How to use imagery to get your business messages heard

A great content strategy is not just about words, and in the era of smartphones and tablets, looks count more than ever

The biggest challenge for many businesses is the need to produce engaging content that keeps their brand fresh in the eyes of the mobile-first generation.

Online and mobile marketing is vital for SMEs, as they must ensure they are catching their audiences’ attention on the go.

Higher resolution and larger screens for smart phones and tablets mean images have become important. SMEs must consider how they use imagery as a way to deliver information in a concise and compelling way.

Here are some tips to ensure your business is delivering visual content that engages followers, and gets noticed.

Make images the centre of your communications

To make the most of mobile, emphasise images rather than using chunky, wordy paragraphs to annunciate messages. If readers spot an eye-catching image, it will entice them into the site.

Messages that are successfully depicted in an image can be transferred to a company’s social pages, and shared via social channels. The images that are shared most are simple and combine visuals with text.

For example, Oreo recently tapped into a standout event in this year’s lunar calendar – the eclipse. The image was simply an Oreo in a dark background with the slogan ‘you can still dunk in the dark’. Perfect.

Use unique imagery

It can be tricky for a business to constantly position itself as contemporary and dynamic. By keeping content refreshed, a business can make sure it continues to engage existing audiences and generate traction with new ones.

Businesses can do this by tapping into current image trends and popular calendar hooks. This allows businesses to keep websites relevant and fresh. For example, Tiffany and Co. did this on Valentine’s Day by updating its imagery to ensure it remained appealing to its varied audience.

SMEs and entrepreneurs can keep their content and images fresh in various ways. iStock’s Creative Insights team identified the trend that a first-person point of view is becoming an increasingly popular way to engage consumers or prospects. This gives a raw and authentic view from the perspective of the photographer.

Another trend is super sensory images that offer immersive experiences. With phone screens becoming larger and featuring HD, people are more likely to expect this kind of imagery, and it can help a business stand out from competitors.

It can be easy for SMEs to follow in the footsteps of Tiffany’s by taking a twist on clichéd imagery. This can be done through using different colours for ‘classic’ images that appear in abundance during popular holidays, or by choosing interesting angles, such as close-up shots, to make the imagery unique, and help the website stand out.

Make a video

With Facebook introducing embeddable videos, and Twitter launching its own live streaming service, consumers are increasingly engaging with video content.

Videos can be animated, a real person talking, or a voice over with images, music and slides. Whichever way you choose, businesses need to ensure that the script is simple and short to keep the viewers engaged. Video is also a great way to deliver information to your audience, especially by creating ‘how-to guides’.

By prioritising imagery and using it in the right way, a company can bring its personality to life, while ensuring its messages and offering stand out online. With the rise of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, sharing visuals rather than wordy articles has become an increasingly popular way of communicating with customers.

In order to remain relevant in this visual world, businesses need to engage audiences by bringing their personality to life in a snappy, simple and sharable way.