July 29, 2015: Visual content — be it static, animated, or video — rules in today’s social media-centric media ecosystem. Today it’s no longer enough to put up a thoughtful block of text and hope that people read it and pass it along. Visual content — once regarded as mere “illustration” or at best an actor playing a supporting role in a text-dominated production, is rightfully asserting its equal place in the content pantheon.
To provide guidance for marketers hoping to create better, more effective images in their content campaigns, we interview Maggie Murphy, Didit’s Social Media Associate Account Executive, a woman who knows a great deal about the subject.
Chris Bell: Thanks for helping answer my questions, Maggie. Getting started, list for me your top 5 habits for successfully using visual content in online marketing.
Maggie Murphy:
1. Right Sizing. Make sure your image is the right size for the online environment you’re posting it in. No one likes a pixelated image or one that is too big for socials! Canva.com has a set of ready-made templates to help you size for social.
2. Get rid of text. An image is worth 1,000 words. Therefore, you shouldn’t have to overlay a bunch of text on top of it
3. Down with Stock. If I had a dollar for every repeated stock image I see on social media, I could quit my job today. I’ve already written an article on some great, free resources for stock photos. Liven up your feed!
4. Use the right keywords in file names and alt tags. When posting images to your blog, name your images correctly and replicate this image in their alt tags. This will optimize them for search engines.
5. Post an image daily. The more images you create, the easier people will become accustomed to visiting your feed or site to see something new. Furthermore, the more you create, the easier it becomes to create. Instagram is a great way to post a photo a day and train yourself to make your own images.
Chris Bell: How do you track the performance of images? What tools do you use?
Maggie Murphy: It depends on where you post them. On social media, you may find that your posts that include images get more “clicks” then others, which means that people wanted to see more. Customers love to engage and share image-based media more than text, so engagement numbers through free in-network tools provide an easy way to measure their performance.
Chris Bell: What is the biggest issue in visual content online today?
Maggie Murphy: I think it has to be laziness. As I said before, I see the same images over and over again. Almost everyone has a smart phone with a decent camera on it- use it! In a way similar to writing content, creativity doesn’t “just happen.” Many businesses also don’t feel like paying for creative, so they just steal images from the internet or use stock, which can look pretty bad. Think about creative as an investment: The salaries of a creative team may bring in a whole new profitable set of clients.
Chris Bell: It seems that visual design is an issue that is almost willfully ignored in content marketing in favor of metrics, numbers, and “hard” data. How can we overcome this cultural issue in the marketing world?
Maggie Murphy: First of all, a lot of that hard data suggests that visual content boosts your engagement. I think that many people admire the success of the “big wig” viral ad campaigns, without realizing that they can achieve the same success (there’s that laziness again). I think that as long as video marketing and networks like Snapchat/Instagram/Tumblr continue to grow, companies will keep scrambling to catch up. The trick here is being ahead of that scramble.
Chris Bell: You *really* like Tumblr. Tell me about the advantages that Tumblr offers brands and agencies.
Maggie Murphy: Yes, I love Tumblr. I’ve run my photo blog through Tumblr since 2009, and maintain the current Didit Tumblr there. Tumblr, just like your average business blog, offers brands the ability to showcase their cultures and personalities. The difference is that there is a community of engaging and trend-savvy consumers within Tumblr that your blog likely lacks. Tumblr may not be the place for everyone, but brands that deal with pop culture, media, fashion, etc. may really want to consider it.
Chris Bell: As visual content is becoming more and more important, fluency in the basics of visual design is becoming essential for everyone working in marketing. What are the best online sources for marketers who want to gain the vocabulary they need to work with visual creatives?
Maggie Murphy: You want to find employees that can understand both the marketing and creative sides of client work. Careless outsourcing of any kind of creative (writing or graphics) can muddle the brand messaging, and create a very long approval process. You don’t need a different vocabulary to speak to a creative. You just need to have an honest, respectful discussion about goals and what they can do for you to help achieve them.
Chris Bell: What content production skills should a marketer have, to relieve pressure on the full time creatives they work with?
Maggie Murphy: I think the key skill is communication. You have to know what you want from your visual team, and trust them to make whatever you hand off to them even better. Outlining goals for your content piece, knowing your brand voice, and researching inspiration can really help your team go above and beyond. It’s also important to remember the work that goes into good design. If you expect your turnaround to be insanely fast, I dare you to try to produce a good visual concept in that same time frame. You’re not going to do it as well as a professional. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Chris Bell: Can you name a development this year in online visual marketing that you’re excited about?
Maggie Murphy: I love the willingness of brands to try new and emerging platforms. The explosion of video marketing and expansion of networks like Instagram just goes to show that brands are experimenting (and finding success). As a creative and a consumer, it’s exciting. It’s no longer just a world of spammy ads, but one where I can research before I buy. I love reading blogs, friend recommendations, creeping on social media accounts, etc., more than clicking on an ad or getting an e-mail. I don’t think I’m the only so-called “Millennial” who feels this way.
Chris Bell: How about a development this year in online visual marketing that makes you want to tear your hair out?
Maggie Murphy: The watering down of the phrase “content marketing.” Everyone throws around their content marketing plan, but the follow- through often doesn’t seem to be there. The creative aspect of content marketing has been reduced to a bullet point by marketers, which shows the lack of respect for the actual work itself. Your “content marketing guide” is shot if your infographic looks terrible.
Chris Bell: Closing shot – what is the question you think every marketer should ask themselves in regard to visual content?
Maggie Murphy: Do I know what I want from my visual marketing campaign? If you don’t have the right goals, attitude, or employees, just forget it.
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