A lot of readers, internet users, customers and the bulk of others hardly read through web pages which simply means using images is crucial. You find most people scanning through the pages.

Honestly, there is no way you will force them to read but you can attract them to stay longer to find out more using images that are engaging.

The human attention span is 8 seconds which means, you have roughly 8 seconds to engage your customers and give them the right impression.

How on earth can you manage to achieve this without making it too clumsy and boring?

Image Courtesy: appinventiv.files

The solution to this question is creating the right images to convey the right story of your product or service to your ideal customers.

Images and graphics are an incredibly important tool for capturing your audience’s interest.

In fact, images rank right up there with your post’s headline for creating impact, grabbing attention and enticing your reader into giving your article, product or service a chance when the competition is fierce.

Add to that the growth of social media platforms like Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest–and the increased ease with which we can take, alter, upload and share images–and it’s impossible to avoid this new age of visual fascination.

The importance of images in today’s world cannot be denied or ignored due to the rapid growth in reference to the number of businesses and people using the internet for one thing or the other.

Image Courtesy: pdrwebsolutions

There has been a shift and an increase in the utilization of social media and other online marketing tools for businesses these days.

The competition has become more intense and brands have started to look for more means to indulge its audience with a variety of interesting and highly interacting content to boost business growth.

For Jeff Bullas, the better the photo the more it drives engagement.

According to March 2014 research published on eMarketer, photos accounted for 75% of content posted by Facebook pages worldwide.

From a user’s perspective, photos are also the most engaging type of content on Facebook, with a whopping 87% interaction rate from fans! While on Twitter 35% interaction amounts from using images.

No other post type received more than a 4% interaction rate. If you have probably noticed, once there is this nice picture on Facebook, you just find yourself stopping to admire and in admiring if there is any sort or write up, you will sure read it.

Content is way pass writing article but also using images that are engaging, videos and even colours to tell your brand story to the right audience.

Images Courtesy: thenextweb

This post will be showing you the benefits of creating more engagements with the right images to attract more customers and grow revenue.

Importance of using images

• Images attract a total view of about 94% when used within articles. Reading an article that is too lengthy can be boring. It’s easy to get disconnected due to the attention span of human beings. Therefore, using fun images can help your audience read more.
• Including a Photo and a video in a press release increases views by over 45%.
• 60% of consumers are more likely to consider or contact a business when an image shows up in local search results.
• In an ecommerce site, 67% of consumers say the quality of a product image is “very important” in selecting and purchasing a product.

Image Courtesy: edutechdebate

• In an online store, customers think that the quality of a products image is more important than product-specific information 63%, a long description 54% and ratings and reviews 53%.
• Engagement rate on Facebook for photos averages 87%.

When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later.

46% of marketers say photography is critical to their current marketing and storytelling strategies.

Increased ownership of mobile devices containing cameras means that many consumers can snap an image whenever they wish and easily share it to a broad audience via social media, email or text.

Major types of visual content

Here are the most common ways that marketers create visual content.
• Creative photography: These could either be stock images or self created concept.
• Video: Video’s embedded right into a post or shared directly to social media.

Image Courtesy: marketingland

For example, Rand Fishkin creates videos to further explain to his thousands of followers with his white board Friday video’s on SEO which is a wonderful idea than having to read some long notes.
• Screenshots: Images of your products can also be very useful.
• Infographics: Visual information representation. With a beautiful design, you can incorporate images, text and statics all in one interesting note. Infographics are usually highly engaging.
• Data visualization: These are not out of it to. Standard charts and graphs. It’s easier to understand data using the illustrations on chats or graphics than having to read through long text.
• Comics: No matter how serious your business is, you can add some form of cartoon’s to further illustrate your point. Its fun using cartoon illustrations.
• Memes: Use popular memes and probably customize the memes to fit the context of your post or updates.

Image Courtesy: swiftkickpr

• Visual note-taking : Casually-designed layout of ideas, typically text-heavy

Benefits of using images

Images create a worthwhile experience for your customers

Customers don’t have the luxury of time to check through all you have lined up for them to read. With images, you can keep them scrolling back and forth your page or flipping from one page to another.

The more you engage them with images, the more you can retain them and either sell or educate your customers.

With the right images, it becomes easy and quick for your target customers to consume all the information without missing too much.

Images and photographs attract attention and draw potential participants into your information, whether it’s on social media venues, your website or email.

Image Courtesy: media.gettyimages

Visuals act like a magnet to pull readers in. Actionable Marketing Tip: Don’t limit your photographs and images to specialized uses such as social media.

Incorporate images into all of your content to maximize attractiveness. Where possible skip the stock images, viewers know that they’re stock images.

Images tell your brand story better

It doesn’t really matter if you produce bar soap, cosmetics or food what matters is using the right images to attract attention to your brand.

Image Courtesy: declanconnell

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Images lets your prospects see for themselves what you’re offering. This helps build trust because potential buyers don’t have to take your word for it.

Images are high engaging on social media platforms

Beyond the growth of visual social media platforms like Tumblr, Pinerest and Instagram, photographs attract more attention on other major networks like Facebook.

Even more important is that it’s easy to use mobile apps to upload and share images. This supports your findability online.

Incorporate relevant social sharing with your images to broaden your reach through earned media. Don’t overlook the email option since most purchase decisions involve more than one person. Make it easy for them to share and purchase.

Using images gives your brand a creative edge

Infuse your 360° brand into your images. This means taking pictures that spotlight your product, employees and physical location as well as incorporating your brand colors and related visuals.

Go beyond the basic product hero shots. Think of your products as the subject of works of art. Let your audience see the beauty in them.

Image Courtesy: diygenius

This holds whether your product is for consumers or businesses. Instagram is a platform where product artistry flourishes.

Pictures help support search engine optimization

Images require search friendly captions and related metadata.  Leverage images to help you capture more search results.

Image Courtesy: thenextweb

Also, post images on sites like Flickr and allow others to use your photographs in return for linking back to your site or blog.

Eliminates all language barriers

Most image-based content doesn’t require a lot of words for your audience to understand. The picture conveys the meaning. Of course, this doesn’t hold true for infographics that contain a lot of small text.

Image Courtesy: content.maltatoday

Take care with your images when appealing to an international audience because what’s acceptable in one market may not be in another. Therefore, where possible use universally appropriate images.

What kind of images can your ideal audience engage with?
• You can use the photo of the expert who is the ‘author’ of the message.
• Before-and-after photos work well for some products, especially in the health space.
• You can use a “crazy” image that really has little to do with the product or service but makes the reader laugh or wince.
• Some marketers believe a celebrity will help them get your attention.
• Others like to use photos of dogs or smiling children.
• When in doubt, show happiness or the end result.

Image Courtesy: joomlashine

Conclusion

You know that building an awesome, engaged community around your brand, product, or idea is key to tapping into existing markets—and creating new ones! And you know that social media is a great place to maintain relationships with your customers long after they’ve decided to pay you.

So what other better way can you engage your customers without sounding like a broken record? Its basically by tapping into the resourcefulness of using images to help retain their attention and pass your target message.

You can share with me some amazing ways you have been able to attract your customers by using images that are high engaging.