Audiences have never been as information-hungry as they are today, but competition for their attention online is rife. Our research found nearly nine in ten businesses market with content, and firms need to provide value in order to stand out. Increasingly, this means including great, creative visuals, such as infographics and videos, into content strategies.
The big game-changer in recent years has been social media - and three major players drive the demand for visual content: Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram.
Tumblr
Tumblr hosts over 130 million blogs, most of which focus on visual storytelling through images and gifs - entertainment and inspiration are top priorities. One brand that successfully engages followers is Coca-Cola, which describes its Tumblr as, "Where happiness lives online" and features fun, on-brand images tagged with #LOL, #DIY etc.
Pinterest was the fastest site ever to reach 10 million unique users according to comScore. Semiocast estimates it has 70 million users - mainly women but increasingly men and businesses. Fashion brand J.Crew unveiled its latest collection on Pinterest rather than its own site this summer and several reports suggest Pinterest is the top performing social network for conversion and directly attributable purchases.
Instagram has over 100 million active users. A significant proportion of these are celebrities giving followers a rare insight into their private lives, which drives up user numbers and engagement.
In June 2013, Instagram dealt a blow to Twitter's Vine app by launching video functionality: 15 seconds of footage (as opposed to Vine's six), Instagram's classic filters and the ability to upload existing clips.
Conclusion
The meteoric rise of these social networks and the high levels of engagement among their still growing user base demonstrate the huge appetite for creative visual content. In order to be successful, brands and companies need to focus on quality and delivering the right message at the right time to the right audience - just as with any other type of content marketing.
By Karen Webber, Head of Marketing Communications at Axonn Media.
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