The wonderful thing about content marketing is that you can reach thousands, even millions of people with your message. Members of the baby boomer generation were storing their rolls of Kodak and Fuji film in their coolers as they embarked on vacation road trips to enchanting destinations far and wide. It was all about ASA, speeds, exposures and good deals on photo developing at your neighborhood Wal-Mart store. Move the clock forward a couple of decades and you have millions of active photo enthusiasts uploading and sharing images on Pinterest and Instagram.
Content Marketing Challenge
The modus operandi may be different but the end results happen to be the same. As a web-savvy Internet entrepreneur who already understands the critical importance of engaging your customer communities through sustained interaction, you are strategically poised to take your online business to the next level through a number of image sharing networks much in the same way in which you promote your online presence through YouTube, Vimeo, MetaCafe, Viddler and other video sharing websites. Visual-centric content marketing is a proven strategy that is in no way a formidable challenge to accept.
Storytelling by Image Content
A good story is the most powerful weapon in a content marketer’s arsenal. Content marketing through images isn’t as complicated as you might think. As long as you stay away from hard-core advertising by simply showcasing the products for sale on your website, you will also continue to remain on the positive side of the ledger. Build an image gallery around a theme and tell a story. Use royalty-free stock images by searching for “royalty-free images” on Google and the other major search engines and encourage your photo gallery visitors to liberally use these images in exchange for a courtesy link to your website. Find someone in your organization that is good with a digital camera and record the moments. Upload these photos to your Facebook Fan Page and encourage your audience to Like, Tag and Share. Companies like Victoria’s Secret and Gap, among others routinely run promotions and contests to source user-generated image content.
Inviting Website Visitors to Share
Since user-generated content is known to build synergies, encourage your audience to share relevant images with you by uploading them to your photo file sharing platforms through moderation. The sharing of visual content can also manifest itself as a robust form of dual channel communication. The extent to which your customers and prospects can be creative will never cease to amaze you.
Using QR Codes in conjunction with your Images
Smartphones are fully equipped to process QR codes and can drive traffic not only to your image galleries which feature a theme-based storytelling approach but also to specific image-rich landing pages which your content marketing team can create for you. Consider running a test by adding QR codes to your print collateral and drive traffic to your photo gallery that has been coordinated with your print campaign.
Optimizing your Photo Galleries for Search
Consecutively to prepare your image galleries for search engine visibility as well as an enhanced social media presence on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter, your images should be processed prior to upload. Alt tag all your images in a meaningful and creative manner so that those visitors who access your website with the help of assistive technology can also engage with you and eventually become buying customers. Provide photo captions whenever possible so that your visitors are able to better appreciate your efforts as they attempt to connect your collage to a context. Use the keywords you are targeting in your SEO campaign when creating alt tags and photo captions for improved search engine ranking. Finally, and most importantly, provide social share buttons with all your images so that your prospects can share your images within their respective networks.
Driving Qualified Social Media Traffic to your Website
Visitors who visit your various theme-based photo galleries on various photo file sharing websites will not only be inspired to eventually visit your company’s flagship Internet property but will also happily share your images through social share buttons when provided an opportunity to do so. With the unprecedented growth in social media, the demand for royalty-free visual content continues to sky rocket except that most consumers do not know from where to source them without violating copyright.
Conclusion
Visual content continues to rule the roost. There is a really good reason why Facebook is 901 million strong today and why it bought out Instagram for a billion dollars. Although engaging your audience through content marketing with the help of a theme or story takes some effort, it is well worth it simply because such a laser-focused content marketing strategy is sustainable long-term and will continue to reap rich dividends for you well into the future.