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Our attention span as humans is decreasing each year. It's now shorter than the ordinary goldfish. Depending on the source our attention span is roughly between 2.5 seconds and 6.5 seconds. For an average goldfish it's 9 seconds.
We are visual beings. Ninety percent of what's communicated to our brain is visual. Audio is important, but language is a relatively new phenomenon. Smart marketers know this and connect to the hearts of their customers by using visual storytelling. Here are seven reasons and tips on how to leverage it in your marketing:
1. Faster is Better - According to Ekaterina Walter of Sprinklr, "Our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text." TIP: Leverage images as they are a shortcut to the brain.
Photo Credit: Ekaterina Walter at the High Five Conference, DWPPC
2. Improving Recall - How important are visuals in terms of recall? If you communicate using only words, retention is only 10% of what's communicated. Add a compelling visual to those words and recall jumps up to 65%. This "picture superiority effect" means recall improves by a factor of five. There is no excuse today not to use great images. TIP: Resources like Canva and Dollar Photo Club allow you to leverage images at $1 per photo.
3. Right Here, Right Now - Real time marketing is a mentality. The more timely the image is, the more impactful it will be. TIP: Developing a real time approach takes time and discipline.
4. Less is More - You can add words to your visuals, but keep them to a minimum. Avoid having a bullet mentality. To steal a quote from Malcolm Kushner, " Guns don't kill powerpoint presentations, bullet points do. " TIP: If you need to add text to an image, keep the maximum number of words to sixteen.
5. Open the Kimono - Be open. Don't be afraid to show the behind the scenes. TIP: It doesn't have to be polished. Rough around the edges is authentic.
6. Placement Matters - If you need to place text on a visual, avoid it being cut off or blocked from view. TIP: Keep it on the top-third of the visual.
7. Use the Power Points - Leverage this trick from photographers. If you place a tic-tac-toe board over the visual, power points are created at the intersection of the lines. TIP: Place key text or focus the image in on one of these four points.
Today's Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) - Visuals are also a key element to presenting. Here is a slideshare featuring 21 Rules to Rock Your Next Pitch or SXSW Session.
