Dive Brief:
- eMarketer reports that March research from communications firm Lewis found that 94% of marketing decision makers produce visual content, such as video and images.
- Marketing said the top reasons for producing visual content are that it's more engaging (67%), social media requires it (50%), it evokes emotion (46%), and it matches well with consumers' reduced attention spans (45%).
- The research also found that 66% of marketers said "great production quality" was a key factor in their visual content successes, the most cited factor, followed by having a "compelling image" at 42%.
Dive Insight:
The takeaway from Lewis’ research for marketers is that being able to produce quality visual content is vital in maximizing engagement on social media platforms — and essential to reaching audiences on some platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest.
Visual content is key for brands telling their stories in today's social media landscape, especially given the fast rise of video messaging platform Snapchat and Facebook's aggressive push into video and live streaming.
Facebook has been big on the video trend and as an advertising format. Just recently, a Facebook VP predicted that users' news feeds would be "probably all video" in five years.
The platform recently conducted internal research and found that the only two ad formats that offered value for its advertisers were native and video. Facebook-owned Instagram is another visual-heavy platform that has been an effective channel for brand marketers.