Any old picture can be worth a thousand words. But your target niche does not need or want a thousand words. Your ideal audience needs the right words, matched with the right images to tell a story that is unique appeal to their deepest desires.

Studies show that people understand images faster than words, remember the most, and if there is a difference between what we see and what we hear, our brain will believe what they see. Our priority brains visual information about any other kind, which makes images the fast track to connect all traders seek.

So do not slap not a text on an image and call it good. You can do better. Much better. And I'll show you how.

Understand the symbolic foundations

This homepage Seer Interactive did a lot right. The copy below this central image is golden, "We are Seer We are proud to outcaring the" Outcaring That's genius..?!

But I would say, combining this with the words: "It is not enough marketing, it's personal," is less than genius There is nothing personal about this course, there are people.. in, but discuss with a group of colleagues do not say "personal" for me. He says business.

NNqDoNV.pngWhat if they matched words with this free image by Greg Rakozy of Unsplash?

Something SOgjVjt.pngThere on the image that is not only personal; cozy. Two people connecting in the dark, surrounded by snowflakes looking almost like white noise. Is this a metaphor for reaching out through the noise of the Internet to establish a personal connection? To find someone to fall in love (with your brand) same?

Many philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists have noted that humans are unique symbolic creatures.

- Clay Routledge Ph.D., The Power of Symbolism, Psychology Today

A truly powerful picture speaks on a symbolic level, we feed information through intuition and association. Humans are creatures of membership. We derive naturally deep, multiple meanings of visual cues, an idea highlighted by both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

The magic behind an effective symbol is its ability to deliver messages to both our conscious minds and subconscious awareness. When choosing the right image for the marketing copy - if the "hero" of your website or ad - not just consider what you want to tell people, but what you want them to feel.

A symbol must have at once a double or multiple meanings ... So all symbols have both a "face" and a "hidden" value and is one of the great achievements of psychology have shown how the "hidden" value is generally the point of view of function, the most important. ... Behind this face value is a mass of undifferentiated feelings and impulses, which do not rise in consciousness that we could not put into words properly, even if we wanted ... and that, if they go unattended powerfully influences our behavior.

- F. C. Bartlett, "The social functions of symbols, 'Astralasian Journal of Psychology and Philosophy

And, of course, you're looking through pictures, consider this:

What kind of images and experiences resonate with the deepest desires of your target audience?

This, of course, requires that you have built a robust buyer's personality which includes not only their demographic information with a catchy name, but also their extracurricular passions: the driving forces them out of the bed and into the office every day.

As conversion copywriting, the key to success is to identify motivations and use these to create a visual representation of the most desired results of your niche.

Preparing the ground for an experience, not just a product

In keeping with the theme images that provide the desired result, the most effective online ads are a way that invites the viewer to experience the result. Instead of simply include a product, for example, these ads have prepared the ground for the experience that buying the right product could allow you to have.

ModCloth is a master of that. Did not this make you want to take a nap in a nice cozy cottage? You can get this experience (or something like that) if you buy their $ 200 hammock.

5036Odd.pngUnless you live in the deep woods of the Appalachian Mountains, your home will never be like that. But some of us wish were ours, and we are clearly the target audience. This image speaks to our deepest need to leave everyone and everything for a little rest and much needed recovery.

When choosing pictures, it is equally important to consider the symbolism as it is to consider the target audience. What experience will resonate with them most? What images will sell their desired experiences?

recent "Road Trip" cursor ModCloth says nothing about the clothes they are trying to sell, for example. But it speaks to a sense of adventure and the power of female friendships, both of which are defining characteristics of their target niche thousand women with a sense of delightfully eccentric mode.

cWEVdqk.pngYou should not be a clothing company to capitalize on this idea or even a B2C company. Learn how these B2B companies use images to make their words not only read, but felt.

LU9kd3l.pngDon't you feel like you're Superman for a midnight stroll? Everyone at hand? Yeah, that's the point. What they sell, essentially, is omniscience through the data. All the advantages of DC Comics-like superpowers least kryptonite.

19LrmR9.pngYou could not catch it at first, but look how comfortable these people are. They wear knitted sweaters (no costumes) while cradling hot cappuccinos in their hands - clearly, this sales meeting goes well. No leverage here. Rather the opposite.

C8OQkJi.pngFor this example Blitz Marketing, you will have to visit their website, because it is not a static picture - this is a video editing designed for you pumped! The energy practically radiates off the screen (which, we have to infer, is the feeling that you get all the time if you have worked with this creative marketing agency).

Piston, another ad agency, takes a more subtle approach, which I love. Instead of the standard of your photo "man in a suit," they made a personalized picture shooting and added eccentric elements, such as a pink ring. I find this particularly powerful image because it fixes actually waiting (man in a suit) and then adds something completely unexpected (candy ring), which is situated behind the word cREATIVE. this illustrates how this creative agency while remaining thoroughly professional.

The numbers are compelling. Numbers with visual aids? Unstoppable.

Let's say your character to the buyer is not driven by emotion. Show this character a grid of city lights of 2,000 feet, and he or she will not feel like Superman. They will wonder what this has to do with the retur on investment they can expect.

Someone get some numbers already this character.

When the conversion is strongly dependent gain credibility, images can be very convincing. In fact, a study of the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand showed that just having an image makes the text alongside the more credible image, even if the image has nothing to do with text .

When people evaluate the claims, they often rely on what comedian Stephen Colbert calls "truthiness," or subjective feelings of truth.

- Nonprobative photographs (or words) inflate truthiness, by E. J. Newman, Garry, D. M. Bernstein, J. Kantner, D. S. Lindsay

Essentially, any image is better than nothing. But the right image? It's worth more. In a similar study by psychology departments both Colorado State University and the University of California, researchers have experimented with brain images.

brain images are believed to have a particularly compelling influence on the public perception of research on cognition. Three experiments are reported showing that the presentation of brain images with articles summarizing research in cognitive neuroscience has led to higher scores of scientific reasoning to the arguments presented in these articles, in relation to articles with bar charts, a topographical map of brain activation, or no picture.

- Seeing is believing: The effect of brain images on judgments of scientific reasoning by David P. McCabe and Alan D. Castel

However, if we traded in either / or philosophy (or the image or no image, or the image or bar chart) to a philosophy that uses the best of all resources?

Having the right image, supported by good words and credibility given by the real numbers (such as statistics or graphs / tables) is the most effective combination.

The statistics also revealed convincing. In Blinded with Science: charts and formulas trivial increase ad persuasion and belief in the efficacy, the study from Cornell University reveals that only the appearance of being scientific increases persuasion of an announcement. What is the "appearance" required?

Graphics. Simple, no frills graphics.

And the graphics were more effective in persuading people who had "a greater belief in science" (eg, logic buyer character).

Put the right words with the right image, then overlay with a set of numbers to support, and you can convince even the most logical character you have the solutions they are seeking.

Warning: When the name of the game is to build credibility, does not give you involved with poor quality data and analysis lazy. One of your smart customers will, for sure, you call her.

Graphs and tables should not be fancy or complicated to be convincing. Check out these two Graphics Article KISSmetrics Most of your results A / B test are illusory and that's okay by Will Kurt.

CpsQKZK.pngF0eQFmR.pngDo you even need to read the rest of the article to get the point? (Although you'll want to read the article to find out exactly what the science is so good.) This is the very efficient data narration that shows you, in short, the focus of the author trying to do.

CubeYou, a social data mining company that transforms raw data into information, makes a great narration by combining data statistics and images. Not only are these visuals provide demographic information, they put a face on the target simultaneously, using effectively the two personas logical and intuitive one stroke.

VwJsu9Q.pngAnd for even more powerful images, watch the Big Data Mountain data visualizations put together #WhyIStayed of domestic violence hashtag. Speak to tell a compelling story.

IFaDNBQ.pngThen there are graphics that include data visualization, images and analysis. I love that of CyberPRMusic.com.

qelQyNp.pngIt is to tell their story

Uninspired visuals are everywhere. Seriously, they are easy to find. In researching this article, I could find 20 good bad images for each I've included here.

There is the opportunity to stand out.

Maybe the intersection of words, pictures and numbers are not well understood in online marketing. Maybe having free photos at our fingertips made us lazy in their use. Maybe there are not enough English majors touting the benefits of effective symbolism.

Whatever the reason, you now have the chance to go beyond words to your target niche or your product features and benefits services. You can set your brand apart by showing them how life can be. Free tools such as Face allow.

But first you have to care enough to make compelling images priority.

What are your thoughts on using stunning visuals that the needle-movers for your b