Have you ever heard the saying, "an image is worth a thousand words"?

Recently I noticed that I had developed a new habit - every time I see something on social media that gets my attention, I take screenshots of the post, the ad, etc. and put them in a folder.

I know and I hear you, why would you do that?

At the time I started doing it, I wasn’t sure exactly why I was doing it, I guess I felt that I could reference them later.

As a marketer, we are always doing research and we try to be in tune with what our market wants.

A few weeks ago, I needed to create a couple of graphics for an ad campaign. I decided to look for inspiration inside my ‘screenshots folder’.
And all of a sudden, something INSTANTLY got my attention:

Most of the screenshots had ONE thing in common: their images stood out.

It got me to look at them more closely. I wanted to analyze what it was about those images that made them stand out, that made their post or their ad to stand out.

It is well-known that images can have a significant impact on people, hence on marketing. In fact, it's often said that "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Here’s why!

They grab attention

Images are eye-catching and can quickly grab our attention as compared to text-based content. By using attractive images, we can help our marketing content stand out from the competition.

They enhance branding

Images can also be used to enhance our brand's identity. When we use consistent and high-quality images in our marketing materials we can help to create a consistent look and feel for our brand and make it more recognizable to customers.

They convey emotions

Images can evoke emotions and feelings in a way that words alone may not be able to. When we use images that resonate with our customers, we can create a more emotional connection with our audience.

They increase engagement

Images can definitely increase engagement levels. People are more likely to engage with social media posts, blog articles, and other marketing content that contains images than those without.

They improve conversion rates

That’s a big one. Images can help to improve our conversion rates. By using appropriate high impactful images we can help our prospects visualize themselves using our products or services, which can lead to more sales.

I can definitely relate to all of those reasons when I look at my screenshots:

• They definitely grabbed my attention. No doubt about this.
• With some of them I can instantly recognize who they’re from, hence the brand.
• Do they convey emotions? Absolutely, and that’s very powerful.
• I can’t really speak about the engagement level as I do not spend enough time on social media to engage, but I’m definitely more likely to engage with a post if it stops me in what I’m doing. The right image will do that.
• And the big one, conversion rates. I have made purchases from social media ads, and the reason why I clicked on those ads was definitely because they got my attention. Was the image the only factor in getting my attention? Sometimes yes, other times it was a combination of the image and text.

Choosing the appropriate image AND adjusting it to create a significant impact on our marketing should definitely be high on our list of strategies in order to achieve our marketing goals.

The RIGHT image can boost our conversion rates with social media posts, websites, landing pages, marketing campaigns.