Are text-only campaigns dead? The rise of visual content

Visual content is nothing new to PR and marketing practitioners. But have we reached the point where text-only campaigns should be laid to rest?

It’s no secret that strong visual content holds the key to success in the current communication landscape. Whether it’s for social media, email marketing or content creation, brands are increasingly using visuals to entice consumers to engage with their brand. Given the dominance of visual communication, and in particular video, are text-only campaigns still relevant within brand strategies?

What makes visual content so popular?

Consumers are inundated with information every day; from crowded social media feeds to inboxes overflowing with emails. Visual content helps grab consumers’ attention and motivates them to learn more about your brand, as the information is both quicker and easier to process compared to text. And, once a consumer starts engaging with a brand’s visual content, it is likely that they will continue to do so, causing other consumers to also engage, sparking a conversation and a snowball effect. There is clearly benefits to visual content over text-only.  

Visual storytelling

For many brands, a move to visually dominant campaigns requires a change of direction. Visual content marketing is a distinct strategy that requires practitioners to draw inspiration from publishers and storytellers. Take Coca-Cola, whose marketing strategy is built on visual content. To ensure they keep their audience engaged and the brand salient they produce original, fun and interactive content with a focus on cultural storytelling, such as with their “Share a Coke” campaign. Through the use of stories relating to Coca-Cola they initiate conversations about the brand and earn themselves a share of pop-culture. The brand is so invested in their move to visual content (and away from text-only campaigns) they even created a video explaining their efforts.

It’s not just major brands that are implementing changes in their strategies. Research published this month by Brubaker and Wilson monitored the frequency and type of Facebook posts of 100 brands. Visual content dominated across all the brands. While their research showed a year-on-year decrease in the number of overall posts by these brands it also showed an increase in the number of videos being posted. The significance of this is that brands are willing to sacrifice quantity in favour of producing quality original visual content, which – in comparison to text-only content – requires more time and resources to produce.

Share-a-Coke campaign, credit Coca-Cola

Key points to remember

·      Making use of visual content ensures that your brand gets noticed and helps your consumers process your key messages quicker and easier.

·      Placing greater emphasis on visual content, in particular original videos, fosters engagement with your consumers.

·      Ensure you budget for the time and resources that producing original visual content requires.

In other words, don’t be afraid to refocus your content marketing strategy. Lay your text-only campaigns to rest (RIP).

                                                                                                                             
About the author:
Natalie Henshall is a Communication Science Masters student at the University of Amsterdam, specialising in persuasive communication. She has previous experience in communications, marketing and PR gained from working in the UK public sector. Her interests include social media engagement and health communications.