Creating valuable connections in the fast-paced, highly digitised world of today is easier said than done. With so many marketing channels and consumer habits in the digital space, where social media and video content remain quintessential daily consumables for the modern user, there is an underlying risk of relationships feeling innately less human.
Is the Human Connection Past the Point of No Return?
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) platforms is only, arguably, furthering the divide between real-time connectivity and authentic human interaction. It’s important that creating meaningful, human-led connections is not seen as ‘counterintuitive’ or a ‘lost art’ as businesses become increasingly more automated.
As more digital innovators strive for market dominance and brand recognition, they mustn’t put up more unnecessary barriers to create purposeful, mutually beneficial relationships and connections with their audience.
The key to unlocking progression in the wake of this issue is for brands to make their visual content feel more authentic. This is not as simple as a brand opting not to use AI image generation tools in favour of using mirrorless cameras to take product images, for example. Nor is it as straightforward as brands being forthcoming about hiring a human videographer instead of using a generative AI platform.
At its core, successful omnichannel marketing relies heavily on understanding the pain points of people. The only way to effectively communicate your point of difference and USP(s), and earn their trust, is to forge a genuine relationship between them and your brand. No matter the digital tools that can automate the processes we follow and the data we aggregate, the human connection remains pivotal.
Using images, videos, and multimedia content should not be vilified – far from it. However, it’s how they can be used as a way to create emotional, meaningful audience connections and communicate salient marketing messages.
The Allure of Visuals – Getting Attention
Marketing today is inherently more visual than it was in the past. Video content, animations, dynamic images, interactive interfaces, and mobile-first platforms all share the common goal of providing an immersive and engaging user experience. Speed and precision are also crucial marketing factors in a brand’s quest to maintain market dominance.
Grabbing a viewer’s attention in an increasingly competitive and crowded online space is no easy feat. Nowadays, modern users have such short attention spans that mirror those of goldfish, and therefore visuals – something innately more eye-catching than text – have to instantly capture their intrigue. Given that their focus may be divided and time is limited, visuals need to make an instant impact, appealing to users on an emotional and dynamic level.
But Why Does it Work? – Emotional Impact
Effective visual marketing taps into instinctive human behaviours and needs. Any product, service or solution that looks appealing, useful or interesting, or that serves a specific purpose or solves a particular problem, grabs a user’s attention immediately. With the help of visuals in a marketing campaign and strategy, they can create social cues and interactions more effectively than text on a page.
Compelling visuals activate parts of the human brain that are tied to emotion, memory, and relationships. Most people tend to remember what a product looks like and how it works in real-time, rather than details of the product description that was supplied with it. Recall, resonance, and true connections are then built more organically between audiences and brands (and their products).
Storytelling with visuals, therefore, fosters empathy and understanding. Circling back to the camera and videography examples earlier: if a brand were to capture a product in use in real-time, showing how it works and how it adds value, in a realistic human setting, it would tell an authentic, personal story. This will undoubtedly make prospective customers relate to the product more than, say, using a whiteboard explainer video or static imagery.
Meaningful Interaction in Impersonal Times
Digital transformation has altered the lifestyles and habits of people everywhere when it comes to both work and pleasure. One irreplaceable component of professional and personal fulfilment is human connections, whether that’s through social media comments, forum conversations, personalised shopping experiences, tailored recommendations, or anything in between.
Technology should therefore enhance, not detract from, authentic interactions that provide enriching and satisfying human-esque connections. Even if a top-of-the-funnel connection has been created, nurturing an individual customer relationship will be crucial to pushing them further along the funnel towards a conversion. Visual content proves pivotal at all stages of the marketing funnel – which is something many digital professionals will be familiar with – and it’s important to maintain authenticity at every customer touchpoint.
That should not cease post-conversion, either; remarketing and retargeting based on user data and buying habits create further opportunities to connect emotionally with buyers and garner repeat business while satisfying their needs.
The Value of Real Relationships
Businesses that leverage visuals methodically and considerately can facilitate the creation of meaningful connections beyond a transaction. Trust and loyalty are true human traits that people hold dear; psychologically speaking, the same should apply even if the relationship built between a brand and a customer is purely digital.
Beyond granular marketing funnel data, metrics, and conversion rates, businesses must work consistently to foster more resilient feelings of trust amongst all customers past and present. When businesses work hard to discuss challenges, feature real employees and team members in visual content, tell stories, and actively try to appear as anything other than a faceless entity, they are humanising themselves.
KPIs and data matter – there’s no denying that. However, they don’t tell the full story; brands need to understand who is truly connecting with their visual content. Audience data, surveys and research can only tell half the story, whereas leveraging visual content and actively pursuing a human connection beyond a screen proves useful.
Championing face-to-face interactions and visits in a brand’s brick-and-mortar store, being present at industry events, and welcoming personal conversations between stakeholders and consumers, among other activities, will only make human connections easier to foster. Visual marketing can be the eye-catching first point, but it is – fundamentally – only one piece of a larger puzzle.
Harmonizing Technology and the Human Touch
Meaningful connections are a two-way street; simply posting videos and photos on social media will not conjure swathes of interested buyers. That said, the allure of eye-catching visuals remains strong in a marketing landscape heavily reliant on technology and instant gratification.
Brands that can balance tech-led innovation with humanity – and carefully-curated visual content to forge genuine emotional connections with people – will be best placed to succeed. Relationship building and active listening require adopting an approach that marketing analytics and sales figures cannot supplement.