Visuals, if used at all in B2B offerings, are typically an afterthought.
Most people don’t think visuals matter. If anything they grab what’s handy without regard for the quality of the image, the readability of the table, or the clarity of the slide.
People will get it, they think.
But people don’t.
To the contrary, they get stuck trying to figure out what they’re supposed to be seeing and how it relates to what is being said. Suddenly, what was supposed to speed comprehension is slowing it down.
Too much friction, and people give up.
Good visuals, on the other hand, grease the proverbial wheel of comprehension.
They empower prospects to see the big picture sooner. They facilitate speedier understanding of the information you’re trying to convey. And they help prospects “get there” faster.
If there’s any doubt, consider this: Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text based messaging by the brain, and 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual in nature.
Beyond that, the visuals of strong photography, graphic design, and videography send a subliminal message of professionalism to your prospects.
Strong visuals make whatever your marketing more enticing, alluring, and, most importantly, memorable to your audience.
With a strong background in photography, Photoshop, design, and videography, I relied heavily on visuals at Invata.
Those visuals helped to promote us as a much larger more experienced brand than we actually were in the early years. And they gave us a level of clout that often eclipsed our competition due to their lack of attention to visuals.
Visuals Pro Tip 1: Stay away from shiny, generic stock photos that say nothing. Focus on what makes your business unique, whatever it is. You don’t have to show the product, but you do need to show something relevant to the conversation.
Visuals Pro Tip 2: Engineering-led companies tend to rely on engineering data. But engineer-level data is not easily consumable by non-engineers. And while some clients may be engineers, many key decision makers will not. So always create visuals for a general audience.
Walter High has built a career from his proclivity for using marketing creativity as a tool for business growth. He is a multi-disciplined marketing expert with deep experience in conceptualizing and executing successful strategic branding, product marketing, and demand-gen/capture initiatives in B2B and B2C arenas. Contact Walter here.