People read, follow, click, and buy with their eyes, which is why images are so crucial for a successful content strategy. Images draw people in, hold their attention, and compel them to take conversion actions. Visual content can boost engagement no matter where it’s used, but these are the most effective locations for using images:
Homepage
Most traffic enters your site on your homepage, which means it’s the first impression that new visitors will have of your business or organization. This is a prime opportunity to present them with an eye-catching image to pique their interest and get them excited about what you have to offer.
Pro tip: Use an image that pops with color and drama to wow visitors.
Social Media
Social media posts that incorporate images are much more likely to be shared and go viral than text-only posts. Memes, inspirational quotes, infographics, new product releases, and so on are wildly popular on social media – boosting engagement with existing followers and attracting new ones. That doesn’t mean that you should only post images, but it does mean that you should plan to integrate them in your social strategy.
Pro tip: Crop images properly to accommodate the nuances of each social media platform.
Landing Pages
Well-placed images can enhance any landing page by making them more compelling. Don’t overdo it though! Only use one or two images on each landing page to allow for plenty of whitespace and avoid clutter. Just like any other component on your landing pages, you should run A/B testing on your images and their placement on the page to determine which ones convert the best.
Pro tip: Using faces on landing pages where the subject (human or animal) is looking directly at the viewer is an effective way to hold someone’s attention.
Email marketing
Images can augment the text in your marketing emails by encouraging recipients to click-through to your website. Much like their use on your landing pages, however, images should be used judiciously within emails. Ideally, your emails should have a balance of images and text in case the recipient has images blocked by default on incoming messages.
Pro tip: Minimize the number and size of images being used to avoid getting your emails sent to the spam folder.
Product/Service Pages
Your offerings should have detailed descriptions, technical specifications, recommendations for complementary offerings, and, yes, great photos. Photos sell products and services, so you should give them just as much (if not more) attention than the rest of your written product/service descriptions. High-res images help reduce purchase anxiety by reassuring shoppers that they know exactly what they’ll be receiving.
Pro tip: Incorporate zoomable images that provide many different product views.
Whether you’re purchasing stock images or creating unique images in-house for use on your website and across your marketing channels, enhancing your existing content with visual elements is sure to increase engagement!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Business Blogging and Web Copywriting. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and son and enjoys cooking, watching sports, and spending time together as a family. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about current marketing trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
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