The Era Of Content & Visual Play

Narinder Mahajan Dec 12, 2022

The mid-1950s were a big turning point in the Global Economy. Capitalism and Consumerism rose to prominence and have since shaped every aspect of our businesses and societies. Businesses thrived with consumption per capita increasing manifolds leading to a trickle-down economy of growth and prosperity in our societies.

But what caused this turning point in the global economy?

The mid-1950s marked the beginning of the mass-scale use of television and television Ads. This was one of the primary reasons for the increase in awareness in the general population about the products being sold leading to a manifold increase in sales.

At different points in human history, these inflection points in mass media and advertising mediums have come and have changed businesses and economies. Before television it was radio and before that, it was Newspapers and Magazines.

Now we are in an age of online marketing. It’s a new era of digital content and visual play. Today, an average individual spends approximately 7 hours per day over the internet of which more than 80 per cent is on social media and video content. Thus, for marketers, it’s only natural that Digital Marketing and social media have become their primary channels for influencing their target audience.

So, the question that businesses are asking now is how can they stand-out in this digital era of content and visual play and how can they increase their sales exponentially.

Here in this article, we will try to throw some light on how to improve sales in this era of content and visual play applicable to almost every business owner and marketer:

The rise of Video-based Marketing:

Television Ads in the mid-1950s created a huge impact because for the first time people could see the product being used by celebrities and other people. This created a unique confirmation bias in our brains due to which product TV ads were so successful.

Now instead of Television; social media and OTT platforms have taken over. Today an average individual spends approximately 5 hours per day browsing videos. This presents a huge opportunity for marketers to promote their products.

Snackable video content like reels and shorts on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube have become crucial for every business to influence their target audience.

While creating these videos keeping up with the customer mindset of today, businesses must keep a few things in mind:

- The video content should be short, attention-grabbing and emotionally thought-provoking

- Should have user-generated video content along with professional studio-created videos

- Should have consistency in brand message, brand story and frequency to create maximum impact

The future is AR/VR driven:

Whereas video content is two-dimensional, AR/VR provides an immersive 3-dimensional customer experience like never before. Its content and visual play are on another level that’s never been experienced before.

The impact according to early reports is that AR/VR-driven advertisements can bump-up the sales by an additional 25 per cdent, which is huge and will be a game changer in near future.

Forward-thinking brands are already investing heavily in this technology with several used cases already available. Some of them are:

- Product demonstrations and tutorials: Act as a virtual step-by-step guide and allow customers to read manuals in an interactive format.

- Make-up Styling: Allows users to upload images of their faces and apply makeup and skincare products virtually.

- AR-Based Stores: Increase product detail and enable digital interaction between products and customers. Allows customers to personalise and customise product designs.

- Virtual Product Try-on: from clothing to glasses to how a sofa will look in your living room.

High-Impact Professional Photoshoots:

Every online product-selling business knows the importance of Product Photoshoots. But rising customer expectations and the need for brands to stand out in the online space have made it necessary for brands to look beyond plain vanilla product shoots.

Creative photography and Lifestyle Photography have become essential for brands to stand out in this congested online space.

Research has shown that when a customer chooses to buy between 2 comparable products, the product with the better-quality photoshoot wins 9 out of 10 times. This is because we have an innate sense of bias for the aesthetically pleasing.

The visual play of Lifestyle & Creative photoshoots shot by professional studios adds these subliminal elements that accentuate the overall feel of the products and make them highly attractive to the customer.

So, despite the rise of videos & AR/VR content, high-quality still photography is a crucial component in the overall digital marketing strategy of every successful brand.

Creatives and Infographics:

Never before in the history of mankind have, we had so many choices. More the choices more the confusion. Buying an online product can cause decision paralysis among customers due to the sheer number of choices we have.

One of the solutions to help customers make an informed decision is through the use of creatives and infographics.

Infographics and creatives highlight product features, provide product comparisons, and a compelling buying proposition to provide the buyer with a sense of reason and value for making a purchase.

Creating such creatives and infographics means presenting the information in a simple, easy-to-grasp manner inside an attractive visual that helps the customer in making an informed decision.

Successful online brands understand the importance of content and visual play provided by infographics & creatives and make it an integral part of their overall digital marketing strategy.

The means of engaging and interacting with the target audience have changed throughout the history of business. From Newspapers and Magazines to Hoardings and pamphlets, to radio and Television it has changed with technology. Now we are in the era of Digital Content and Visual Play.

In this era, customer expectations are toward proactive service, personalised interactions, and a seamless digital experience.

Snackable Videos, AR/VR, HD product Photography and Infographics are some of the high-impact activities that businesses have to focus on in this digital era to grow their sales numbers exponentially.