t’s no surprise that us marketers have really woken up to the power of visual communication, and some of the big brands are doing a cracking job at it. With up to 85% of people describing themselves as Visual Learners, according to Trend Reports, there has never been any doubt that pictures play a vital role in marketing communications.

Just how influential images are (either still or moving), is demonstrated by these three simple facts:

• Tweets which feature an image are 94% more likely to be re-tweeted than those that don't.
• 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it and video increases average spend by 10%
• Click-through rates increased by 200% - 300% when video was added to an email

And the phenomenal rise of Instagram - the fastest growing social media network – (did you know it’s now bigger than Twitter with more than 300m people accessing Instagram every month, compared to Twitter’s 284m?), is further evidence of how much we relate to images as a form of communication.

Images are an intrinsic part of how we as a society communicate. It’s incredible that 10% of all photos taken in the world have been taken in the past 12 months – but with smart phone ownership forecast to surpass 2 billion in 2016, image-based communications are definitely here to stay.

We also know from tons of research that customers are increasingly influenced to buy from viewing images of products and services.

Some great examples are everyone’s favorite chef, Jamie Oliver, who engaged with social media early and has grown a huge brand presence. He has over 2.9million followers on Instagram alone. (jamieoliver - Instagram)

Another hugely popular brand that uses imagery to best effect is National Geographic. Its Facebook page is filled with fantastic evocative images that engage followers, and transport them virtually to the world’s wonder-spots. (National Geographic | Facebook)

Here at r//evolution video blogs were used to drive engagement for IT solutions provider Perfect Image’s new Amazon Web Services offer, with excellent results. LINK and The Real Apprenticeship Company has had great feedback on the animation we produced to position the brand to blue chip clients. LINK.

So what can we take from this? Images and video are a great way to increase audience engagement across all channels. They can improve your in-bound traffic through SEO by:

• Including appropriate alt tags, so the search engines know what your images represent
• Naming images descriptively
• Keeping image file sizes small, to maintain load times

The better quality the image, the greater the impact – so invest in some champion images, to supplement those happy snaps. Or why not try mixing infographics in with photos, video and animation to get your messaging across?

Good luck out there and remember... why use reams of text when a great visual, well placed and well optimised will do the job so much better?