Top Visual Content Marketing Statistics in 2023: Trends You Can’t Ignore

As the world wide web expands and its users’ attention spans narrow, visuals emerge as the most powerful marketing tool. Give any popular industry a glance, and you’ll find ample proof. Social networks, print media, music, fashion, real estate, and many other fields have become reliant on visuals for branding, user engagement, and lead conversion.

Modern visual content marketing statistics reflect this trend. Numerous studies show how vital images, videos, and infographics have become in today's marketing campaigns. Read on to learn about the most relevant stats in 2023.

Visual Content Media Stats (Editor’s Choice)

• We’re more inclined to remember information when images accompany it.
• Around 60% of marketers claim visual content is crucial for marketing strategies.
• Five hundred million Instagram users engage with Stories daily.
• 80% of Pinterest users discover new products through its image content every week.
• Social media advertisers say short-form videos are the most effective type of visual content.

General Visual Content Marketing Statistics

1. Including an image in a block of text increases information retention more than six times.

Source: BrainRules

Extensive research in cognition and medicine shows our brains are more dependent on vision than other senses. It’s the faculty where our basic instincts are rooted — how we recognize food, reproductive opportunities, and threats. A recent study extended this theory further. It had participants memorize data with and without accompanying pictures and take tests after three days. The results showed that visual content helps people retain information six times better than plain text.

2. Over 60% of marketers claim visual content is crucial to their marketing strategy.

Source: Venngage

According to marketing research, most successful companies prioritize visual content as part of their business strategy. More than 60% of study participants claimed visuals were integral to every effective marketing campaign they ran in 2017. Close to 80% of them said that most of their posts included at least one visual element. As much as 35.5% expressed plans to spend almost a third of their marketing budget on visual content in the upcoming year.

3. 95% of B2B customers form their opinions on businesses based on visual content.

Source: Ziflow

With the change in the business landscape and customer preferences, online visibility grows more critical every day. However, research shows not every aspect of a company’s digital identity is equally important for its reputation. According to regular B2B services and product users, visual content is the primary indicator of a company's trustworthiness.

Importance of Visual Content for Social Media

1. Around 80% of marketers use images in their social media posts.

Source: Foap

Research shows marketers prefer using visuals over other content when advertising their products and services on social media. Most rely on images, but a few also employ other visual content marketing examples. For instance, 63% prefer pre-recorded video content, while 35% like live videos. Marketing strategies that involve non-visual tools like podcasts or blogging rank at the bottom of this list.

2. Pinterest allows advertisers to reach more than 250 million people per month.

Source: Hootsuite

Image-based social media platform, Pinterest, had its advertisements reach close to 272 million people in a month. The United States remains one of its main geodemographics, but the site recently started expanding its ad-targeting catalog to the rest of the world. It generated fantastic engagement in South America, with Brazil and Mexico leading the way in terms of user reach.

3. 80% of Pinterest users find a new product or brand on this platform every week.

Source: Pinterest Business

Many internet users view Pinterest as their primary source of ideas and inspiration. Its latest visual information statistics support this claim. Their results show that around 80% of weekly users discover new products and brands on Pinterest’s image-based posts. Experts expect this figure to increase further, considering the number of Pinners (Pinterest users) and boards they create is still on the rise.

4. Image posts on Facebook generate twice as much engagement as other posts.

Source: Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo analyzed the differences in user engagement on Facebook posts based on their content. It compared visuals, likes, comments, shares, and other similar elements. Research findings revealed that image posts generated approximately 2.3 times more engagement than any other Facebook content. 

These visual content marketing statistics hold particular significance for marketers that regularly use visuals in their posts. They confirm brands can reach twice as many customers as their peers if they focus on visual instead of text-based material.

5. Facebook users play over 140 billion reels a day.

Source: Hootsuite

Facebook Reels are short videos modeled after TikTok posts. Their popularity has steadily risen since their introduction in 2021. The newest studies indicate that these videos currently receive more than 140 billion views a day. This statistic is even more impressive when you compare it with previous months’ results. Facebook visual content marketing stats show Reels’s daily view count increased by more than 50% in just six months.

6. The number of Instagram accounts using Stories each day exceeds 500 million.

Source: Instagram Business

Instagram Stories enjoy a similar user engagement as Reels on their sister site. Recent study results reveal that more than 500 million account users consume these types of visual content daily. Plenty of businesses are already taking advantage of this fad, advertising their products and services. Stats say their efforts are paying off. Around 58% of users declared they’d developed an interest in a brand or product after seeing it on Insta Stories.

Visual Content Marketing Trends

1. Consumption of mobile video content has increased 17-fold since 2012.

Source: Cisco

The mobile industry has swept the globe in the past few years. A 2017 study found that average smartphone usage doubled compared to previous years. It also concluded that video traffic accounted for almost 60% of total mobile data traffic that year alone. 

Statistics show this isn’t a new phenomenon. Mobile video consumption has grown 17-fold since 2012 and is likely to continue growing. Marketers cannot afford to ignore these numbers. Catering to mobile video content consumers could be critical for their long-term success.

2. 25% of VR users believe this technology can be a powerful marketing tool.

Source: GlobalWebIndex

Virtual reality is one of the many visual tools making waves in modern society. US companies use it in various ways, from leisure to training. If this success continues, its market worth is expected to reach $20.9 billion by 2025.

This technology is yet to have an impact on marketing, but many users believe it can do wonders in this department. According to many regular VR users, the tool has the potential to enhance marketing campaigns and boost engagement by providing a better user experience. Marketing experts believe it is the next big thing in advertising.

3. Short video content will continue to grow in popularity

Source: HubSpot Blog

Short-form videos have taken over every popular social media platform recently. Around 57% of Gen Z and 42% of Millennial users prefer this to other content formats, according to HotSpot data. Both marketers and visual content creators acknowledge this trend by continuing to leverage short videos every day. As much as 83%  of social media advertisers say it’s the most effective type of content, while 58% intend to increase their investment in this medium.

Summary

Visual content has been a hot topic in marketing for quite some time. Images, videos, and infographics have made their way into numerous industries. From social media to real estate, there isn’t a sector without some form of visual marketing.

The above visual content marketing statistics show this trend isn't going away anytime soon. Established formats like short-form videos still generate impressive engagement rates, and new visual content tools like VR are slowly gaining traction. It seems like visuals will remain a marketing strategy staple for many years.

FAQ

What percentage of marketing is visual?

Recent research indicates that almost 90% of marketers use visuals in around 50% of all their marketing content. It’s one of the main components of modern marketing strategies and the foundation of every successful advertising campaign in the digital era.

How effective is visual content?

Visual content is currently the most engaging form of media you can find online. Facebook posts with images engage twice as many users as regular posts, and short-form videos like Reels and Stories generate hundreds of millions of views daily. On top of that, over 60% of modern marketers claim visual content is an essential part of their marketing strategies.

How effective is visual marketing?

Visual marketing continues to show impressive results in the advertising industry. Image and video consumption rates have increased across various platforms and devices. Visual marketing statistics show that the practice promotes user engagement, improves information retention, and creates the basis for better customer rapport. 

Is visual content more engaging?

It is. Our cognition seems more receptive to visuals than any other type of content. Research suggests the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. It also claims we can retain 65% of a text accompanied by a picture and only 10% without visual support.

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Sources:

• BrainRules
• Venngage
• Ziflow
• Foap
• Hootsuite
• Pinterest Business
• Buzzsumo
• Hootsuite
• Instagram Business
• Cisco
• GlobalWebIndex
• HubSpot Blog