News
28 Mar 2022
by Zen Family Member, Amy Leigh
Consumers are becoming more distracted as technology advances; we are continually distracted as an audience and have almost become addicted to being digitally interrupted. If we think about our own attention spans, what percentage of the content we interact with do we absorb? And how can businesses adapt to this new type of digital consumer?
The most successful social media channels are image based:
Source: How to Use Instagram to Drive Results
So why visual content?
Having visual content draws our digital mind in, particularly when you are competing for the attention across multiple channels. Choosing to incorporate visual content when posting on your social channels could help attract new users of your service/product whilst also enticing your existing ones.
Visual content is a clever way of:
As previously mentioned, our brains are hardwired for digital distractions, so content that includes imagery has a higher chance of being seen/shared/commented on. We know as daily social media users that content that engages us has a better chance of becoming popular or viral. If you are proving to the dreaded algorithm that what you are posting is popular then it is most likely to suggest said content to others.
Our brains prefer visual content because that type of information is processed more quickly – the average attention span of a consumer is eight seconds.
You can see in the below infographic by Column Five Media that the way we process information is biological and that ‘Our brains are pre-wired to interpret relationships between objects, visuals allow for almost instant comprehension with minimal effort.’
Infographics
As the above infographic proves, an infographic can be used as a more effective way to show large amounts of data without boring people to death. You can steal the attention of people and get them to digest potentially lengthy and important information without having to cut down on your content.
It doesn’t have to be purely image based either, you can still incorporate text alongside images.
Infographics are powerful because you can utilise them for a variety of things:
The list is truly endless!
Illustration
Illustration is pandemic-proof! We haven’t been able to get too close to one another over the past couple of years, so illustration has made a massive comeback. Although photography can be striking and capture a moment in time, it has been increasingly difficult for photographers to continue to work with social distancing. Illustration can happen at any time and any place, you can create something truly unique and avoid the dreaded stock photo.
Illustration could be vital in creating brand awareness and tapping into different audiences, it allows a higher chance of interaction from existing and new customers.
Animation
Another big trend from 2021 that is continuing in 2022 is animation. With the average screen time for phones rising, we are constantly scrolling through content and it can become frustrating to read such lengthy articles on such a tiny screen. But what if said content was presented to us in a different format? When you have the ability for your brand illustrations to move at 24 frames per second then you have a better chance at communicating a large amount of content to a larger audience.
Over the last year I have seen animation pop up on TV adverts, conferences, social media posts and more. Animation can be as simple as adding a small sparkle to a static image to creating a longer video showcasing your products and services.
Digital marketing is evolving constantly and so are we as a company, we are creative with our energy solutions and want that to be reflected in our brand. We want our clients to easily understand the products and services we have to offer and realise that it can be confusing when faced with lengthy PDF documents or website copy.
With SEO being integral in targeting your audience it is important to note that when visual content is posted you are massively increasing the likelihood of turning up in searches. Most importantly we want to show that our brand is constantly developing, incorporating our logo and brand colours within animations, infographics and illustration leaves a stronger impact on potential and existing customers.
Amy Leigh works on the Marketing Team as a Graphic Designer; she combines her passion for art and technology to communicate ideas. Using various mediums from publications and packaging to infographics and animation, she is able to turn data into visual graphics and diagrams to make complex ideas easily understood and digestible.
