From social media marketing to book jacket design, the business of publishing is full of eye-catching visuals. However, for indie authors it can sometimes be hard to shift back and forth between being “word people” and being “visual people.” Here’s why being a visual person is important and some tips for becoming one:
Your Website Needs to Engage Visitors Quickly
Too often, those of us who love words make the mistake of assuming that words are the only way to engage an audience. But your website visitors are faced with an overwhelming amount of information to read and consume on the internet. Visual elements encourage your website visitors to feel the way you want them to feel more efficiently than a page of text.
At this year’s PubSmart conference, Dara and Amy learned that a website is your calling card. It should be personal, eye-catching, and leave visitors asking for more. Check out the Author Learning Center for amazing tips on website design. This video in particular talks about the emotional impact of good visual elements
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Your Author Brand Can Connect Your Social Media to Your Book and Website
We’ve mentioned before that developing a brand for your book is an essential part of any marketing plan. A brand is also visual. The colors, shapes, symbols, and style you use for your book cover, website, and social media profile pages should all coordinate so that visitors and readers know that they are in the right place.
Allison Bright, a web designer from Shelton Interactive, suggests listing five adjectives that describe you or you book’s personality. From there, you can translate those words into visuals that represent the same personal flair. Are you whimsical or mysterious? Are you enthusiastic or serene?
For more on visual branding check out our posts on book spines and fonts!
Digital or Visual Content Gets More Clicks
Think about it. How many different links will you click if you have to read 500 words on each page? Now think about how many links you will click if all you have to do is flip through some pictures. According to this article on MediaBistro, photos get up to 7 times more likes, images are the most retweeted links on Twitter, and 81 comments are made by users on images posted on Instagram every second. Need proof that visual content is the way to go? Here’s the same information (and more) in an infographic:
How can you make your brand and marketing plan more visual?
