6 EST 856-Visual Media- Skills in Utilizing Visual Media for Communication and Qualities of Visual Content

 

Visual communication skills

Visual communication skills refer to one’s ability to communicate through the signals received by eyes. Any nonverbal communication utilizing the sense of sight is, therefore, known as visual communication.

Visual communication skills require the use of visual aids which are read or viewed for ideas and information to be communicated. For instance, graphs, charts, maps, books, posters, packaging design, screen-based media etc. are all types of visual aids. The body gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact of an individual can also help in visual communication by conveying a message.

Therefore, whether intentional or not, visual communication is becoming an important part of our personal lives as well as professional.

Why are visual communication skills important?

With the ever increasing need for collaborations at workplace, the significance of effective communication is also growing. Following are some of the reasons why visual communication is important for overall communication effectiveness:

·       Complements verbal communication. For making verbal communication more effective and meaningful, it is always helpful to use visual tools and techniques e.g. a graph or picture. Short films and television advertisements are perfect examples of this combination.

·       Helps in maintaining interest and retaining information. The larger the audience, the lesser the opportunity to interact one-on-one. The use of visual aids is what can save the day by helping you grab the attention of everyone amongst the audience, ensure that they remain engaged, and make them retain the delivered information. As compared to the 10% retained from information delivered through verbal communication alone, the U.S. Department of Labor suggests that people retain 65% of the delivered information if a combination of visual and verbal communication is used.

How to improve visual communication skills

Following are some helpful tips to improve your visual communication skills:

·       Seek inspiration. Coming up with designs for visual communication does not necessarily require you to have the knowledge and experience of a designer. The only thing you need to do like a designer is to seek inspiration everywhere, in everything you see or do. This is important because it makes you more curious, observant, open-minded, and imaginative, helping the achievement of creativity as a state of mind.

·       Make it succinct. As with any other form of communication, make visual communication as comprehensive as possible. Ensure that your creativity and the message to be conveyed intersect in a manner that the information is conveyed as clearly as possible. Always remember that the basic purpose of visualization is to communicate complexity with simplicity.

·       Make it a treat for the eyes. This part is the most difficult because it requires maintaining a balance. Good typography as well as the use of a visually appealing color palette can always help in making the readability of your message better, provoking the emotional response you wish to obtain. However, overdoing any of these can cause confusion or distraction. Learning the psychology of colors is a great way to start!

 

6 Qualities of the Most Successful Visual Content

Is your brand's visual content falling short of expectations? Here are 6 tips sure to boost engagement, shares, and conversions. 

BY AMY BALLIETT, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, KILLER VISUAL STRATEGIES@AMYBALLIETT

Well-executed visual communication encourages interaction, engagement, and shares because it offers quality content paired with minimal text and stunning visuals. Getty Images

Whether you're launching a new product or planning a conference presentation, the quality of your visual content could mean the difference between success and failure.

How do you ensure that your visual content not only offers readers relevant insights and real value, but performs well across platforms? Here are the six characteristics every successful piece of visual content needs to have. 

1. It minimizes text.

A recent study by marketing company Siege Media took a look at 1,000 of the most-shared infographics on the web, and found an average word count of just 396. Why so low? Considering audiences only read about 20 percent of a web page that has 600 words or more, you just don't have much time to pique their interest. The visuals, not the text, are what will make them stay, engage, and share. 

2. It incorporates custom design. 

Stock icons, illustrations, and photos are impersonal, a dime a dozen, and only vaguely good at their job. How would you feel if someone described your company like that? Custom design may have a higher price tag at the outset, but it increases conversions by communicating your brand's commitment to quality and ensuring a personal touch. 

Illustrations made especially for a particular campaign belong exclusively to you, and help boost brand recognition since they're more obviously yours and yours alone. Custom sound design and music for a motion graphic are perfectly timed to align with the visuals and communicate emotional tenor. You invest in delivering a quality product or service--but if you don't invest in proving this to potential customers, you may not have many customers at all. 

3. It commits to a strong color scheme. 

Siege Media also reports that 73 percent of the web's most popular infographics had a recognizable color scheme. It's easy to see why. Visuals that incorporate too broad a variety of colors tend to look muddled, busy, and unfocused. Triadic color schemes--those evenly spaced around the color wheel--and monochromatic palettes are among the most popular. 

Make sure that, if you're incorporating multiple pieces of visual content into a campaign, they have a consistent and recognizable palette. This can go a long way toward giving your content has a distinctive and instantly recognizable look, without having to be overly branded.

Similarly, consistent font and design style usage are just as important. These maintain clean, engaging content that offers maximum value to the reader. 

4. It is optimized for its platform. 

While LinkedIn users are more likely to read infographics with up to 502 words on average, Pinterest lovers are the least likely to tolerate text. And while health-related infographics perform best on Facebook and Pinterest, business or industrial visual content performs better on LinkedIn and Twitter. 

Why should you pay attention to these distinctions? If you're posting content optimized for display on Instagram on your brand's Facebook account, you may be losing out. If the format of your visual content--from dimensions to overall size or video length--doesn't display well on the platform where it appears, you may be needlessness losing out on crucial conversions. 

Format isn't the only factor. Considering that 81 percent of millennials are on Twitter daily while Facebook is a fast-growing market for seniors, you might want to reconsider the tone, wording, or visual presentation of different aspects of a campaign depending on what audiences you'll most likely reach on each platform. 

5. It delivers the message quickly.

You only have a few seconds and a few words to convince someone to keep engaging with your static visual content, and the same goes for video. Nielsen and Facebook report that 47 percent of a video campaign's conversions come from the first three seconds. 

A similar study Facebook conducted with MetrixLab found that the most successful videos have several characteristics in common. They incorporate brand identity in the first three seconds, they include the brand during half of the length of the video or longer, and finally, they feature the key takeaway right away rather than at the end.

Likewise, utilizing powerful data visualization can cut to the chase immediately, and convince viewers more quickly of your message. It's one of your most useful tools.

6. It is paired with great SEO. 

Even some of the most seasoned SEO experts find it challenging to optimize visual content for search engines incapable of scanning the actual content of an image. Pairing your motion graphic or infographic with 300+ words of summarizing text on the same page as well as the smart use of alt tags and metadata can make all the difference. Check out my guide to SEO for visual content. 

A piece of visual content that doesn't incorporate each of these features risks disappointing your goals for engagement or failing to communicate your brand's true value. Implement these tactics today to see a quick boost in your shares and conversions. 

JUL 3, 2018

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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