In our digital age, the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is truer than ever before. Research has shown that adding colored images to an article increases people’s desire to read it by 80 percent. If you really want to up your online game, incorporating visual aids for marketing can drastically improve your success.

Why Visual Aids Matter So Much

Statistics show that 65 percent of people are classified as visual learners, which means that they understand and remember information better when it is presented visually. That is not surprising, as the human body is designed to rely heavily on the sense of sight. In fact, 90 percent of the information that is transmitted to the brain is visual. Of all the nerve fibers in the brain, 40 percent are connected to the retina. Thanks to this super network, people are able to process visuals at a much faster rate than text. If the human body relies so heavily on sight, then it is logical to appeal strongly to this sense in your marketing efforts.

The Importance of Visual Aids Is Growing

Our dependence on sight is rapidly increasing in today’s technologically based society. As the availability and the speed of the Internet have increased, so have the popularity of mobile devices and social networking sites, leading to a dramatic increase in the amount of visual content we share.

In 2015 people took 1 trillion unique photos, and that does not take into account the number of times those photos were shared and viewed by others. While this might already seem like a huge number, it is even more impressive when you consider that an estimated 3.8 trillion photos were taken from the dawn of human civilization through 2011. These numbers clearly show the growing importance of visual aids for marketing.

Ways to Use Visual Aids for Marketing

Incorporating visual aids for marketing into your website and social media pages requires a bit of time and creativity. Here are a few ways you can introduce visual aids into your marketing efforts.

Pictures

The average adult attention span is only about eight seconds. Adding pictures is an easy way to break up long posts, keeping your readers interested and engaged. In fact, studies have shown that people spend more time looking at the images on a page than they do at the text. Avoid using stock photos, as they are not as unique or effective as photos and images created by your company.

Memes

These witty and culturally relevant images, hashtags, and videos are a staple of many social media sites. By creating and sharing clever memes tailored to your audience, you not only provide them with enjoyable content, but they are more likely to share it with their friends and followers. If you are lucky, it could even go viral.

Videos

Videos are usually the most time-, labor-, and cost-intensive visual aids you can create for marketing. But their extremely high appeal makes them well worth the extra effort. The popularity and demand for video content is booming at an unbelievable rate. On Facebook alone, the average number of video views doubled from 4 to 8 billion views per day between April and November 2015. On Periscope, viewers watch approximately 40 years’ worth of videos in a single day.

Show people what makes your company stand out by using visual aids for marketing online. You will undoubtedly “see” the difference!