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In 2022, every business looking to build an online presence and engage a wider audience should invest in a content marketing strategy. According to the statistics, 67% of marketers state that content marketing helps generate leads, and 63% claim that it builds loyalty with existing customers. To develop an effective content strategy, you need to define a clear value proposition, choose distribution channels relevant to your audience, and define metrics for success. Another important element that shouldn’t be overlooked is using graphic design elements as a part of your strategy.

Relying on high-quality visuals in your social media marketing content creation, online video advertising, and even website design can boost your content marketing strategy. People prefer pictures over words, as 90% of information transmitted to our brains is visual. Here are the top 5 ways in which using graphic design can help you meet content marketing goals.

1. Increase brand recognition across multiple platforms

When it comes to blog posts and other types of written content, it’s your tone of voice and writing style that make your brand recognizable among others. Yet, it’s even more important to develop your brand’s visual identity. Your logo, colors, style of images, and even fonts contribute to the recognition of your brand online, so it’s crucial to consistently use them across all touchpoints with your audience.

For example, you may use a logo or your brand colors in branding content that you distribute through online resources or social media ads. Being consistent in your visual identity and throughout the sales funnel amplifies the recognition of your company in the long run and helps build an emotional connection with the audience. If you don’t have a strong visual brand identity, consider working with a design studio or a branding agency that can help formulate them for you.

2. Differentiate your brand from competitors

Last year, 57.9% of marketers pivoted visual content marketing strategy for their companies. With such a competition, it is essential to distribute high-quality visual content that people find useful. Whether you are creating a marketing video, an infographic, motion graphics, charts, or original images, if your readers and subscribers build trust with you as a reliable source of visual content, they will be more likely to like and recommend your posts.

Similarly, a well-developed visual identity can distinguish you from competitors at a glance. Think about Coca-Cola or McDonald’s – there are other brands in their respective niches, but their logos and other elements of visual identity are easily recognizable. If you are looking to scale a business, developing a visual identity can’t be overlooked.

3. Bring more value to your target audience

When hearing some facts or information, people remember 10% of it. Yet, if the same information is paired with a relevant image, people can retain 65% of it after three days. If you present the features of your product or service or other helpful information as an infographic or a visual guide, people will find it more useful and remember it better. And, if you take high-quality pictures of the products you sell and incorporate your brand logo and colors, your subscribers will easily distinguish you from similar competitors’ accounts.

Most people browse your social media using mobile devices, and the length of each post is limited. By presenting information as a picture or video, you’ll use the space more effectively than if you had written long texts.

4. Repurpose and reuse content

Brands distribute content across a variety of channels, including a corporate website, email newsletter, social media, blog, press releases, eBooks, and more. However, creating the original content for every platform is time-consuming and costly. Instead, you can reuse the same material by incorporating design elements and sharing them through different channels.

For example, if you have posted a long read on choosing a travel agency, use the key facts and stats from it to create an infographic. If the post is based on clients’ stories, consider creating a marketing video with a client case study. And finally, use the long read in social media marketing content creation and post a couple of curious facts as separate posts.

5. Generate more engagement (likes, shares, etc.)

Content accompanied with attractive and memorable design elements get more engagement from social media users. Facebook posts with images get 37% higher engagement, and tweets with pictures get 150% more retweets. Great design and visual storytelling can give you a quick shareability boost, and this is especially true for visual-centric platforms.

Visual step-by-step guides, quotes, and posts accompanied by a relevant image get your branding content liked and shared more often. Extensive distribution of your visual content across the internet, in its turn, helps attract a loyal audience, build trust with your brand, and convert them into clients in the future.

To improve brand recognition, it is essential to share high-quality content that answers the questions of your audience, builds emotional connections and trust, and generates leads. By developing a visual brand identity and incorporating graphic design in your content strategy, you’ll distribute the content to more potential customers. Ubunzo, as a reputable design agency and design studio can give you a helping hand in developing visuals that will resonate with your target audience and streamline your content marketing efforts.