The Importance of Using Branded Visuals in Content Marketing
The world is an extremely visual space. Images and graphics are very important because they are the face of a brand in the vast universe of content marketing. It’s through images and branded graphics that people will find a company’s blog posts, products, services, and other awesome content.
Content marketing can really shine when branded visuals are incorporated. These images and graphics will potentially be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin and maybe even Reddit and other places you might have never heard of. Better to have this content shared with the brand attached to it than sending content out blindly to the world.
What are branded visuals?
Branded visuals are what tie the content of a company website to social media and beyond. At first sight, people should know that these images or graphics belong to the brand. When people see them on social media, printed material, or billboards they will know that the brand is behind it. Branded graphics and images create a memorable connection with clients and followers.
Every visual that makes it out into the world must mirror the brand’s website. It’s important to build content marketing in accordance with what the website looks like.
Visuals can be branded in different ways. From a stock photo with a quote and logo placed on top to a professional illustration made just for the brand, and also branded merchandising.
Below are some of the most common types of branded visuals which can be incorporated into content marketing for social media:
- Quotes
- Fill in the blanks
- Questions
- Comparisons
- Tips
- GIFs
- Data GIFs
- How-to instructions
- Behind-the-scenes snaps
- Series
- Visual statistics
- Micro-content infographics
Other types of branded visuals also include:
- Ads in magazines
- Billboards
- Bus stop ads
- Television advertising
- Video tutorials
- Packaging
- Stationery
- Merchandising
- Catalogs
- Postcards
- Flyers
- Newsletters
- Brochures
What should be included in your branded visuals?
When you create branded visuals for your client or your own business, there are some things that should always be included and never forgotten. The first and most important aspect of creating these types of visuals is to have a solid branding scheme in place. This includes obvious things like a logo, font pairing, a color scheme, specific textures, and which shapes to use.
Nevertheless, it also includes other things like the brand message, tone, emoji, and hashtag use. Things like what kinds of photographs can be used, when to add color filters and which ones to use exactly.
Brand strategists have two choices when creating a branding scheme and then the branded visuals. Assets can be sourced from Freepik; like backgrounds, textures, shapes, icons, and illustrations. Since these are all available as vector graphics, the colors can be changed into the brand’s colors. Other important aspects of the designs can be customized as well for deeper personalization.
For a more unique branding scheme, you can design and illustrate brand specific assets. Illustrations, icons, textures, backgrounds, and even fonts can be personalized.
The brand style guide
The best and most professional way to keep things organized for a brand is to have a brand style guide. All the things mentioned above are put together in a guide for the design and content marketing teams. With all the pieces in place, everyone can follow the brand style guide and create content together while staying on the same path. A brand style guide is helpful for every step of visual content creation, from the website to an app, to the billboard on the highway.
Using branded templates to save time
A lot of the time invested in a brand’s content marketing can be minimized with branded templates. With the branding assets put together, you can easily create templates for social media, infographics, blog graphics, or video intros. Templates can be created on Illustrator and Photoshop or online programs like Visme or Canva.
How much time do you spend making the images for your blog posts?
Do you struggle with making them look appealing and clickable?
Branded templates are the solution to both those problems.
Being able to use a template for image creation is a great resource. You not only save time but also creative headspace. Once you have templates set up for all your image sizes, you just have to put in the title of the blog post and new background photo or accent icon.
The idea behind using a template is to keep your images “on brand” and cohesive with your blog or business. When all your images have a common look, your followers instantly recognize the image as yours. This helps you with engagement, recognition and a more loyal following.
What kinds of images can benefit from templates?
Blog Post TitlesGraphics
Instagram Posts
Twitter Posts
Pinterest Posts
Blog and Social Media Headers
Quotes and Tips for Instagram or Facebook
