In today’s digital world, we are always on. We are constantly consuming and sharing information. As a marketer, this means that it’s important to create and share marketing messages that resonate with your audience. In this blog post, I’ll cover nine best practices for sharing visual content efficiently to help you get started.
There are many ways to communicate with your audience, but visual content is one of the most effective. Visual content is more engaging, more likely to be shared, and more likely to be remembered than text. Taking motivational speaking classes can help you refine your presentation skills and ensure that your messages, whether in visual form or live presentations, resonate effectively with your audience.
In fact, research from 3M Corporation found that the human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. And, according to a study from HubSpot, people are more likely to remember information if it’s paired with a relevant image.
1. Establish a clear process for sharing visual content
The more steps there are in a process, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. This is especially true when it comes to sharing visual content. A simple mistake at any point in the process could result in the wrong image being shared, or an image being shared with the wrong caption or credit.
To make sure everything goes smoothly, it’s important to establish a clear process for sharing visual content. This process should include all the steps that need to be taken, from the time the visual content is created to the time it is shared.
2. Use a digital asset management system
Keeping all of your visual content organized in one place can be a major challenge, especially if you’re working on a team.
That’s where digital asset management (DAM) systems come in. They’re designed to store, organize, and share visual content like images and videos.
DAM systems make it easy to find the visual content you need, when you need it. They also help ensure that everyone on your team is using the most up-to-date versions of your visual content.
If you’re not already using a DAM system, it’s definitely worth looking into. There are a number of great options available, including Bynder, Widen, and Canto.
3. Create a brand style guide
Now that you have a sense of what visual content you’ll be creating and sharing, it’s time to think about the look and feel of your visuals.
That’s where a brand style guide comes in. A brand style guide is a document that outlines the visual elements of your brand, like your brand colors, fonts, and logo usage.
If you don’t already have a brand style guide, now is the perfect time to create one. A brand style guide will help you and your team create consistent visuals that reinforce your brand identity.
You can also use your brand style guide to create a visual content style guide. In this guide, you can outline what types of images and videos your brand will use, what your brand’s visual content goals are, and more.
A visual content style guide is especially helpful if you have multiple people on your team creating visual content. It helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and creating visuals that are consistent with your brand identity.
4. Train your team on your brand’s visual identity
In many cases, your marketing team will be the one responsible for creating visuals to share on your social media pages. But, there may be times when your sales team members are responsible for creating content, too.
Whether you’re a one-person marketing team or you have a group of people working with you, it’s important that everyone is trained on your brand’s visual identity. This means they should know what fonts, colors, and logos to use in their visuals, as well as how to size and format their images.
5. Use a social media management tool
If you’re managing a team or a large number of profiles, a social media management tool can be a huge time-saver. These tools allow you to schedule and publish posts across multiple social media profiles from one dashboard.
In addition to scheduling posts, you can also use these tools to monitor your social media analytics, track performance, and collaborate with your team. Some of the most popular social media management tools include Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social.
6. Share content in a central location
If you’re sharing content via email, it’s easy for things to get lost in your team’s inboxes. Instead, share content in a central location, like a chat app or content management system (CMS), where everyone on your team can access it.
This will help you keep your visual content organized and make sure everyone on your team knows where to find it. Plus, it will save you time and make it easy to share content with your team on the go.
7. Set up an editorial calendar
Similar to a content calendar, an editorial calendar helps you plan out your visual content in advance. This is especially helpful if you have a team of people contributing to your visual content strategy.
An editorial calendar is a shared document that outlines the visual content you’ll be creating and sharing, as well as the dates and times you’ll be sharing it.
In your editorial calendar, you should include the following:
• The type of visual content you’ll be sharing (e.g., product photography, video, GIF)
• The platform you’ll be sharing it on
• The date and time you’ll be sharing it
• The goal of the visual content you’ll be sharing
• The topic of the visual content you’ll be sharing
• The key message of the visual content you’ll be sharing
• The call-to-action of the visual content you’ll be sharing
You can use a tool like CoSchedule to create an editorial calendar. CoSchedule is a drag-and-drop editorial calendar that allows you to plan out your visual content in advance and share it across multiple platforms.
8. Make sure content is accessible to all team members
Content that’s stored in a variety of different places can be hard to find. But, even if your team knows where to look, it’s important to make sure that all of your content is accessible to everyone.
If you’re using a file storage system, make sure that everyone on your team has access to the folders and files that they need. If you’re using a project management tool, make sure that everyone has access to the projects and tasks that they need to work on.
If you’re using a content management tool, make sure that everyone has access to the content that they need. If you’re using a social media management tool, make sure that everyone has access to the social media accounts that they need to manage.
No matter what tool you’re using to store and share your visual content, it’s important to make sure that everyone on your team has access to the content that they need.
9. Encourage team members to share their own content
It’s important to have a process for creating and sharing visual content, but you don’t want to stifle creativity by limiting it to one person or team.
Encouraging your team to share content—especially if they’re using a 3D configurator to create personalized or client-specific visuals—can help expand your visual library and create more relevant assets.
Encouraging your team to share their own visual content can help you create a more diverse range of content, and it can also help you save time and resources.
For example, if you have a team member who is a talented photographer, you can ask them to take photos for your website or social media profiles. If you have a team member who is a talented designer, you can ask them to create infographics or other visual content for your marketing campaigns.
By encouraging your team to share their own visual content, you can tap into their creativity and expertise, and you can also save time and resources that would otherwise be spent on content creation.
Conclusion
There are many benefits to sharing your content across social media, including increased traffic and engagement. However, the process of creating and sharing content can be time-consuming, and the effort required to share content can be a barrier to entry for many businesses.
The good news is that there are tools available to help you streamline the process of creating and sharing content. The tools and tips in this post are designed to help you create content faster, share content more efficiently, and get better results from your visual content marketing strategy.
Now that you have the tools and tips you need to share content more efficiently, we recommend that you create a process for sharing content. This will help you stay organized, save time, and get the most value from your visual content.
To get started, review the best practices for sharing content in this post and consider the tools we’ve shared. Then, create a plan for sharing your visual content and get started