State of Search 2015 - Matt Siltala of Avalaunch on Visual Content

Matt put together a great presentation for us at State of Search, it was all built around a pretty cool Star Wars theme (who doesn't love that?!) and highlighted a lot of really great info about visual content marketing. Matt started out with reminding us to "Market with a purpose!". That's a pretty good thing to remember I think, if there's no specific defined purpose then you'll be starting out all wrong. On social media networks it's incredibly important to market with good visual content as video and image posts drive the highest engagement. Here is a list of the most effective types of content used for social media marketing purposes:

• Videos 69%
• Infographics 50%
• Blog posts 35%
• Articles 31%
• Case Studies 29%
• Reports 25%
• White Papers 14%
• Podcasts 6%

This information clearly shows that the users on social media like visual content. So, what is good visual content?

• Infographics
• Motion Graphics
• Interactive Graphics
• Slide Decks
• Memes
• Info-grams (you can use small pieces of an infographic to create this and pin to Pinterest, then direct the user to the larger infograph on your site)
• Videos (can be simple, eg. Realtor walking around an area taking a video and talking about the area.)
• eBooks (you can often create one based off of an infographic that you have created)

Ultimately the goal is to create visuals that can help people. The purpose of visual content is as follows:

• Shareable (purpose is to create content that can go viral and gain social mentions. eg, “social meowdia explained”)
• Lead Gen (ebooks, slideshare decks, or white papers. Can be based on something like the original shareable graphic just more indepth)
• Community Building (instagram can be a great avenue for this as it allows for user generated content)
• Sales (do you answer the same question over and over again? Create an explainer video to address these questions. The visual can be far more successful than the equivalent text explanation)

Some notes to keep in mind when creating your visual content and marketing strategy: Creating an element that keeps your piece active is the key to good content. Evergreen content should be easy to add to in future to keep it valid and going. Keyword research to help you with your content ideas is important, do your research to be able to create content that is searched for. It's not always about going viral. Look at the “purriodic table of internet cats” for a good example of interactive graphics. Monitor your social media, be sure you respond to comments and reviews. Optimize your social media. Don't be afraid to pay, a boost can be worth it. Think about how your users are viewing your content and make it to suit that, eg. mobile vs desktop And just cause, lets restate the beginning note of "Make content with a purpose".   Find Matt at: avalaunchmedia.com @Matt_Siltala The slide deck for Matt's presentation can be found here.