Do you know why brands are investing more in visual content?
Because communicating visually helps them connect better with their audiences. It lets them create a lasting impression.
Nearly 80% of marketers incorporate visuals when marketing on social media. They also say that videos give the best ROI at 63%, followed by photos and graphics at 56%.
Image via Animoto
It’s time you started incorporating visuals into your marketing strategy to take advantage of their popularity.
But how can visuals help you drive traffic to your blog?
Let’s find out.
How Can You Drive Traffic to Your Blog Using Visuals?
Visual content includes images, videos, infographics, GIFs, and other multimedia content. By using it, you can get the attention of your audience with ease. It also attaches something tangible that they can recall.
Here are various ways visual content helps you drive traffic to your blog:
1. Use Visuals to Engage Your Audience
A study by Wyzowl found that 66% of consumers prefer to watch videos, while only 18% prefer text. 96% of them watch explainer videos to learn more about products while 84% purchase after watching branded videos.
Also, consumers are willing to spend more time with visual content as well. But 73% of them say that they have less time to read and do research.
Image via DemandGen
Consumers will be more likely to engage with your visual content because that’s exactly what they want to see. This, in turn, can help drive traffic to your website.
If you use ample visuals on your website, they may stay on your site longer too. This, in turn, can positively impact your SEO and help you grow your traffic too.
2. Add Visuals to Your Blog Posts
How many hours do you spend on one blog post?
Brainstorming ideas, conducting research, writing, finding stats, proofreading, editing, and publishing…
It all takes time.
I bet it’s more than one hour per post, right?
And after spending so much time on it, you’d be disappointed if only a few people read your post, right?
Of course you would.
Sorry to disappoint you, but only 20% of visitors to your site will read an entire article. The average visitor also only reads 25% of it.
Disappointing, right?
But there is good news.
You can change these statistics around by using visuals.
The first thing you need to do is understand your audience. Then you can get down to writing or uploading content.
What kind of target audience did you have in mind when you launched your blog? Consider their preferences and demographics when you add visuals to your content.
If a reader is scanning your content, the chances are that they will stop to look at the visual. They may also read the text above and below the visual for clarification.
That’s why you should incorporate visuals, including infographics and original photos (try to avoid stock photos as much as possible). You can also add screenshots and videos, especially in how-to posts. They can help you illustrate your points better.
3. Use Visual Content on Social Media
How many times do you stop to read big blocks of text on social media?
Very few, right?
Visuals, however, draw your attention, right? They deliver messages in an easy to consume manner.
Using a funny meme, entertaining video, or other informational visuals draws the audience’s attention. But the videos don’t necessarily need to be real ones. You can create and upload animated videos to engage your audience too. For this, you can use tools like Wideo.
Such animated videos can even come in handy to increase traffic to your blog. Also, according to the Wyzowl study mentioned above, people are 2x more likely to share video content than other forms of content. This means that you can grow your reach on social media using videos and get even more traffic to your website.
What’s more?
Make sure your blog post has a catchy headline, attractive banner, and a good meta description. This will show up on social media when you post it and if your audience doesn’t find it interesting, they probably won’t click on it.
Your blog post should also have social media buttons. Make it easy for your readers to share your blog posts with their friends and family on social media. Doing this can also increase your reach and get you more traffic.
You can also launch social media promotions to grow your reach even further.
If you’re not sure how to go about it, you can even hire social media experts to help you with it. They can help you create great blog posts, optimize visuals, and promote them on social media.
4. Leverage Visual to Connect with Your Audience
Do you know what drives audiences to share your content?
Well, a study found that positive emotions drive people to share videos. These include amusement, inspiration, warmth, and excitement. Other factors include surprise, characters involved, and plots.
Visual content that triggers the right emotions can help you drive engagement and increase shares. This can prompt your audience to click on the link to your blog to find out more. They may also share it on social media and grow your reach even further.
However, make sure that the visuals you use are top notch. If they aren’t high quality, they may not be able to generate the sort of response you want. To avoid this, you should consider using image and video making tools to create eye-catching visuals that can draw the attention of your audience and even provide value to them.
Are You Ready to Drive Traffic to Your Site with Visual Content?
Create high-quality visual content based on your audience’s interests and share it via as many channels as possible to reach your audience. Use it on your blog, social media, and make it easy for them to share it as well.
Doing so can not only help you capture the attention of your audience but can even increase your engagement.
Are you ready to start using visual content to drive traffic to your site? Which tactic will you try out first? Share it with us in the comments section below.
About the Author: Dawn Bowman is the Managing Editor for Shane Barker Consulting. She was previously the Managing Editor at KillerStartups, and Startups.com. In her spare time, she writes short stories and song lyrics.