As consumers are getting overloaded with more information on the internet every day, it is important to find a way to help them easily consume information and make better decisions when making an online purchase. This is when visual content – defined as online content that is primarily image-based, comes in to play to help customers better navigate an e-commerce store (1). As people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see, effective use of visual content on your e-commerce store and in your marketing strategies will help you build a lasting impression with your customers and strengthen the business-customer relationship (2).
In this blog post, the Etoile Web Design team would like to share with you a few tips to help you leverage visual content in e-commerce activities for your WordPress sites, to enrich your customer experience and increase engagement on your site.
- Paying extra attention to your visual content’s quality
When using visual content on your website, make sure that you’re using a high quality version of the image. Your visual content quality should be defined by its general look and feel, the message it is trying to convey, and not its resolution. This is very important, not only since high-quality images and videos tend to display better and are more responsive to different browsers and devices, but it also depicts your brand’s professionalism and your commitment to invest time and resources into your e-commerce presence. This can directly impact your e-commerce site’s performance by decreasing your bounce rate – which is the percentage of visitors who navigate away from your page after a single-page session (3) and increasing visitors’ time spent on a page, user engagements, as well as rankings on search engines. Therefore, content quality should be your number one focus if you are looking to attract more visitors to your site and strengthen your business’ relationship with existing and prospective customers.
- Using interactive content to attract and engage audiences
In the current digital age, interactive content can take many forms, including infographics, videos, GIF images, livestreams, etc. Many digital marketers believe that while the use of conventional content will still be popular in the near future, interactive content should be considered “the new king” because of its ability to facilitate better interaction between the content creator and the audience (4). According to Single Grain, interactive content can increase user interaction and engagement, by capturing more relevant data in a single piece of content, while depicting your business’ expertise in the niche of your choice, which is crucial when it comes to establishing trustworthiness and improving conversion (4). Using such content will help your customers get to know more about your products and your business. It will also guide their decision-making process, especially in the e-commerce environment, where customers communicate with business owners entirely through virtual platforms.
- Be creative with your visual content
As visual content can take many forms, it allows us – content creators and organizers – even more room to be creative with the type of visual assets that we’re using, as well as its looks and feels. Many creative forms of visual content, such as livestreams, quizzes/ assessments, memes, or live events are becoming more popular these days, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when consumers are longing for more interaction when browsing websites. Do not hesitate to experiment with new ideas with your visual content to gain your customer’s attention, but also don’t forget to remain professional and keep your brand image at the core of every content piece you are planning to publish. Use creative visual ideas that can excite your customers and get them to engage with your site through liking your content, commenting on it, or even sharing it on social media. This will not only boost your brand’s presence across different platforms but also create a sense of uniqueness for your brand and their customers.
We really hope that this post has inspired you with a few ideas to enrich your customer experience with visual content. We are truly excited to see how the near future of creative visual content will play out and look forward to seeing how visual content can continue to improve audience engagement in the digital age.
