Strategy+Design

I was checking out Entrepreneur Magazine when I came across an article by one of my favourite people in marketing, Ann Handley, the content queen over at MarketingProfs. Photography, Ann says, can make or break a marketing campaign. I couldn’t agree more because when it comes to creating effective visual content, she paints a very clear picture (no pun intended).

“Marketing is all about communicating your value. Tapping into the visual zeitgeist is an excellent opportunity to create messaging for your business that is, well … nothing short of revolutionary.”

– Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

B2B marketing has a long tradition of being bland and boring but that is changing. Companies such as SAP, Cisco and Intel are setting new B2B marketing standards by putting visual content to work in their marketing campaigns. They don’t rely on cheap, generic stock images that everyone else and their dog uses, they strategically use images “that help them evolve their brand and tell a visual story of who they are.”

So how does a company go about creating compelling visual content? I have summed up a few of Ann’s key insights:

1. Make the Effort to Go Visual. Face it, every brand is a publisher of content that is designed to attract customers.  In the end, like all things that matter, quality content wins out over bland content so you have to produce stuff that helps you stand out.
2. Don’t Make Photography an After-thought. Content moments are everywhere so it is critical to capture these moments before they fade away into oblivion. Sometimes you can recreate these moments, but a lot of times you can’t. Task your marketing people (internal or external) to capture moments like the behind-the-scenes of your operations, candid interviews with staff and customers, or unique interactions with your products.
3. Share Images That Help Craft Your Company’s Story. Start with your company website, ensuring your corporate brand leads by example, then move on to your social channels. For example, share photos on Instagram of industry events, give a peek into how your product is made on Pinterest, or show how to use your product with webinars. You can even have fun with video by shooting from your point of view, documentary-style.
4. Show How Your Product Lives in the Real World. B2B companies are traditionally paralyzed by information overload, usually because they have engineers or IT people developing content. Stop doing that. Show, don’t tell, how your product lives in the real world, how it behaves and interacts with people. That approach will help make your product much more tangible instead of describing it with paragraphs of technical jargon.
5. Embrace Images as “Brand Art”. Content is much more than text. Engaging content combines text, images, motion and even sound. If photography, graphics and other visual images are not part of your marketing mix, you’re missing out and your market will look elsewhere.

As you can see, visual content matters more today than in any other time in business history. Why? Because businesses are much more visually connected today than they were yesterday. Visual content is instantaneous and much more socially connected. And here’s the kicker… if you don’t embrace it, your competition will and you’ll be left in the dust. So don’t put it off.  I’ll leave you with one final word from Ann:

“To capture attention and entice engagement and click-throughs, you need to have bold, unique visuals in your corner.”

– Ann Handley

What do you think? Is visual content just marketing fluff? Or is it a key driver of customer engagement? Share you thoughts below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).