12 Jul What Snapchat Taught Us About Visual Content — And it’s Not How to Master a Selfie
A picture is worth a thousand words, or in Snapchat’s case $19 billion. According to a recent article in Bloomberg Business, the company, which launched in 2011, is raising funding that would place its valuation at nearly $19 billion.
Yes, that’s right, in four short years, an app that allows users to take photos or videos that disappear within 10 seconds, is on its way to becoming the third most valuable non-publically traded tech start-up.
But why is this important for marketers and content professionals?
The answer lies in the power of visual content.
Snapchat signifies the increasing growth of visual content based on the tremendous number of people who are engaging in it on a daily basis. The typical SnapChat user is between the ages of 18-34. This is a primary demographic for many marketers, and one that is especially enamored with visual content.
And SnapChat’s numbers don’t yet include the late adopters, (you know who you are, mom) who have not yet fully made the leap to SnapChat, but have slowly already made their way over to other visually stimulating platforms, like Facebook and even Instagram. This group provides a wealth of potential for marketers in the future.
Now, we want to take a moment to point out that we are not saying that every marketer needs to be integrating SnapChat into their marketing strategies. It doesn’t make sense for all industries. What we are saying is this – visual content is essential.
Research shows that our bodies are programmed to process visuals 60x faster than text.
In fact, 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual.
This explains why so many of us are drawn to platforms such as SnapChat and Instagram, where we are inundated with pure visual content.
When crafting visual content, marketers can continue to learn from SnapChat’s platform by recognizing the significance of the app’s short life span for images.
As marketers, we know that we only have a short time frame, seconds maybe, to capture the attention of our audience. This is where creating engaging visual content comes into play.
Visual content needs to be well thought out, and it should register on an emotional level with our target audience. We all know we can’t just plop in a photo and think “there you go, that’s visual,” and expect our audience to click. They won’t. Instead, the viewer needs to be able to connect or relate to the photo on a deeper level that makes him or her want to click.
So – where’s our visual content for this post? Check this out: The Marketer’s Guide To Visual Content.
We believe there will be more marketing lessons to learn as we continue to observe Snapchat’s rise to fame. In the meantime, the company’s astounding valuation proves that visual content is growing at an exponential rate, and that marketers will continue to find value in strategies that are visual and engaging.
Want help creating visual content for your brand? Call the Brower Group team at (949) 955-7940.