Carefully targeted, personalized visual content is becoming more important within most PR programs and is a great way for even small brands to get attention and visibility.
One of our clients, Waxing the City (WTC, a growing chain of waxing salons), is in the early stages of a national branding launch. To gain attention as WTC grows and acquires new locations, Metzger applied personal visual content strategies to up the ante on their graphics. The first step with a program like this is to find out how to connect with your customers on a personal level by finding out what they like. Here are some basic steps to get started:
- Curate. Look around at your competitors or other companies in your industry that really inspire you. What are they doing and why is it catching your eye?
- Brainstorm. Ask people and look for ideas far and wide across your target audience by doing one-on-one “casual” interviews with people you respect in the industry.
- Ask your audience what they like. A simple poll on Facebook could give you a great lead onto what you audience wants to see and what visual graphics and symbols they prefer.
Now that you’ve learned something about your audience, it’s time to curate your own images. You’ve probably already heard that you should use LOTS of images, but it’s not just about putting any old photo on your page. The key is creating content that’s original and speaks visually about your brand to your audience. It can be flat-out funny or purely informational, but the key is to make it visually appealing and unique. For WTC, we’ve taken one element (a consistent color scheme and logo) and emulated it repeatedly. For example, their company projects “sexy,” so our goal is to make current and prospective customers feel sexy. To do that, we’ve used your ordinary pin-up girl and made her a symbol in our visual content.
Instead of simply telling their audience the features of waxing, we’re making strategic visual content that shows the benefits. Don’t just invite your audience to do something by saying they should do it. Suggest they do something in a more powerful way and grab their attention, giving them something to aspire to.
Once you’ve established a visual strategy, customers will begin to engage, you will be able to decide what suits them best, and how to adjust moving forward. And trust me, you’re never done! You should always be thinking of new ways to display your message, both visually and contextually. It’s not so much about selling your product but more about selling your brand’s attitude that will make your engagements grow!
