Since the inception of marketing, when it was confined to posters and banners, one strategy that has stood out is the ‘visuals over information.’ Even today, conventional marketing is all about visually aesthetic images displayed on billboards. That’s because visuals and imagery draw the audience’s attention, fostering brand awareness.

Today’s digital landscape looks at visual marketing as the new way forward. Brand managers have started to use images, videos, and other visual elements to promote their product and service offerings. It enables them to enhance brand recognition and convey unique selling points without bombarding them with information. So, are you ready to get creative with your marketing campaigns?

As a marketer, you may begin by posting captivating images on social media and then move to visual advertisements in the form of engaging videos. Remember to keep the videos brief and crisp since digital consumers have a short attention span. It will deliver a persuasive experience that resonates with your target market and encourages them to take action.

Do you need more ideas? If so, keep reading. Here are six tips to create a visual marketing strategy for your eCommerce business.

1. Design Interactive Infographics

If you have lengthy blog posts and articles on your website, turn them into interactive infographics to attract higher traffic. Interactive infographics draw users’ attention instantly and convince them to look for more information by tapping and clicking on the graphics. Now, the question is how to make an infographic interactive. First, add headings and one-liner information to give context to the readers. You can integrate a few slider images that pop up once the visitor clicks on the text.

Similarly, add a few high-quality stock photos to the infographics for a better visual appeal. You can also hide text behind these images, which will be visible when users click the picture. Besides boosting the engagement rate, it will educate the audiences about your product and service offering. In addition, such unique content will help you stand out from the competitors and establish credibility.

2. Run User-Oriented Campaigns

The primary goal of visual marketing is to engage customers on digital forums. You could post videos and graphics or design user-oriented campaigns. Let us explain how this works. A few months ago, Apple created a similar campaign with the hashtag #shootoniPhone, and millions of people participated. They shared pictures and videos taken from their iPhones, enabling the company to generate high sales.

As a brand manager, you can also think of something similar. Let’s say you own a coffee brand where you sell coffee beans. You can ask people to share their coffee recipes with the hashtag #incompletemorningswithoutcoffee. It will boost recognition while helping your business attract new customers. Also, the catchy hashtags encourage people to share their pictures with the product, spreading your brand message across.

3. Design Visual Brand Stories

Almost every brand has a story of how they started, their beliefs, their vision, and what they want to achieve. These stories go beyond promoting products and services; it is about the brand itself. While most brands mention these stories on their “about us” section of the website, it doesn’t reach a wider audience. So, why not create a visual story? You can make a video of the founder and co-founder sharing their journey and the brand’s vision.

You can also add visually appealing images and other relatable graphics to build the story and captivate audiences. A well-crafted brand story will help the audience resonate with your brand. In addition, you can define your brand’s value to target the audience more specifically. For example, you can talk about your contribution to reducing the environmental footprint, which can attract eco-friendly consumers.

4. Curate an Engaging Customer Journey

Often, people don’t know what to buy while visiting a website. Some browse and explore, whereas others cannot find what they want. Here, your visual marketing tactics can do wonders for the business. You can guide potential customers by designing a visually engaging customer journey. Here are a few tips.

The first step is to gain users’ trust and showcase you are a credible eCommerce business. For this, put customer reviews and testimonials on your homepage. It will be your previous customers sharing their shopping experience with your brand.
After this, integrate high-quality visuals on the rest of the pages to represent your products better. You can also add “how-to-do” video tutorials so that users can visualize your products and make more informed decisions.
Add multiple call-to-action buttons to encourage users to complete their shopping journey.

5. Upload Unboxing Videos

Recently, unboxing videos have become a trend on social media forums. Almost every blogger posts videos of opening PR packages, making it a popular way to engage people and generate interest in the products. How about you also upload a few unboxing videos? It will show people what they can expect from their purchases – the size, packaging, colors, etc.

Similarly, you can contact influencers to post unboxing videos of your product offerings. They can also do a live stream while unboxing to respond to people’s queries and tell them about the product’s benefits. It will help you reach a wider audience while raising awareness about your eCommerce business. However, you must keep these videos short so they are shareable on other social forums.

6. Launch In-App Ads

Digital ads haven’t been fruitful for eCommerce businesses since people find them disruptive. Imagine watching a 15-second-long ad while browsing social media; it will be super annoying. As such, brands should consider launching in-app ads. It could be a short animation or an image that pops up within the app. You can also include some content with the graphic to provide valuable information to the users. It will improve traffic flow while boosting newsletter sign-ups.

Remember to make your ads interesting; otherwise, people will close them. You can highlight your best-selling products or discount offer that makes an impact on your prospects. It will ensure people can recall your brand or business later, even when they leave the app.

Conclusion

Visual marketing has become the need of the hour today as customers demand an exceptional shopping experience. Visuals and graphics help gain users’ attention and keep them engaged while exploring products. Therefore, brands should start investing in visual marketing by launching ads, making aesthetic videos, and generating interactive content. It will position your eCommerce store as a market leader, helping you stand out from the competitors.

At its core, building winning word-of-mouth marketing is simply to spread ideas that help your business and not destroy your word-of-mouth. It’s putting material out there that by its very nature attracts attention and discussion.

remarkable word of mouth marketing — Remarkable word-of-mouth marketing.

Perhaps the most objective way to look at the practice of this marketing is to examine the research of some highly intelligent folks who have dedicated years to deciphering the common elements of viral content.

You can’t say it. You have to get consumers to say it to each other.

Below, I’ll dissect some of my favorite research from an associate professor at the Wharton School of Business, as well as examine some classic word-of-mouth marketing examples to see what lessons can be had from some very successful campaigns.

Defining word-of-mouth marketing

In defining word of mouth, guerrilla, or viral marketing, many creative descriptions have been put forward.

At its core, this form of marketing is simply getting people to talk about you in a way that helps market your business or cause. It’s putting material out there that by its very nature attracts attention and is talked about. Here is how to win word-of-mouth marketing.

Why word of mouth?

The importance of building a brand through word of mouth (WOM) can’t be underestimated. In an Ad Age article, a study conducted by MarketShare proved that this type of marketing drives business. They studied several different brands and found that Word of Mouth increased marketing effectiveness by up to 54%.

Until this study, it was difficult to measure if what people say to each other about their brand experience has a direct effect on sales. We know WOM has a direct effect because we experience it ourselves in everyday life.

When we move to a new area, it’s our neighbors and friends who recommend the dentist, doctor, best school, babysitter, etc. Services like Angie’s List tapped right into that age-old need of finding services that were trustworthy and economical.

Word of mouth is 10 times more effective than traditional ads.

Why? Because consumers don’t trust ads–even ads with beloved celebrities. Consumers, I argue, trust their friends. So the best way to understand word of mouth is to understand people in real-life settings.

The best method to look at the practice of word-of-mouth marketing is to examine the research of some highly intelligent folks who have dedicated years to deciphering the elements of its content.

The best we could find was from an associate professor at the Wharton School of Business, Jonah Berger, who studied some classic marketing examples to see what lessons can be had from those exemplary campaigns.

His first article to attract attention was his now famous joint paper with Katherine Milkman called What Makes Online Content Go Viral?, where Milkman and Berger found that online content often went viral when:

It was positive, dwelling on positive issues or topics.

It evoked a strong emotional reaction (joy, fear, anger).

It was practically useful.

Later, Berger would take a more in-depth look at this type of marketing in his book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

Types of word of mouth

While word of mouth is undeniably complex and has a multitude of potential origins and motivations, there are three forms of word of mouth that marketers should understand: experiential, consequential, and intentional.1

Experiential

customer experience design — **Customer experience design offers hope.**

Experiential word-of-mouth is the most common and powerful form, typically accounting for 50 to 80 percent of word-of-mouth activity in any given product or service category. It results from a consumer’s direct experience with a product or service, largely when that experience deviates from what’s expected. (Note that consumers rarely complain about or praise a company when they receive what they expect.)

Complaints, when airlines lose luggage, are a classic example of experiential word of mouth, which adversely affects brand sentiment and equity, reducing both receptiveness to traditional marketing and the effect of positive word of mouth from other sources.

Consequential

Marketing activities also can trigger word of mouth. The most common is what we call consequential word of mouth, which occurs when consumers directly exposed to traditional marketing campaigns pass on messages about them or the brands they publicize.

The impact of those messages on consumers is often stronger than the direct effect of advertisements because marketing campaigns that trigger positive word of mouth have comparatively higher campaign reach and influence. Marketers need to consider both the direct and the pass-on effects of word of mouth when determining the message and media mix.

Two things supercharge the creation of positive consequential word of mouth: interactivity and creativity. They are interrelated and particularly important for brands in relatively low-innovation categories that often struggle to gain consumer attention

Intentional

A less common form of word of mouth is intentional—for example when marketers use celebrity endorsements to trigger positive buzz for product launches. Few companies invest in generating intentional word-of-mouth, partly because its effects are difficult to measure and because many marketers are unsure if they can successfully execute intentional word-of-mouth campaigns.

Intentional word-of-mouth campaigns revolve around identifying influentials that become brand and product advocates. Of course, companies can’t precisely control what consumers tell others. But ambitious marketers can use word-of-mouth equity insights to shift from consequential to intentional campaigning.

Companies unable to target influentials precisely must take a different approach. While Red Bull, for example, can’t send text messages to specific consumers, it has successfully deployed science to orchestrate effective intentional word-of-mouth campaigns. After identifying influentials among its different target segments, the energy-drink company ensures that celebrities and other opinion makers seed the right messages among consumers, often through events.

What marketers need for all three forms of word of mouth is a way to understand and measure its impact and financial ramifications, both good and bad.

One of our favorite word-of-mouth experts is Andy Sernovitz. Here we will take an excerpt from his book – Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking.

Word of mouth has been with us forever. What’s new is the second M—marketing.

Word- of mouth exists. Word-of-mouth marketing is working with it toward a marketing objective. Word-of-mouth marketing is a new specialty that is as actionable, trackable, and plannable as any other form of marketing.

Word of mouth is a natural conversation between real people. Word-of-mouth marketing is working within this conversation so people are talking about you.

Word of mouth is about genuine consumer conversations. Word-of-mouth marketing is joining that conversation and participating in it—but never, ever manipulating, faking, or degrading its fundamental honesty in any way.

If word-of-mouth has been around forever, there must be some reason why marketers suddenly began talking about it.

Here’s what’s new: We can finally do something about it.

It’s evolved from anecdotal to actionable, from something that just happens to something you can influence. Word-of-mouth marketing has become the fastest-growing form of marketing because we now have the tools and knowledge to work with it.

Until a few years ago, we sort of wished that good word of mouth would just happen on its own. You could have a special sale or do some silly publicity stunt and hope people would talk.

Now we can work with people who want to talk about us and help their ideas reach a new audience. We can provide a platform so more people hear what our fans are saying. We can use the internet to give far more visibility to a conversation that has always been happening.

We’ve also gained the ability to track and measure that conversation. Thanks in part to blogs and the web, we can see who is saying what about us. We can listen to the conversation and understand it. We can figure out who is talking and why they are talking. It’s not such a mystery anymore.

In many cases, word-of-mouth marketing isn’t actually about marketing at all. It’s about great customer service that makes people want to tell their friends about you. It’s about fantastic products that people can’t resist showing to everyone.

This is called organic word of mouth—word of mouth that springs naturally from the positive qualities of your company. Many experts would argue that this is the only legitimate form of word of mouth. The opposite concept is called amplified word of mouth—word of mouth that is started by an intentional campaign to get people talking.

How to create word-of-mouth campaigns

The first thing you need to know about word-of-mouth marketing is this: generating consumers to talk about your business isn’t as random as you think. There’s a science to creating a marketing buzz, and it’s something you can learn to do.

best word of mouth campaigns — **Best word-of-mouth campaigns.**

Remember, the main goal of your business is not just to create customers. It is to create customers who then will also create customers (that is, customer advocates). This is the perfect marketing solution for 99 % of all businesses and this is why we believe word-of-mouth marketing is your most important marketing campaign tool.

Word-of-mouth marketing takes consumers by surprise, makes an indelible impression, and pops up where and when people least expect it. It often has a large targeted audience and often can be accomplished at a reduced cost.

By being a little more clever and unpredictable, you challenge consumers who appreciate a little fun in their engagement.

Word-of-mouth marketing was made for small business owners. It requires creativity, flexibility, and a willingness to take a little risk. We use these campaigns usually when a client says to us, we don’t have much budget but we’d really like to get some media attention.

A small business should ask themselves, what’s their essence–what’s the core message that can be distilled into a 5-second exchange or in a clever installation?

To get a better idea, let’s talk more about generating marketing buzz. Let us begin by discussing some material from the book Buzz marketing by author Mark Hughes.

In his book, he talks about how buzz can be generated by following a few basic principles. Businesses that follow these principles are much more successful at getting people talking about their brand than businesses that only use traditional marketing tactics. So a good place to begin, yes?

So how can you apply these basic principles and generate brilliant word of mouth for your business? Here are some ideas to consider:

A fundamental principle of buzz marketing

A good starting place is learning the fundamental principle of buzz marketing. It is pretty simple. It states if you want to generate buzz, you need to give people something special that they will remember and want to tell their friends about. Sounds simple, but just the opposite is the norm.

To do so, you need to learn the types of topics that get people talking. Yes, people talk about a lot of things, but there are particular conversation starters that get people talking more often than other topics.

So how do you apply this principle effectively? Let’s discuss those topics.

Go after taboo topics

Taboo is a big buzz topic. The basic idea here is that people have a tendency to talk about things they shouldn’t talk about. There’s just something in our nature. As an example consider the parents of toddlers who can’t resist bringing up topics like diapers and “accidents” at a dinner with other parents. It’s a terrible topic for the dinner table, but parents can’t resist talking about it.

In order to apply this principle to internet marketing, you want to do things that are edgy and controversial. You don’t want to cross the line and create enemies, but blog posts and other controversial content will get people talking more than content that’s safe and boring.

Create curiosity

“No rails to damage your tires.” That was the headline on one car wash’s sign that made them different from the three other car washes on the same street. Did you know that car wash guide rails could damage your tires? Probably not. But it makes you curious about what it is all about, doesn’t it? It’s that one simple sentence that tells everyone why that business is different.

So what is the lesson you say? Before this car wash put its selling point on its sign, it probably got a lot of questions like “Where are the guide rails?” Are you listening for these opportunities to explain what small details make you better?

Awesome customer service gets the attention

Mention.com analyzed 1 billion brand mentions in a recent study. What they found is somewhat surprising: 76% of brand mentions on the web and social media are neither positive nor negative.

What does this mean? On social media, neutral mentions blend into the background. When 76% of brand mentions are basically ignored, the positive and negative mentions stand out.

So how can you turn a neutral into a positive? One way is to provide excellent customer service. Use your website and other platforms to let customers know they can find you on social media when they have customer service needs.

Use the unusual

When it comes to unusual or unique topics, your objective is to create content that is unique to stand out from the crowd. Using sameness won’t stand out, and you won’t get people talking about your product or service. Doing something different will often get noticed and get people talking.

Make your content entertaining

Here’s the unfortunate truth: No one spends time on social networks for advertising. However, 82% of consumers do enjoy content from a brand as long as it provides personal value—usually in the form of humor.

In fact, Pew Research shows that 35% of men and 43% of women are on Facebook to see entertaining or funny posts. If you’re not afraid to get creative, you have a huge opportunity right in front of you.