Crafting a successful B2B marketing campaign in the 21st Century increasingly requires a visual approach. This remains a traditional aspect of marketing from way back in the “glory days” of Madison Avenue advertising. Even the fictional ad professionals in Mad Men always focused on telling their message with a strong visual element.
The same rule applies to the modern B2B marketing used in the current economy. Including compelling graphic design and video content as part of an ad campaign simply improves its efficacy. Humans will always be attracted to and inspired by ads told with a strong and memorable visual element. It’s also the case when considering the professionals targeted by B2B marketing campaigns.
With the goal of making your company’s B2B marketing more compelling, check out these insights on leveraging visual content. We cover what content types work best for advertising, helping your company attract new customers and inspire current clients. Use this information to get a better ROI on your business’s advertising spend.
Statistics Reveal The Importance of Visual Content in Marketing
Data from HubSpot highlights the popularity of visual content for marketers. Videos and images rank at the top of the list when it comes to the ROI of content formats. Not surprisingly, both hold the same spots when comparing the content formats marketers currently leverage. Notably, nearly half of content marketers use either format. It illustrates why your business needs to invest in compelling video and graphic design in its B2B marketing campaigns.
Additionally, a study from Venngage noted over half of marketers use visuals in 91 percent of their marketing content. They also found that original graphic design ranked as their top marketing content type. Over half of their survey respondents felt visual content served as an essential part of their marketing strategy.
Video Needs to be Part of Your Marketing Strategy
The data above highlights the fact that video content needs to be an important part of any B2B marketing approach. Research from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) notes that two-thirds of all B2B marketers leveraged video in 2022. The CMI study also highlights the fact that video remains the most effective visual content marketing type. If your company isn’t already using video in its content strategy, a large majority of your competitors already are.
Video also facilitates repurposing the audio as podcasts, with the scripts serving as material for blog posts. Needless to say, the benefits of this content type for B2B marketers remain numerous.
Don’t Overlook Photos in B2B Marketing
Traditional photos and images also remain an important visual content type in B2B marketing. Once again, the HubSpot research data mentioned earlier placed it right behind video in both ROI and overall usage. Photos and images especially make a difference by adding sizzle to blog posts and other text-based content. Data from Orbit Media illustrate how bloggers get better results when they include multiple photos in their posts. This same concept also applies to B2B marketing.
Breaking up text-based content with the visual form – videos, photos, graphic design imagery – increases its effectiveness. At a minimum, it improves readability while also supporting the text material. Additionally, consider using original photography as opposed to stock photos. A Venngage study shows the latter fails to drive results in nearly 40 percent of cases.
Illustrations are an Overlooked Form of Visual Marketing Content
Some B2B marketers leverage illustrations as a visual marketing content format. They serve to explain complex concepts within a product or service in an easy-to-understand manner. Be sure to keep simplicity as a core principle when designing and crafting marketing illustrations.
Of course, your potential business audience also needs to be considered to ensure professionalism over something more cartoonish. Make sure your graphic design team understands this before creating any illustrations.
Data Visualizations and Infographics Help Engender Customer Understanding
In a similar manner as illustrations, data visualizations also serve to explain complex concepts in a simplified fashion. The major difference obviously involves the actual data itself. For example, a visualization is able to clearly compare different models within your company’s product line. It might illustrate how using your service benefits the customer by clearly detailing hard data and statistics.
Ensure your data visualizations and infographics leverage charts, graphs, and other screen elements to improve readability and understanding. Having graphic designers that understand data and reporting helps when crafting this type of content. In the simplest cases, an infographic is likely appropriate, with data visualizations working for more complex use cases. Additionally, consider using animation to better explain complex processes, systems, or architectures to potential customers.
If your business wants to learn more about B2B visual content marketing, connect with the expert team at Monomyth Marketing. Our deep experience in this area ensures your company gets the best return on its investment. Connect with us at your earliest convenience.
