If content is King then I think we can safely say that images are the Queen and key holder to getting that content shared across the digital realm.

Nobody likes to be faced with reams of content that doesn’t excite or inspire visually, and we certainly don’t like to be faced with images that are simply shoved in-between paragraphs as place holders. When we feel inspired by content we are more likely to share it.

Just like children learning to read for the first time, we need images to instigate a reaction and help to tell the story. In a fast paced world where very few of us take the time to read, and the 140 characters of twitter is dominating the social streams, we want to know what you’ve got to say, and we want it now.

There’s simply no excuse for poor imagery, even as a small business. And you deserve to treat your writing with the support of great images. You’ve spent enough time pouring your heart and soul into creating such a lengthy document, now it’s time to put the icing on top of the cake and make it work as hard for you as you’ve worked on it.

It Doesn’t Cost the Earth

Many businesses are under the illusion that images are a costly addition to a marketing budget. But they’re obviously not looking hard enough, or realise the difference that a great image is going to make to the reaction of their piece.

Of course some of the traditional sites have expensive stock images, but there are now a number of sites that are more value for money or even FREE.

Resources such as Gratisography and Flickr’s creative commons, are places that are not often utilised enough by companies. As long as they are using the images in the stated licence agreement there’s no reason images can’t be used for any marketing purpose.

Get Creative

Not many businesses have the luxury of a creative team available to make great visuals, but it’s worth the investment in the long run.

There’s a reason that social sites such as Instagram and Snapchat are on the increase, and it’s for the simple fact that people love images, and images can sell your product better than you can put into words.

Outsourcing your creative work could be part of the problem. Whilst many graphic designers may be able to hit the brief, they don’t know your business like your team do, and the cost of outsource compared to training a creative may be far more financially viable than you might think.

With many companies such as these tailoring training to any of your visual marketing needs, the long process is cut completely, and your team can be creating unique visuals within weeks.

Think Before You Post

If you really don’t have the time to get creative and you’d rather pay for an image, just make sure you pick your visuals wisely.

Ask yourself this question; if you didn’t know the topic from the image alone, would you get what the content is going to be about?

Be vigilant to how you’re visually spamming your own content, because once you hit the mark, you’ll see improvements in the interest gained in your article.

 

By David Walker.

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