Over 30% of marketing professionals say that visuals and images are the most important and effective aspect of a company's digital advertising strategy.

In fact, even just including an accompanying visual with your content makes consumers remember about 65% of the information they read three days later -- much higher than the standard 10% retention rate of content without visuals.

Visual marketing is taking the Internet content marketing world by storm, and if you don't keep up, your competitors will outrank you -- which means you'll get less brand recognition, fewer clicks, and, most of all, lower profits.

But what is visual marketing, exactly, and what are some of the most effective ways to use it in your upcoming campaigns?

Keep on reading this post to find out.

What Is Visual Marketing?

First of all, let's make sure that you're absolutely clear on what visual marketing actually is.

First of all, know that it's a part of your larger overall content strategy. In other words, it's not meant to replace the things you're already doing, like blogging, writing guest posts, or working on earning more online reviews for your business.

Instead, it's all about using visual content to make those strategies even more effective -- and much more likely to be read, fully digested, and shared.

In short?

It's all about using images to help your consumers and target market remember the most important things your company wants them to know. It's also a way to encourage them to actively engage with your website, learn more about a specific event or sale, and interact with your brand as a whole.

Visual content marketing encompasses lots of different things.

Perhaps the most famous example of visual content marketing is infographics.

However, your brand's logo, marketing videos, photographs, image-based social media posts, and even memes all fall under the umbrella of visual marketing.

Now, let's talk about how you can use these examples and more not just to get your brand noticed, but also to ensure that you're impossible for customers to forget.

The Power of Content Marketing Infographics

To understand why infographics are such an impactful form of visual content, you first need to stop and consider the way the human brain works.

Recent research shows that 90% of all the information our brands receive is visual and that more than 65% of people are visual learners. Additionally, visuals help the brain to process information an astounding 60,000 times faster than it can process text alone.

This means that the brain is the most receptive to an idea when it's presented visually. But just because the brain processes something quickly, doesn't mean that processing the information alone is enough to convince a consumer to make a purchase.

They want easily-digestible statistics, data, points of information, and even charts and graph that will make remembering the points that will allow them to see the value of a product or service. In other words, think of it like this:

While visual content is responsible for getting a consumer's attention and helping them to remember information, it's the written content -- the "proof," in a sense -- that actually convinces them to take an action.

Infographics in particular also play to the modern consumer's relatively short attention span (especially online, when they're likely to click away from your website or social media account at any moment.)

As an added bonus, pages and posts containing infographics are incredibly likely to be shared by both other brands and by individual consumers, because these people know that your infographic provides lots of information and statistics in a small space.

Plus, it allows the people and brands who share the infographics to show that they're an authority, too -- just like your brand.

The more people that share or link to your infographics, the higher you'll rise in the search engine rankings and the more often you'll appear in the right social media feeds.

This translates into some serious brand recognition -- not to mention major profits.

Including Photos and Illustrations in Content

Currently, about 40% of brands use stock photography in their visual content, while 37% of brands create original visual content.

However, original photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, or even animations are often much more impactful -- and likely to be shared -- than stock photos.

A recent study found that original visual content performs 40% better than stock content.

This is likely because stock images can sometimes confuse consumers about the true "motive" behind your piece of content. Were you writing that article to help educate and advise your market, or was it just created so you could hack the search engine rankings?

But when you provide your market with original photos or illustrations, you're showing them that you went the extra mile to make impactful content, and that you've created something entirely new.

If you're including images in a longer, more in-depth blog post, they're the perfect way to break up your text so that it doesn't seem too overwhelming to your readers.

Especially in the fast-paced, "I-saw-it-first" world of Instagram, original content can make a huge difference in your visual content's success.

Plus, there's a good chance that your market has seen these stock images before, since more and more businesses are relying on visual marketing to make their content stand out.

Screenshots Are More Important Than You Realize

At first glance, we completely understand that screenshots might not always feel as inspiring as things like video content, photographs, or infographics.

But here's why they're so important:

Because they're an incredibly effective way to gain consumer trust and to promote transparency between your company and your target market.

Think about how many times someone has used screenshots of text message conversations to prove something to someone. Then, think about how many times those screenshots convinced you that what the person who sent you the screenshot was saying was 100% true. (We're betting that it's pretty close to every single time.)

Using screenshots in your content works in much the same way -- albeit, it's much more ethical than the above scenario!

For example, instead of cutting a few lines from online reviews and customer testimonials you've received, why not include a screenshot of a glowing email from a client or an especially nice review and upload it to your content?

Show a screenshot of the sales numbers real-time data that you have on hand so that customers can see for themselves that you're telling the truth.

Even if you get into a spat with another brand or make a serious marketing snafu, sharing screenshots allows you to let your customers know your side of the story, or the steps that you're currently taking to fix a tricky situation.

Videos and Visual Content Marketing

Did you know that about 65% of consumers will visit a company's website after they've watched a video about a product or service that it offers?

What kind of improvements could you make to your brand and what you're able to offer customers if you were able to increase your chances of making a sale by 65%?

We're willing to bet quite a few.

Videos are an incredibly diverse aspect of visual content marketing, which makes keeping up with consumer demand and keeping your market interested in engaging with your content is just a bit easier when you use video.

For example, why not create a product tutorial video that shows consumers exactly how to get the most out of the things your company offers? Or, you could host a live video session on social media, and interact with your followers in the moment (most social media platforms automatically save live stream videos, so consumers can always refer back to them later.)

You could also film video testimonials, shoot a story-based advertisement, upload a hand-drawn cartoon, or even show your market a "behind the scenes" look at the way you run your business.

Memes Make a Difference

Let's face it -- memes are often much more fun (and certainly much less time consuming) to make than some of the other visual content tools on this list.

But can they actually impact your market -- and your profits -- the way that you want them to?

In a word: yes.

But why?

First of all, because memes are an excellent way to prove to your target market -- especially if you're advertising primarily to millennials or to members of Generation Z -- that you're in the know.

Consumers, regardless of their age, want to work with companies that they feel are with the times. Making your own version of a relevant meme shows your consumers exactly that.

Plus, using humor to get your point across is something that everyone is able to enjoy! And when someone associates your brand with a positive emotion or memory, you've hit the jackpot.

Of course, memes are also highly shareable not just on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms, but also on forums frequented by your niche market.

Try including them in your email marketing campaigns to help consumers remember important information (as a bonus, memes also work great for employee training documents!)

Social Media and Marketing Images

Here's the thing: in order to make a big splash on social media, you'll need to be able to keep your visual marketing strategy consistent above all else.

You must also vary the types of visual content that you upload to your social media accounts.

But first, let's start with the most important image of all -- your brand's logo.

We strongly suggest that you use the same image for all of your profile photographs on your brand's various social media platforms, and that image should be just your logo.

This helps to increase brand recognition so that even if consumers see your logo in "real life" or in a print marketing material, they'll be able to know what they're seeing is an offer from your brand right away.

Infographics, product photos, photos of influencers using your products, stories that give an "inside look" into your factory floor or boardroom, and even video testimonials of consumers after they've received a service from you are all incredibly effective on social media.

One quick thing: always be sure that you take the time to read and respond to comments left on your visual social media content as often and as soon as you can.

Getting recognition or even a "shout-out" from a brand they love will do wonders when it comes to consumer loyalty.

Now Is the Time to Upgrade Your Content with Visual Marketing

We hope that this guide to visual marketing has helped you to realize not only its importance, but also how many content marketing options it has to offer.

Whether you decide to create a video advertising your brand, need photographs or illustrations to include in your blog posts, or even if you need to make a killer infographic, using a visual aid makes an incredible impact on your target market.

Of course, we understand that you may not always have the creativity, the time, or even the artistic skill needed to create powerful visual content.

Luckily, we do.

You can order a variety of content directly from our website by signing up here today. We hire only the best creators, and we even allow you to review your content before you decide to make a payment.

What are you waiting for?

Now is the time to start making your content even better than it already is -- with our help.

What if your company had no way of determining if your marketing was effective or not?

Marketing makes up a large chunk of every major company's budget. However, many of those companies have no way of knowing whether they are getting their money's worth or not.

The only way to assess your marketing ROI is to use effective marketing metrics. If you are assessing the wrong metrics, then your marketing team will quickly end up back at square one.

Wondering how you can focus your marketing measurement on the right metrics? Keep reading to discover our complete guide!

The Metric Buffet

We've put together a very comprehensive list of the most effective marketing metrics. And it can seem intimidating when you first look at how many metrics are on here!

However, your company doesn't need to focus on all of the metrics at all times. In fact, it's more common to focus on certain metrics when you make changes to your marketing techniques and focus.

For example, factors such as open rate and click through rate are highly important for e-mail marketing campaigns. But if you are focusing more on social media than e-mail marketing, then you'll be paying more attention to the social KPIs.

Ultimately, each one of these metrics can help with different facets of your marketing. But only you can decide which marketing tactics are most effective for your company at any given point.

1: CAC

We decided to start with one of the most important content marketing metrics of them all: the Customer Acquisition Cost.

The CAC is relatively easy to calculate. You simply add up all of your sales and marketing expenses (including salaries, commissions, and project budgets) over a fixed period of time. Then you divide that number by how many new customers you acquired in the same period.

This calculation gives you a baseline CAC. All of your marketing efforts should now include a simple goal: to reduce that number and spend less money per customer.

In a way, this is the biggest marketing KPI of all. As long as the CAC is shrinking, you know your company is making progress towards more effective marketing.

2: Open Rate

E-mail has always been a marketing paradox. On one hand, most people check their e-mail at least once a day, and it's easy and cheap to send e-mail blasts to thousands of people.

On the other hand, many people delete unwanted e-mails on sight. Or they ignore them and let the unwanted messages pile up in their inbox.

That's why it's important to keep track of the Open Rate. Examine how many marketing e-mails your company sends out each month compared to how many people open them.

If you are focusing on e-mail marketing, then you'll want to drive that Open Rate higher. And along the way, you'll want to boost the Click Through Rate.

3: Click Through Rate

It's great to see the Open Rate increasing for your e-mail marketing. However, getting prospective customers to open their e-mail is only half the battle.

The other key metric here is the Click Through Rate. This measures how many people have read through the e-mail and actually clicked on any of the links inside.

If your Open Rate is improving but your Click Through Rate is poor, that's a sign that your marketing is using weak CTAs. Experiment with different CTAs until you find something that works well for your key demographics.

4: Marketing Percentage of CAC

Earlier, we mentioned the importance of the CAC. It is also important that you are able to further subdivide that calculation.

For example, CAC by itself includes both sales and marketing. But you should also add up just the marketing expenses and then divide that by the number of customers gained.

This gives you valuable insight as to how much marketing-only expenses go towards recruiting a single customer. Once you know how much this number is, you should monitor it for any unexpected changes.

As with CAC, you want this number to go down (or, at the very least, stay stable). If it is suddenly spiking up, the most likely cause is that either sales fell (reducing the number of customer conversions) or the marketing costs became overly bloated.

Once you diagnose what the problem is, it becomes that much easier to fix what has been going wrong with your marketing efforts.

5: Page Views

Sometimes, the simplest metrics are the most important ones. For example, you need to keep track of the page views for all of your key webpages.

As with the other metrics, you should use the initial measurement to create future goals. In this case, the goal is simply to increase those page views from month to month!

If the views do not go up or hold steady, it is a sign that your SEO is lagging behind. At that point, it may be worth considering changing up your keywords, using PPC, and/or revamping your website to optimize for SEO.

Don't forget that high-quality and relevant content is always good for SEO!

6: Cost Per Click

Cost Per Click is a metric that is closely related to page views. It's one thing to drive those page views up...but how much are you paying for it?

PPC (also known as CPC, or Cost Per Click) is an easy way to drive people to your website. However, you must bid on the keywords used, and some keywords cost more than others.

Keep track of how much you are spending on CPC and how much it is increasing your page views. To further assess CPC value, you'll also want to follow up with things like time on page and bounce rates (more on these metrics in a minute).

7: Customer Lifetime Value

So far, the math we have used has been pretty simple. But for this next marketing KPI example, you may need to take out a calculator!

We're trying to determine the ratio of any given customer's lifetime value to your overall CAC. Focus on one of your biggest customers and figure out how much money you receive from the when the gross margin has been removed.

Divide that number by the estimated churn rate for such a customer. This new number is the lifetime value (or LTV) of that customer.

Now, we compare LTV and CAC to determine what the ratio is. If you spent $100,000 to acquire a customer and their LTV is $400,000, you have a 4:1 ratio.

Generally speaking, you are getting your money's worth if you have a 3:1 ratio or above. If the ratio gets really high, though, beware: it may be a sign you are putting too many eggs in one basket and that you should diversify your customer base.

8: Bounce Rate

Let's say that you've boosted your SEO, polished your calls to action, and rocked some PPC marketing. Now that more customers are on your sites, do they actually like what they see?

It's important to determine how much time people are spending on each of your sites. This can give you insight into interest in your products and services as well as interest in the website design.

A related metric you should watch for is the bounce rate. This is, simply put, how quickly people are hitting the "back" button after they click on your website.

It's easier said than done, but you want to ensure the "time on page" metric goes up and the "bounce rate" goes down. Pay special attention to these metrics during site redesigns and major marketing initiatives.

Remember, you can always hire professionals to boost your content and engage your customers.

9: Return On Engagement

When people talk about modern content marketing, there are two words that keep coming up: "social media."

Social media provides a cheap and easy platform to create customer engagement. You can respond to direct messages very easily while creating an online community of like-minded consumers.

However, it's important to measure whether you are getting much value out of social media. And that means measuring the Return on Engagement.

It's a little tougher to calculate ROE than CAC because multiple factors are involved. For example, customer engagement is indicated by liking posts, sharing posts, commenting on posts, and even talking positively about your brand to others.

In short: while difficult, you want to make sure the engagement you are getting is worth the time you are putting into getting it!

10: Payback Time

Does your company charge customers some kind of ongoing fee or subscription? If so, you'll want to measure the payback time to CAC.

For most products and services, you get your CAC investment back right away. As long as customers are spending more than you spent on them, then your company is fine.

However, industries relying on subscribers may have to pour more money into gaining new customers. This is because many customers are wary of taking on an additional ongoing expense.

If this sounds like your company, you'll need to take your CAC and divide it by the monthly revenue (adjusted for margin) for each new customer. This lets you know how long it takes for you to get your money back on this customer investment.

Ideally, the number will be 12 or below. That means that you can turn a profit on a new customer within a year, and any time they spend after that as a customer is a pure profit for you.

11: Channel Visits

"Multichannel marketing" has been a buzzword for many years now. And it's true that marketing across as many channels as possible helps you engage with customers in many different ways.

However, most companies don't have the budget to market to each channel with the same intensity. That's why it's important to measure channel visits for each channel.

On the "macro" level, this helps you see which of your channels are performing well and which are not. This can help you determine where you will focus future marketing dollars.

On the "micro" level, this lets you see if channel visits go up or down as you make changes or create new content. This gives you fairly direct feedback as to how customers feel about what you are showing them.

12: Marketing-Originated and Influenced Customers

Once you know your CAC, you can calculate many other metrics. For example, it's good to know about your marketing-originated and marketing-influenced customers.

To find your marketing-originated customers, take the number of new customers in a given time period and calculate how many of them came from a marketing-generated lead.

The goal here is easy to understand: you'll want to increase those leads and monitor their performance as you make further tweaks to sales and marketing.

Marketing-influenced customers, meanwhile, are those who were influenced by marketing in any way (even if they didn't come from a marketing-originated lead).

This number should be higher than the marketing-originated number and, like that number, there is always room for your company to grow!

13: Keyword Rankings

Earlier, we mentioned how you should always be working on your SEO. In order to understand whether that has been effective or not, you must pay attention to the keyword rankings.

When you get into the "nitty-gritty," there are many confusing elements to SEO mastery. But keyword rankings are nice and simple: they measure where your webpage "ranks" when someone searches for a particular keyword.

The goal is easy to see but hard to reach: you want to be on the first page when customers complete their search. To do that, you'll need to make better use of keywords, to complete meta descriptions, and to include links to solid authorities within your original and relevant content.

It can be a Herculean effort to revamp all of your webpages for SEO. Through it all, the keyword rankings provide a simple way of understanding whether your efforts are paying off or not.

Marketing Measurement Metrics: The Bottom Line

Now you know some of the key marketing measurement metrics. And there is one thing that holds many of them together: solid online content!

If you would like professionally-written content to boost your SEO and customer engagement, help is just a click away. All you have to do is contact us today and see what we can offer your brand!