Are you using pictures or videos to promote your products or services? You should be. For starters, articles with pictures get 94% more views than those without. And that’s just one reason of many to add pictures and videos to your marketing efforts.
There are a ton of reasons why pictures are so powerful in sales. Let’s talk about some of the most important reasons you should use pictures and videos to promote your small business.
People Have Limited Attention Spans
It seems our attention spans get shorter every year. People tend to skim information more than ever, and our brains can interpret photos faster than text. Colorful, relevant photos or videos can attract wandering attention much better than large blocks of text.
A photo every 100 words or so can entice people to read longer articles than they would with fewer pictures. In fact, those articles receive double social media shares than articles with fewer pictures.
Vision Is Our Dominant Sense
Did you know that seeing takes as much as half of your brain’s resources? Sure, you “see” text, too, but it isn’t as impactful as seeing a photo or watching a video.
Video can also add sound and engage another sense. There is a caveat to that, though. 85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound. When you create videos, you need to consider where they will be watched.
Images Make You or Your Product Seem More Real
People want to associate a face with a name and an image with a product. The more photos or videos you can include, the more “real” your product will seem to customers. This can only benefit your sales and customer retention.
Photos and Videos Increase Views and Engagement
People are 2.3 times more likely to engage with Facebook posts that have pictures compared to those that don’t. On Twitter, tweets with pictures are retweeted 150% more often than those without images.
In one survey, more than half of all people wanted to see more videos from businesses they support.
On your website, infographics increase web traffic as much as 12%. Photos and videos in a press release can increase views by 45%. And people who see an image pop up in local search results are 60% more likely to contact the business.
Your Brand Could Go Viral
Since social media posts with pictures or videos have better engagement, you have a better chance of going viral. While you can never guarantee any post will go viral, you have a much better chance with visual posts.
Going viral can introduce you to new customers and helps build brand credibility and loyalty.
Pictures Help People Remember Information
People who hear information only remember about 10% of it after three days. If that information is attached to an image, people remember 65% of the information after three days. It seems like a no-brainer, then, to have all your product’s relevant information attached to a photo or video.
You Can Take Advantage of Pinterest
Pinterest may be underutilized by many businesses. However, it’s more important than you think.
88% of Pinterest users have bought a product that they have pinned. 49% have purchased at least 5 products that they have pinned or repinned. And the best yet: Shopify users referred by Pinterest spend around double ($80/) compared to those referred by Facebook ($40/).
Don’t Forget YouTube
YouTube is the world’s leading source of video content for consumers, at 83%. 70% of YouTube viewers are there for “help with a problem.” That’s a lot of people who could watch videos explaining how your product could help them.
While you may be able to solve the problem quickly, don’t feel like you have to. More than half (55%/) of video consumption on smartphones is 20 minutes or longer.
YouTube also attracts more adult viewers during prime-time than any cable network. In fact, half of young adult (18-34/) subscribers will drop everything to watch a new video from a favorite creator.
Instagram, Anybody?
While Facebook is still the most active social media platform, there are half a billion Instagram users active each day. Instagram is based entirely on photos and videos. Without quality photos or videos, you’re missing out on a huge audience.
Directions Are Easier to Understand with Pictures
People who read directions that include images do 323% better than directions that are only text. If your product requires any kind of assembly, it’s definitely worth including pictures in your instruction manual.
People Judge Your Product Based on Pictures More than Words
67% of consumers rate the quality of a product image as “very important” when deciding whether to buy the product. That’s more than information about the product (63%/), a long product description (54%/), or reviews and ratings (53%/).
That means having high-quality pictures of your product should be a no-brainer. Pictures sell more products than any words.
Pictures Influence Emotion
Want your customers to feel happy, sad, or something else? Pictures influence emotion. That means photos and videos can be a great way to capture new customers.
Need to Pay a Photographer or Videographer?
These days, anybody can take photos or videos with their smartphone. However, to get truly quality images, you should pay a professional to shoot your photos or videos.
Photographers and videographers don't come cheap. Their talent can pay back their fees down the road with increased sales. However, they still need to be paid upfront.
If you need a business loan to hire a photographer or videographer, First Union Lending can help you achieve your goal. One of our 9 business loan types will be just right to pay for a professional to help increase your sales.
Your First Union loan could be approved as soon as the same day, and applying won't affect your credit.
Talk to our financing specialist today. Call First Union Lending at 863-825-5626 or click here for more information. Professional images to help sell your product or service could be a couple of phone calls away.