Visual Marketing Trends You Must Know in 2021
84% of communications are visual, and this number is continuing to rise.
Consumers crave visual content, and that’s why you must start creating it if you haven’t already. But, unfortunately, the competition is high, and breaking through is very difficult.
In this article, we’ll look at 8 visual marketing trends to go with in 2021.
They will help you get your customers what they desire, beat your competitors, and maximize your sales.
We’ll also look at one simple trick to achieve your marketing goals faster.
#1 Video
Videos are the future.
Consumers love them, they have super-high ROI, and brands are starting to realize it. In fact, experts predict that videos will make up 82% of consumer traffic by 2022.
The need for them is constantly rising, and now is the best time to start producing them.
(Source: Oberlo)
There are billions of videos online, but most of them are poor and low-quality.
Most brands produce videos but don’t give them much thought. They just go through the motion, and so the quality suffers.
Don’t make the same mistake and focus on the quality instead.
Here are three things to follow to up your video game.
- Make it relevant – appeal to your customers, and don’t waste their time with irrelevant videos they don’t want to see.
- Provide value – be genuinely helpful and avoid sounding salesy. Focus on your customer’s needs and problems, not yours.
- Make it emotional – set the right atmosphere and evoke emotions by using suitable music, visuals, and stories throughout your video. It will significantly boost your sales.
Also, don’t forget to edit your videos afterward. There is no way you can record a perfect video without editing it.
You should use a great video hosting site for your videos too.
It will prevent your videos from crashing and will perfect the user experience for your customers. (here are a few of them.)
Overall, focus on the quality, be helpful, and smash your competitors with your videos.
#2 Infographics
Written information and facts are boring and unengaging. That’s why infographics are a much better option to use nowadays.
Infographics are highly effective and get 3X more shares than any other content type.
(Source: Cepyme News)
They will also get the job done a lot better. Visuals increase learning and retention of information by 78%. They also lead to fewer errors in the workplace.
They are the future of learning and explaining new things.
Moreover, they have had the biggest increase in usage among B2B marketers in the last four years.
(Source: SEJ)
So how do you start creating your own infographics?
There are a couple of online tools that can help you with that. We’ll be looking at one of the best solutions on the market – Stencil.
It’s highly intuitive, simple, and you can choose from thousands of pre-made templates.
The best thing about it is that it’s free. That’s right. You can start creating your own infographics and maximize your reach on social media.
It’s a growing trend and will go a long way in the future of your business.
Just make sure to make it valuable, relevant, and high-quality.
#3 GIFs
GIFs have been pretty popular in the last few years, and they are not going anywhere. They will continue to rise in 2021 and beyond.
GIFs are dynamic pictures that are something between the videos and images.
They can be a great addition to your social media campaign or your email series. They make it lively and more interactive, which will lead to a fantastic sales boost.
In fact, according to time, over 60% of millennials said GIFs communicate their thoughts and feelings better than words.
That makes them perfect for building a deeper connection to your customers.
The best thing about GIFs is that they are universal. There are no rules when it comes to creating them, and the options are limitless.
You can use them no matter your industry, product, or business.
The easiest way to start creating GIFs is by choosing a video for making a GIF. After that, it’s time to go to the GIPHY – a free online tool for creating GIFs from videos.
You just go to the website, choose your video, pick the duration, and you’re all set. You can also combine it with the previous step and create gifographics.
Using GIFs is a fantastic strategy, especially if you are targeting millennials.
#4 Webinars
Due to the coronavirus, we have been forced to attend online conferences and webinars. Slowly, it has become a standard, and more and more people are inclined to it.
If you’re a business in a niche where you’re educating your customers, you should start considering webinars as your go-to type of content.
In some cases, it can even beat online courses.
This is mainly because webinars are usually live, so your customers can ask you about their questions directly.
That makes it more interactive, helpful, and engaging.
The critical thing is to choose the right webinar hosting and perfect the quality. There is nothing more frustrating than a webinar that’s constantly crashing.
It will ruin the whole experience and can cost you customers (here are a few tools to prevent that.)
(Source: Intechnic)
Live webinars are very time-consuming, though. So be sure to alternate them with scheduled webinars for the best effectiveness.
#5 Shoppable Visual Posts
Social media is at its highest and will continue to rise further. It has over 3.96 billion active users, and we spend an average of 3 hours a day.
(Source: Smart Insights)
Even though social media has been here for ages, there is still news and trends occurring. For instance, shoppable visual posts are a hot trend right now.
It’s supreme at increasing sales and your brand’s success. You can see an example of that below.
(Source: Wilson Cooke)
It’s aesthetic and makes purchasing a lot easier. But, if you’re looking to implement it in your social media strategy, you should think about introducing influencers too.
They can greatly widen your reach and increase sales.
Just be sure they are relevant to your industry and have a similar audience to yours.
Add shopping tags to your existing content, promote your posts via influencers, and boost your sales and conversions.
It’s a simple yet very effective strategy to go with in 2021 and beyond.
#6 AR
More and more brands are starting to introduce AR into their strategy, and it has proven some spectacular results.
AR (Augmented Reality) basically brings life to your products and makes them more interactive. It allows you to virtually add products to your environment to better imagine how they will look if you buy them.
You can see an example of that by IKEA – the leading furniture store below.
(Source: Wired)
It makes the decision process a lot easier and faster, and you can speed up the whole customer journey, which will lead to greater results.
It’s a hot trend, and you should catch it early to reap all of its benefits.
It’s not suitable for all businesses, and some niches just can’t pull it off, though. If you are one of them, don’t worry, there are plenty of other visual trends you can try.
If you’re not, give it a shot and see how your customers like it.
#7 Illustrations
Illustrations are becoming a new trend, mostly on social media. Many businesses use them to stand out and add a bit of life to their content.
The biggest advantage of illustrations is that they look authentic and aesthetic.
You can see an example of an illustration below.
It’s beautiful, very eye-catching, and you can use it with any topic or niche.
They are a bit more challenging to create, though. You’ll most likely need to hire a graphic designer to do the job for you.
Give it a shot and see for yourself.
#8 360-Degree Visuals
The last marketing trend is 360-degree visuals.
They are much more interactive than still images and help you see exactly each part of the product you need.
Many companies have started this trend and have seen some great results.
But again, it depends on what type of products you sell and what niche you are in. For example, if you’re selling digital products, 360-degree visuals won’t help you that much.
BONUS TIP: Make It Part of the Customer Journey
No matter which trend you choose, it’s crucial to focus on your goals and make them part of your strategy.
The most important question you must ask yourself is – what am I trying to accomplish?
Do you want to increase sales, brand awareness or build a deeper connection with your customers? Identify what stages of the sales funnel are the people you’re reaching and adjust these visuals to it.
(Source: SFE)
For instance, if you’re reaching people at the bottom of the sales funnel, you’ll be selling a lot more than with people at the top where you’re trying to build awareness.
Personalizing it and focusing on the stages of the sales funnel is the only way to succeed.
Conclusion
Visuals are becoming more and more popular.
Now is the best time to start pumping up visual content and get all of the benefits. In this article, we’ve talked about the 8 best visual trends to follow in 2021.
They will help separate yourself from competitors and boost your sales.
Start using them today, supercharge your marketing strategy and get ahead faster.
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