Social Media Marketing: Why Are Images So Important?

Nowadays, people who have access to the internet and a smartphone or computer spend most of their time on social media. 

However, compared to back in the day, the average attention span of today’s consumers is about nine seconds. This short attention span makes it difficult for markets to use wordy content when promoting their products or services. As a result, social media markets have evolved to include images in their social media marketing strategies. 

Social media marketers have come to the realization that humans process images at light speed because our brains devote a significant portion of our brains to vision. Therefore, pictures have become the new digital marketing trend of transmitting information in a world where the average attention span is rapidly decreasing. 

So, why are images so important in social media marketing? Let’s find out!

Audience Attention

The importance of images in catching the attention of your target audience has never been greater. Because of their potential to easily capture the attention of their viewers, images on social media can be an effective tool for increasing traffic.

Visual material keeps the audience engaged, which is likely to result in a higher level of engagement from the audience, in contrast to textual material, which can get monotonous.

Images are Easily Recognizable

It’s no secret that visual stimuli excite our interest inherently as human beings. This is because our brains are wired to process visual information; hence, the reason, we’d subconsciously look at images rather than texts.

Social media marketers that use images in their promotional campaigns can pull in more clicks than those that don’t. As a social media marketer, failure to include attractive images in your online content means your marketing campaign is doomed to be ignored. You can make your social media marketing images even more attractive and engaging if you make background transparent.

They Help Your Audience Remember Your Message

If you hear a promotional message now, chances are you will have forgotten it after 72 hours. However, if the promotional material is paired with captivating and relevant images, there is a 65% chance that you will remember the information even past three days. Such is the power associated with images.

As a social media marketer, this means that images help your audience remember your material for a long time. Therefore, be sure to incorporate your text-based information with images to build your brand and communicate your message.

Use of Images Builds Identity

Consistent use of imagery in your social media marketing campaigns helps build brand identity. If you use similar images that share an almost similar pattern and color on all your social media platforms to market your brand, products or services, customers will start associating your images with your brand.

As a marketer, you would, of course, want to show consistency in your marketing campaigns to avoid confusing your target audience. Therefore, using consistent imagery across all your social media platforms helps your target audience know all your accounts are connected.

Conclusion

Images play a crucial role in social media marketing, considering the sharp decrease in attention among online content consumers. Images help capture your audience’s attention, communicate vital information, make the audience remember your message and build brand identity.