media update’s Aisling McCarthy unpacks what visual literacy is and how marketers can use it to reach consumers.

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and in today’s fast-paced world, images are rapidly becoming more encoded in order to reach a particular audience. According to Becca Fieler, in a Thomson Reuters blog, the brain processes visual information 60 000 times faster than text.

In a world that demands ‘what it wants, when it wants’, marketers need to embrace visuals as a means of reaching their customers, rather than relying on traditional text-based pitches. This means that visual literacy has come to the forefront of necessary skills in marketing.

Basic visual literacy involves being able to “read” an image through understanding what message is being portrayed. However, as consumers have become savvier, the images used in marketing have had to become more sophisticated.

Gone are the days of simple signifiers such as a rose to represent love, or a dove to represent peace. Now, images must stand out from the crowd in a way that highlights the brand’s authenticity, while communicating who the brand is and why the consumer should choose it over other brands.

Telling stories without words

Dave Mann, managing editor of digital marketing agency Between10and5, explains that visual literacy has storytelling at its core, meaning that being “visually literate” involves being able to understand the story behind the image.

“I understand visual literacy to be in a state of perpetual flux. The way we engage with media and content is shifting and adapting almost daily. Looking at the way we engage with visual content, in general, it seems to me that we are seeing far more, but reading, engaging, and viewing far less.”

Creating content is simple enough, but creating engaging, good quality content is where the difficulty comes in.

“We scroll through and swipe past seemingly endless streams of content, but rarely stop to really read through them, watch them, or fully engage with them. Certainly then, a better understanding of visual literacy – from both the media and their audiences – is at the heart of a more successful and valuable media landscape,” Mann states.

Simplicity is key

Often, marketers seem to be caught up in the pressure to pioneer the way through every ‘next big thing’, leading to over-complex strategies and, ultimately, poor quality content.

In an article for the Marketing Insider Group, Tami Cannizzaro, head of marketing at eBay, says that the challenge in marketing is to use simplicity effectively.

“Brands are often getting buried in digital clutter, losing sight of simple Marketing 101 – it’s time we find that simplicity again.”

Cannizzaro states that the key to success with images is refining your message, which is fundamental to your digital strategy. In order to ensure campaigns are successful, it is important to highlight the ‘wow factor’ early and trim out content that isn’t considered to be key.

Mann echoes this sentiment, saying, “Attention spans are shrinking online, and that’s not necessarily a negative thing … it’s just our way of taking in more media on a daily basis than ever before.”

Less formal does not equal less professional

Mann explains that numerous South African brands are using visuals to try and navigate their way to audiences through a less formalised way of communicating.

“The organisations I most admire are the ones who are keyed into their local audiences in such a way that they are able to adapt their content to suit whatever it is that’s doing the rounds on social media. Being able to tap into topical issues and events, and respectfully align your content with those things is a useful skill.”

However, he warns that the quality of the content is often compromised in order to be up-to-date.

“What we end up seeing a lot of the time is haphazardly put together graphics, tweets, written and video content, etc. that just isn’t up to scratch, and ends up doing more harm than good.”

He further explains that media needs to adapt to the times and that, even though there are more content producers available, going with a professional will always ensure you have a competitive edge.

“Even though visual content is having to become shorter and sharper, it doesn’t mean that it should be done off the cuff. Yes, you can do amazing things with contemporary smartphones, but nothing beats the inherent skills and niche understandings of [professionals].”

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The demand for images and videos in reporting are on the rise. Read more in our article, Is multimedia journalism the way forward?