What makes visual content SO engaging? Here we break down why humans are wired to respond to visuals and examine some statistics that point to the future of content on the Internet.

1. LESSON 5

2. WHY VISUAL CONTENT IS KING:
Rising Above the Noise Online
CODE OF CONTENT

3. In the early Internet, playing even the
simplest video required a ton of resources.

4. You had to secure a high-speed Internet
connection. You had to download special
plugins for your browser. And even then,
the video would play far slower than even
the worst days on Netflix.

5. But now,
Internet speeds
have risen and
costs have
decreased;
leaving a perfect
environment for
visual content
moving forward.

6. This phenomena has
opened up the doors
for social networks like
Instagram, Snapchat,
Vine, and Pinterest. All
of which received
unprecedented growth
and adoption due to
their visual nature.

7. These networks
opened up the
floodgates and laid
the infrastructure for
the future of digital
content. Now
consumers are
demanding more
and more visual
content. And who
can blame them.

8. Visuals are more
memorable and
engaging. When
you open up
Facebook, where
do your eyes go?
I’ll bet they snap
right to the first
photo or video
in your feed.

9. There’s much less cognitive overhead in looking
at a picture gallery or watching a video,
compared to reading a lengthy blog post.

10. Reading is work.
Watching is effortless.

11. As we hurtle towards this new web,
brands need to invest in visual content
or get left out of the feeding frenzy.

12. Don’t think videos
and graphics are
worth the
effort? Here’s 6
statistics that
prove the visual
web is upon us
and is here to stay.

13. Psychologists Jerome
Bruner of New York
University has
demonstrated that we
remember only 10% of
what we hear and 20% of
what we read, but 80% of
what we see visually.

14. Photos are liked 2x more than text on
Facebook and videos are shared 12x
more than text and photos combined
(Source: Simply Measured).

15. According to Trend Reports, between
65 and 85 percent of people describe
themselves as visual learners.

16. 90% of information transmitted to the
brain is visual, and visuals are processed
60,000x faster in the brain than text.
(Sources: 3M Corporation and Zabisco)

17. Posts with videos attract 3x more inbound
links than plain text posts. (Source: SEOmoz)

18. Visitors spend 2x more time on pages with
videos (Source: MarketingSherpa).

19. A new era is here. While in the past
the Internet was run by text, in the
future visuals are leading the charge.

20. The ability to create visually pleasing content
has never been more important. If you want
to take your content to the next level start
investing in premium, visual content.

21. In the next lesson, I’ll breakdown why
stories hold the key to creative content,
give you an example of the incredible
power of storytelling, and show you how to
tell an unforgettable brand story.