The Power Of Visuals In Content Marketing (Infographic)

We see the rise of visual social interest networks like Pinterest. Look at the power of visuals in content marketing in this infographic full of insights and trends.

Our friends from Shutterstock provide many bloggers and influencers of the social web with great photos, visuals and videos.

But what is the true power of visuals in social or content marketing?

Let’s take a look at this infographic, data visualized by Shutterstock:

Looking for additional global design trends? Here are 10 more amazing insights culled from Shutterstock data:

1. Long Live the Long Tail. Our Top 50 images of the year only accounted for 180k downloads. That’s a tiny fraction of overall downloads, meaning that communicators are looking for diverse imagery to tell stories.

2. If Vector & Camera got in a fight, Vector would win. Sort of. 36 of those top 50 images were vectors; 11 were photos and 3 were illustrations. But before you swap your camera for a tablet, note that photos still account for nearly 2x as many downloads overall.

3. We’re all obsessed with labels. Labels of every size, shape, and style were popular this year, from a retro bakery to Victorian-inspired designs.

4. Textures, patterns, and prints, oh my! Textures, patterns, and prints appeared in virtually every market this year, but were especially prominent in Australia, with retro vintage designs and abstract bokeh among the top downloads.

5. Brazil could be the next design giant. With several abstract and cubic images, Brazil is on the cutting edge of design this year. Take a look at the top 20 downloads for this influential design hub.

6. From Russia with Love. Solidifying its place in the world of fashion and beauty photography, Russia continues to churn out some of the most alluring images in the world. Follow the work of MGV and Serov and you’ll see what we mean.

7. The grass is always greener. “Green” may not be a new trend, but now instead of simply being green, we have more refined terms, from “sustainable” to “eco-friendly.” View a collection of our favorite “green” images.

8. Out with the old, and in with the (slightly less) old. If you combined all the searches for “Cats,” “Dogs,” “Retro,” and “Hipster,” you still wouldn’t beat the number of searches for “Vintage.” Everything from 70s retro to ornate antique imagery will continue to dominate this year.

9. Laws of Abstraction. Geometric and abstract shapes are on the rise, big time. From pixel people to 3D labels, see a few of our current favorites.

10. Less Is More. Germany might be the epicenter for one the year’s biggest emerging trends: minimalism. It’s all about cutting through the clutter with striking imagery to make an impact.

My Opinion?
The social web is more and more driven by content marketing and visuals.

We like snacks and snippets: Short in text, like Twitter. Large in visuals, like Pinterest.

Content marketing offers brands many benefits. Since content is king.

But let’s not forget in the digital and social ecosystems: Distribution is queen, and metrics is the emperor.

Good quality content and visuals can be created by agencies, video artists, visual artists or cartoonists.

No matter the budget you invest on content, make sure to monitor your ROI. Content audits can help you to maximize your earned media attention and engagement levels.

We at ViralBlog have developed: Predictive content modeling. Including content audits. Why do we sell our expertise as consultancy and speaking engagements?

Because this is yet another story, that is not making us any money. Like 99% of the other bloggers: it is blood, sweat, tears and a time consuming passion.

We have a few sponsorships and ads per year, but they do not even make up for our hosting or technology costs.

Maybe we should tap into crowd funding.

Or interrupt you with intrusive pop-ups and homepage take-overs.

What About You?
What insights and trends from the infographic inspired you most? How do you use visuals in your content marketing? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

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About the Author
Igor Beuker was CMO at 3 listed companies, chairman at the IAB, jury member at Webby, AMMA and Esprix awards, founder of 3 digital agencies (sold to WPP) and global chief social officer at Mindshare. Now he is ‘freejack’ consultant and a sought after keynote speaker.

Source: Shutterstock.