide your brand in the future. Brands should incorporate methods of generating this type of content into their broader marketing schemes to take advantage of the social nature of the modern digital ecosystem.

How Do I Improve Content Quality?

What is content quality?

Content quality is simply the utility, or lack therof, of your content. When trying to optimize websites for Google, people often vaguely mention that brands should eliminate any poor-quality content. However, it is sometimes unclear exactly what that means. Poor-quality content is generally material that does not serve much purpose for the audience. High-quality content is original, relevant, helpfulcontent.

Poor-quality content is often produced quickly and in bulk in an attempt to improve the rankings of a website, but rarely works. Poor-quality content often meets one or more of the following criteria:

• It is “thin,” which means that it does not provide substantial information for users.
• It focuses more on keywords and trying to fool search engines than providing value for the users.
• It addresses topics that are of interest to the brand and not on topics that prospective customers care about or want to learn.
• The material was largely, or completely, taken or spun from another website and does not offer unique insight.

Why is content quality important?

How Do You Use Google Analytics?

What are analytics?

Analytics are measurements that allow you to examine how well your pages are attracting visitors, how well you are engaging those visitors, and whether or not your marketing efforts are successfully encouraging people to convert on your website. Analytics make the difference between generating content blindly, based on vague gut feelings, and creating a content strategy that is based on numbers.

Given that 76 percent of B2C brands and 88 percent of B2B brands use content marketing, the competition is high. You need to use Google Analytics to make sure that you are properly engaging your readers and achieving your desired success.

What is Google Analytics and how do you use it?

Every piece of content you create should have a set goal in mind and should align with audiences at specific stages within the sales funnel. For example, content at the top of the sales funnel should drive repeat readers as you establish your brand as a trustworthy resource, whereas content towards the end of the sales funnel will have a primary goal of conversion.

As you create content, you should be regularly monitoring your progress when you use Google Analytics to see if your material is meeting your set goals and how well it is impacting your overall sales process. When you use Google Analytics, you can provide insight on whether your content is underperforming in any of these areas:

• If you are targeting the wrong people, such as if your content is reaching an audience that is unlikely to make a purchase from you.
• If your content is not what the targeted audience wants to explore, which may result in low engagement.
• If your content is engaging and has strong traffic but it is not doing enough to encourage people to move on to the next stage of the funnel (link to FAQ on using content to move through sales funnel).

Monitoring customer behavior related to the goals you have established is the best means of determining the true success of your content efforts. This can offer you data-backed guidance on the adjustments you should make to drive greater future success.

What can you do with Google Analytics?

There are a few chief analytics metrics that will help you gauge the impact of your individual pieces of content as well as your content strategy as a whole and use Google Analytics to the fullest. To begin, look at:

• Your traffic rates
• Your engagement rates, including how long people spend on your pages and how engaged they are with the content - such as whether they share the article on social media or leave a comment
• How many of your readers progress to each stage of the sales funnel and the pages that are driving the most conversions at each stage
• How well your content correlates with brand revenue
• How you are performing in each of these areas month-over-month and year-over-year

Analytics is powerful tool for your content production because it tells you how successful your efforts are and where you need to make adjustments. Rather than wasting your time producing content and creating a strategy based upon hunches, you will be able to create a numbers-driven system that will help you maximize your success.

What is Content Promotion?

Where can I promote my content?

Promoting your content is a comprehensive process that spans the multiple platforms where you hope to reach your target audience through paid content marketing. The right distribution plan will increase exposure to your content, increasing traffic and audience engagement rates. This introduces more prospects into your sales funnel and potentially increases your customers.

Selecting the best content promotion platforms will depend on the types of content you are promoting and the audiences you are hoping to target. For example, if you are using social media to promote a piece to the younger, millennial generation then platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook will be more in line with this demographic. On the other hand, if you are trying to reach experienced professionals, you will bring in more interested readers through LinkedIn.

Promote Your Content In One Of These Ways

How do I create a promotional plan?

To develop an effective content promotion plan, you must first identify your audience. You should know exactly who you are targeting and where they will be on their buyer’s journey through journey maps. This information should inform the content you produce as well as help you identify the best channels for your content distribution plan.

To maximize exposure to your audience, your plan should include a variety of platforms. Consider the audiences that you can target through:

•  Major social media platforms (particularly Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+)
•  Your email lists
•  Paid advertising 

Once you have identified your audience and the distribution channels, determine a content promotion schedule that will get your message in front of the right people at the right time. Blasting irrelevant or uninteresting content on various platforms will likely lead to audiences tuning you out. Thoughtfully creating and distributing content will help you develop trust and credibility, and cultivate a stronger and more loyal following.

How do I know if my content promotion is working?

As you distribute your content across multiple channels, you should continually monitor the impact, using dashboards such BrightEdge Storybuilder to view and compare metrics. You can understand how your target audience is engaging with the piece, compare the traffic rate with other pieces, and understand what they did after reading it. These insights help you judge the effectiveness of your distribution plan.

If your content promotion distribution plan is not working, you will need to evaluate if this is due to improper targeting, content that is unappealing to your target audience, or a writing style or voice that is just not engaging. You can run an A/B test, making small changes and noting the impact on engagement and conversion rates, in order to gradually build towards creating effective content.

When properly employed, your content promotion and distribution plan will help you bring in interested readers to explore your content, building your brand and increasing your likelihood of conversion. Taking the time to think about where you to distribute your content and then measuring your success will help you maximize your resources and improve your success rates. 

Utilize the BrightEdge platform to track your results and get recommendations in real-time!