It might not be the first thing a marbella business owner considers when creating marketing materials or website content. The consumers viewing the end result are probably unaware of the subconscious impulses driving them to form an opinion about your company, and make the decisions about whether to take you up on what you are offering – whether it be online marketing for real estate agents or selling health products online.

The fact is, we can have the most articulately worded and well-presented content in the world, but when a customer sees a block of text, there is a strong possibility that it won’t grab their attention. In the same way that billboard adverts would be ignored regardless of their size and positioning or their online marketing skills, if there is nothing about the imagery to hold the attention in the first two seconds, those browsing the net may not linger on your page unless you can engage them instantly.  You may not get another chance, so better to get it right and secure the business from the offset.

Every customer is different

Not everybody loves to read. Some prefer to take their information in through other mediums, like documentaries, video adverts etc. The trick is to appeal to people across the board by ensuring your content covers all bases. If you put an attention-grabbing image alongside a punchy, curiosity-inducing headline or title, the battle may already be won. Of course, the following content will need to be interesting enough to keep them there until the end, but that’s another story.

Social media is all about the images. This is evident when you consider the ever-increasing popularity of sites and apps like Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram. Imagery speaks to people in a way that words can’t. The aesthetic properties of the images you are seeing online can manipulate the senses unconsciously, so if you wish to be a master of your marketing then design and imagery should be up there at the top of your priority list, nestled somewhere near to ‘interesting content’ and ‘SEO considerations.’

How to source good images

If you are in a hurry there are good old stock sites, and although there are some great ones out there, a lot have masses of generic images that you’ll need to sift through to find something suited to your needs; this could actually be more time consuming that it is worth, especially if you have more than one project to manage or a long to do list. There are even sites out there such as Fiverr, where amateur designers will create a piece of design work for you for $5. You might be lucky on a site like this, but let’s face it – the old adage that you get what you pay for applies. Aside for the sharper designers who operating on the basis that they may get repeat business, nobody is going to put in a concerted effort or spend much time on something that’s only going to pay them $5. You may well find something like this useful for less important bits of work, perhaps, but if you’re serious about your content it is wiser to invest in a professional, established designer who can run with your ideas and come back to you with a quality piece of work first time.

Keep it relevant

The type of images you use is important. This is why stock photos can be a bit of a minefield, so to speak. You won’t want to be posting up clichéd or cheesy photographs as they will turn off readers instantly. Images should be as relevant to the subject content as possible and ideally be as original as possible. Humour is always a winner – if you can get your customer to crack a smile, you’ve cracked the code. Negative images are a no-go; one of the golden rules of marketing is that positive emotions and ideas must be triggered if the customer is to feel compelled to buy or sign up. If for some reason your content makes them feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, no amount of snappy, engaging content is going to make them stick around. Colourful, artistic and beautiful images will always capture attention, but at the same time it must be relevant or the image will seem grossly out of place – ridicule is the last thing you need. Nowhere is this more obvious than when poorly designed adverts use sex to sell their products. Sure, it grabs the attention by focusing on one of the most powerful human drives. Aston Martin may be able to get away with it, but when a cat food company uses sex to sell their product, it’s actually a bit of a turn off.

And there’s more…

You should also consider that a lot of people use gadgets to view content rather than a desktop or laptop. If your images are not mobile friendly, you could lose half of the audience you were expecting to have. Huge images won’t always load quickly even on a desktop, so the sizing should also be appropriate. These things might seem like a lot to think about – a bit of a chore, really – to those who have a lot on their to-do-list. If you are looking for a helping hand for your imaging or web design requirements, we are confident that we can assist. Our team of designers have the know-how to make sure that whatever your product or service, your printed and online marketing materials stand out from the rest. http://optimasit.com/graphic-design/