Visual marketing is integral to the success of content marketing campaigns. It plays a vital role in influencing your target audience to click, buy, share, engage, and retain.
One of the most powerful visual marketing tools is the infographic. A talented marketer knows that infographics break down complex information in an easily digestible way while increasing attention span and memory retention. And now, many marketers are wising up to its value and influence. Between 2010 and 2012, searches for infographics increased by an overwhelming 800 percent and continues to grow, according to the most recent data analytics.
Here’s why visual marketing (and infographics) are two opportunities that shouldn’t be missed:
- Understanding the brain: Ninety percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, according to the Visual Teaching Alliance.
- We’re visual learners: Sixty-five percent of the population is made up of visual learners, reports the Social Science Research Network.
- We process visual cues faster: The average person’s attention span is 8 seconds, according to a Microsoft Corp. study, 1 second less than the attention span of a goldfish; it only takes the human brain ¼ of a second to process visual cues—60,000 times faster than it takes the brain to decode text, reports Hubspot.
- Color captures attention: Color increases a reader’s attention span and recall by 82 percent, according to research highlighted by Xerox. Creating a clean, colorful infographic will capture your audience’s attention quicker and more effectively.
- Images are more effective: Content with relevant images gets 94 percent more views than content without relevant images, says marketing expert Jeff Bullas.
- Comprehension is key: Color increases comprehension by as much as 73 percent, according to Xerox. By using a color infographic, you’re successfully improving communication and sharing key messaging effectively.
- Improving retention: When people hear information, they are likely to remember only 10 percent of it three days later. But, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retain 65 percent of it three days later, explains John Medina, author of “Brain Rules.” And, color increases learning and retention by nearly 80 percent, according to Xerox.