March 29, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by Lemonly.

In the race to capture customers’ attention amid ever-crowded feeds and a hyper-competitive marketplace, having exciting, on-brand content can make a major difference for your business. Because customers do, in fact, judge a book by its cover — or a business by its branding and content.

Using eye-catching visual content as part of your business’ marketing strategy can help you engage more customers and establish a distinct presence. Learn how to use visual content to show your brand’s smarts, heart and personality.

Why visual content?

Visual content includes any marketing or communication materials that use design and graphics to engage readers and convey information. Infographics, videos, social media graphics, reports and presentation decks are all examples of visual content.

Visual content is one type of content marketing, which uses informative content to educate audiences, establish expertise and capture customers. By providing value-adding content to potential customers, companies using content marketing build recognition and loyalty around their brand and establish their expertise. As customers continue their buying journey, content helps move them through the sales funnel.

What sets visual content apart as a uniquely impactful marketing strategy is a strong emphasis on design, using graphics, images and motion to make information easier to understand and entertaining to consume.

Lemonly, a Sioux Falls-based graphic design agency and “home of the world’s best infographics,” has been using visuals to make the world easier to understand since 2011. While infographics are the company’s bread-and-butter, Lemonly uses its infographic-inspired design approach to create engaging stories, content and branding for clients, including some of the world’s best brands: Netflix, Google, the Green Bay Packers, Marriott, the World Health Organization and more.

“We make content that’s beautiful to look at, easy to understand and fun to use,” said Maddie Mack, Lemonly’s associate director of content. “Whether it’s a classic infographic, an animated explainer video or a design toolkit filled with scalable brand assets, Lemonly’s job is to help brands’ stories shine through to their audiences. Ultimately, that leads to more impactful marketing and business success for our clients.”

Maddie Mack, associate director of content, and Emily Larson, account executive, collaborate at Lemonly’s headquarters in downtown Sioux Falls.

Tell your brand’s story

Visuals bring your brand to life with personality and polish. Your story — the message you share with customers through your content and the feelings your brand evokes — sets you apart. Telling that story through wow-worthy visuals connects with audiences and shows off your unique personality.

Your brand’s story includes your smarts, heart and personality.

Smarts

Your brand’s “smarts” are your expertise and knowledge — the things you’re smart about. These are the content areas you know best and the information and processes you’ve mastered.

Using visual content to show your smarts might include creating data-oriented content, process explanations or thought-leadership pieces. Your content shows what you know, how you do what you do and, as a result, why customers should consider you an authority in your area.

“People learn and retain information better and faster with visuals, especially when it comes to data. Charts, diagrams or data visualizations can make data instantly understandable in a way text explanations or written reports can’t do as easily,” Mack said.

To assess the way you’re showing your smarts through your content, consider:

• What are our areas of expertise? What content do we have that speaks to these areas?
• How are we communicating our expertise through our content? Are we establishing ourselves as an authority through our content using messaging, data and design?
• What reasons do customers have to trust our smarts? How do we build trust through our content using information, data and thought leadership?

Heart

Your brand’s “heart” is how you inspire and move people. It’s the emotional connection you have with your customers. Today’s consumers — especially millennials and Gen Zs — want the mission, values and beliefs of brands they interact with to align with their own. Being loud and proud with what you’re all about can be a real differentiator and help build loyalty.

Showing your brand’s heart using visuals might include creating mission-driven content that conveys empathy and shows how you solve customers’ problems. Your content shows what you value, how you make a difference and why customers should care.

To check that your content has heart to help make connections with your customers, consider:

• What problems do we solve for our customers? How do we solve those problems? How are we communicating that problem/solution through our content?
• How are we using content to establish an emotional connection with our audiences? Are we sharing stories that inspire and resonate?
• What’s our mission? How do we make a difference? How are we showing that in our content?

Personality

Your brand’s personality is your unique identity and point of view. Your personality is made up of the characteristics that define what it feels like to interact with your brand — basically, your whole vibe. Are you more fun or serious, more professional or casual, more creative or straightforward? Define your persona, and let it shine through in your content.

Visual content can show off your personality through the look and feel of the design and the voice and tone of the text. Your content shows who you are, how you present yourself and what customers can expect from their interactions with you.

“The voice and tone of your content really matters, just like the look and feel of your designs and branding. It all creates a feeling for your audience. Your content should reflect your personality and point of view,” Mack said.

To make sure your personality is shining through in your content, consider:

• What’s our persona or ethos? How do we present who we are through design and messaging in all our communications?
• How should customers feel when interacting with our brand? Does our content reinforce that feeling?
• Where does our personality shine brightest? Where can we lean into our personality more fully in our content?

Use a well-rounded mix of content

Visual content like infographics, videos and other design assets make your brand’s story exciting to look at and easy to understand. By emphasizing your smarts, heart and personality, you’ll stand out from the crowd and connect with customers.

The best brands use a variety of different types of content to reach their audiences with the right message in the right place at the right time. Strive for a well-rounded mix of content that shows off your brand’s smarts, heart and personality.

If you’re looking for a creative partner to bring your brand’s story to life with visual content, Lemonly specializes in helping companies of all industries and sizes create more exciting, easy-to-understand marketing. They’ll make sure your content stands out with clear, expertly crafted design, animation, messaging and branding.