It’s the family photo you have on your desk at work. The framed picture of your wedding day. The selfie you took with your friend right before heading on a cross-country road trip.
Regardless of the subject matter, these examples of imagery evoke emotions of good times in your life and your brain recalls those feelings whether you recognize it or not. Even if you don’t have one of these particular examples, your brain offers your own imagery of a day, time, or event that is meaningful to you.
Imagery is all around us and plays an important part in our daily lives. As marketers, our goal should always be to combine visual content with emotion.
Today, we are going to look at several key points to remember when seeking that one-of-a-kind imagery, whether photos or videos, and learn how making a few simple tweaks to your content strategies can result in a positive impact on your return on investment.
First, what is the purpose of using imagery? Storytelling. Powerful imagery sets the stage for discussion and debate. Even when visual content rubs us the wrong way, we are still drawn to it as we deduce parallels from our own experiences. Don’t be afraid to tackle a topic that might not be talked about often. The investment of one’s own emotions in a story, good or bad, is what gives the imagery value. When a story has value, it gets shared, giving you an expanded reach and placing your brand in front of new eyes. Forget Bitcoin—shareable stories are today’s digital currency.
Why does excellent visual content garner the greatest response? Because often this content portrays real people with real emotions. They are authentic by nature and represent your audience. They are relatable on a personal level. These ideas are largely why Dove’s Real Beauty campaign has been so successful and ultimately changed how they represent their brand to their core demographic, (for better or worse). Now, 12 years later, they are doubling down with their latest hashtag campaign, #MyBeautyMySay, and their videos have already been watched nearly 13 million times.
It’s not just finding that emotive imagery, but also making sure it matches your brand values. That’s not always an easy task. If a photo is worth a thousand words, they should all be written about your brand. Brand values communicate to your viewer the who and what of your organization, which, in turn, delights your audience and helps build brand affinity.
The most important part of all this is that the imagery isn’t about your product or service, but the brand it represents.
Our goal as marketers and content creators is to engage our audience with meaningful and emotional imagery. With the ever-increasing popularity of online ad blocking software, it is more important than ever to tell a compelling story about your brand, not your products. You have an army of promoters waiting and willing—you just need to give them something to talk about.