The Reasons Why Image Based Marketing is So Popular

One of the newest innovations in online advertising platforms is image based marketing. It has taken off like wildfire and actually giving social sites like Facebook a run for their money. But why is it so popular?

The answer to that can take on several viewpoints and would depend on whether you are talking about popular among advertisers or popular among those viewing the ads! The fact is, image based marketing is popular on both ends of the spectrum and here’s why.

Michael Kors Harper bag ad on Instagram
Photo credit: Michael Kors @ Instagram

A Brief Rundown on Statistics

According to the latest statistics, image based social sites like Instagram are getting three times the user engagement than Facebook is for like actions. When looking at the ‘actions per post’ Facebook gets 2,396 actions while Instagram is getting a whopping 6,932 of those actions per post. That really is three times as many!

From a Marketing Perspective

Why do advertisers like image based marketing? Because it works! It provides a high visibility simply because users can quickly spot a product without reading tons of content describing it. If you think about it, this makes perfect sense when trying to sell products. The more people who respond to those ‘calls to action,’ the greater your brand recognition will be.

When doing ecig advertising and marketing, for example, the competition is stiff and brand recognition is important. A picture provides a lasting image for users to explore. Innovative and highly focused services like those at Eventige Marketing & Design use image based marketing with a high rate of success.

IKEA PS 2012 Plant Stand Pinterest Ad
photo credit: IKEA USA @ Pinterest

From a User Perspective

Without debating the pros and cons of the amount of time users spend online, it is safe to say that a good percentage of time not at work or school is spent online. Life is already busy and most people are living in the fast lane. It is much easier to make a judgement (to like or not) when you can actually ‘see’ the product in question. A user is more apt to like a product they can see as opposed to something that is simply being described.

Other image based sites that have garnered a huge corner of online traffic are Pinterest and Tumblr. Users spend a lot of time browsing through images and are more than willing to ‘like’ what they see. Both of these sites get great click through rates that even further demonstrates just how effective image based marketing is.

So Again, Why Is It So Popular?

Image based marketing is so popular because users can quickly make a judgement based on what they see and advertisers like all those clicks. Not only does it generate traffic to their website but those visits add up in the ‘eyes’ of Google. More clicks translates to higher rank. Higher rank in the SERPs equals even more visits and the cycle continues. Image based marketing produces a snowball effect that is hard to compete with. Is this the next generation in online marketing? Early results suggest it is.