Let’s talk about one of the most important tools in your marketing toolkit: visuals. In the marketing landscape today, visuals are almost everywhere. Think of the last newsletter you were sent. Chances are there were just as many spaces for photos, videos, gifs, or graphics as there were for text. This is because visuals are a powerful tool that is digestible and attractive to audiences. In healthcare marketing especially, it is difficult to get executives on board with spending on visuals as it is such a science data driven industry. But why do visuals cost a lot? Because they are worth it. There is a plethora of reasons that compelling visuals need to be included in your marketing strategy including:
Grabs attention
Us humans are visual creatures and naturally drawn to images. Colors and designs naturally grab our attention and they make visuals appealing to us as audiences. Imagine having the choice between a 300 word email, or a fun infographic or video explaining the same information. Obviously the latter would win. Studies have shown that people are able to process images up to 600 times faster than plain text. We don’t want to be bored. We want to have our attention piqued and different visuals do just that. Art is a great tool to draw your audience in and lead them to the information or content you want to share.
Illustrates and explains concepts
Let’s face it: sometimes, in the healthcare world especially, there are concepts that are complex and hard for audiences to understand. Visuals can help that. Photos and videos in particular allow people to visualize concepts that are difficult to explain with words. And even if you can explain certain things with words, including different visuals can ensure that the information is driven home in the audience's mind. When you include photos, videos, or infographics, you are able to not only tell the audience what you are talking about, but show them.
Sticks in memory
If nothing else, one of the biggest benefits of visuals is that they stay in your memory, which is exactly what we want in the marketing world. The visual long term memory part of the brain holds a large capacity which means photos and videos will stick in your head longer than plain text. If that isn’t enough, of all the information that is transmitted to the brain, 90% of it is visual. You want your message to stick in your audience’s brain, so adding visual components to your content will ensure it will.
Strengthen brand
Last but not least, visuals add to and strengthen your brand image. Incorporating your logo and brand colors in whatever visual content you produce will always let the audience make the association between your brand and the helpful information the content conveys. Each touchpoint your audience has with you should be easy to recognize as coming from the same source. Cohesive, integrated visuals are paramount to achieve this.
Visual content is everywhere in the marketing world today, and for good reason. Photos, vidoes, infographics, and gifs are powerhouses of tools to use to make your content stand out.