The majority of marketers would admit that creating visual images is not a strong suit for them.The good news? Creativity is learned, so you do not have to struggle with visual marketing ever again.Do you want to improve your social media strategy by including more visual content? Visual marketing is much more than finding an inspirational quote on Google and re-posting.But, you might be asking yourself, how do you go about creating an attractive and shareable image? Something that people want to interact with and then share with their audience?There is a ton of reports and information on how to create visual marketing images. But this information can take weeks to get through, then put into practice for your business.That is why we have done the work for you. This article presents tips on how to create visual content that gets more engagement.The Science Behind Visual MarketingThe Content Marketing Institute reported that 70% of marketers are producing more visual content.Ask yourself, are you producing enough visual content? If you are not, it may be because you’re intimidated at the word ‘design’. Do not fear, these tips can help you.In this article, we present many tips to support your goal of creating more visual content. Mastering these tips will make your visual message stick with web searchers.Creating visual content is the #1 goal on marketer’s lists for skills to learn and it should be yours too. (Socialmediaexaminer.com)Your Audience Responds to Visual CuesVideo and infographic responsiveness is at an all-time high. Are you using these strategies to interact with your audience?In 2014, the use of video marketing increased by 8% and the use of infographics increased 9%. (Source: DemandGenReport)As a home business owner you must dedicate more time and resources to creating visual content. Facebook posts that contain photos or videos account for 87% of increased interactions. (Source: EMarketer.com)What does this mean? Facebook users are looking for so much more than just blatant calls to action to buy products. They want posts that share ideas, make connections, and avoid using too much text. Now is the time to switch to visual marketing if your posts have been heavy with text. You can start today adding photos or images to your posts.What makes a shareable social media image? Why should we care about people sharing our images? Good questions. Every time a person shares your image, you just received free marketing. They are opening up your message to their audience. This helps you achieve more with less!Let’s look at what makes a shareable social media image:1. Emotion: When your readers feel it, they’ll share it.2. Relevance: Your image should fit your audience, and their audience too.3. Colors: Use the right colors to fit your audience’s personality and you will get more shares.4. Typography: Choose fonts that look good and pair well with each other. Choose fonts your audience can read.5. Hashtags and Text: Choose the right words to encourage your audience to interact.The most important way to optimize social media content is with images and photos leading the way. Focus on creating great visual content to engage your audience and put them into a sales funnel. On the back end, you will have detailed information to separate the lookers from the buyers.Serious buyers will always be looking for more information to use in their life. These types of information include webinars, case studies, and reports (or white papers). Visual content opens the ‘door’ for serious buyers to access your back-end detailed information.Tip # 1Creating a Title for your Visual ImageTitles are a feature element of your visual content. You want them to stand out!Let’s go through a couple factors that will help you choose the best titles for your visual marketing.1. We live in the age of people scrolling through a social media feed at record speed. An amazing title helps your visual content stand out among the “noise” in a news feed.2. Your image has a split second to grab the attention of your audience. But your title (or main goal in the image) must speak to them as well.3. If your audience finds the image to be pause worthy, make sure your title keeps them even longer. If you fall short in any aspect, they will not click on your call to action and will keep scrolling to the next thing.4. Your back end offer will be the ultimate information that solves their problem. But the title should be crystal clear and provide a front line answer to their question.Your image title appears everywhere. So, choosing a visual image with a strong title is critical, it will be visible in many different places. Every time you make a piece of text content, be aware that the different versions of it will show up as “title only”. This is visual marketing, it is the only chance you have to grab your audience’s fast paced attention.Tip #2Color: The Psychology of Colors in Visual MarketingFor decades there has been a debate about color and how it relates to persuading your audience to buy.A great example in today’s color marketing is a well known, high end, coffee retailer. They use the color green as their primary visual marketing color. When you look at a color chart you see that customer’s associate green with wealth and relaxation.Would you agree or disagree that this coffee shop got their marketing correct? They encourage people to stop in and relax with a $5-$8 cup of coffee. In fact, many people will tell you they cannot start their morning without a trip to this coffee house. Pretty ingenious, right?Color studies show that different colors have an impact on a customer’s purchasing decisions. Marketing departments have been using this knowledge for generations. Recognize the power behind color and make conscious choices for your visual marketing.According to a B2B study, 85% of customer’s claim that the color of an ad was what made them buy.Please note, color alone does not induce someone to buy or not buy. But, when done correct, color influences your products and branding. And how long a customer stays around to learn about your products.So how can you use this for your visual marketing strategy?Start with a specific color theme. The right color theme depends on your niche audience’s demographics and your ultimate message. Next choose the right text, font, shapes, and photos for your social media pages.How do colors affect purchases?There are many factors that influence what consumers buy. Yet a large amount of their decisions rely on visual cues, such as color. It is vital that your color choices support the theme of your message. Continue to refer to a color chart to double check that your color choice supports your message. Plus the call to action you want your customers to act on.Tip #3Choosing the Right FontIt’s easy to think that your font is a simple design choice. But the truth is that font is the body language of your image. It says a lot to your reader without you even realizing it. Different fonts you choose dictate how long someone reads your article.The previous tips discussed the importance of your visual content being inviting and shareable. Did you know that the font choice you make will impact the number of shares (attention) that it receives? How? Let’s take a look.Different fonts create different emotions.· Font’s will encourage readers to complete your desired action· Drive decision making· Encourage them to share with their audienceWhat is the take away? Consider the message you’re putting out and the emotions that you want your audience to feel from it.There are 3 steps to selecting your ideal font, your choice will support or detract from your message.When creating your visual images, make sure that you think beyond the words that you have written. A good example here is a quote. Your goal is to select a font that matches the meaning behind the message. The goal is to think beyond the words you’ve written. While this sound complicated, it isn’t.3 Steps:1. Decide on your emotion: Are you a fun loving brand? Or are you more serious, like an institution? You can be artsy and easy going or you can be serious and stoic. But mixing the two together rarely results in a unified message.2. Choose 3 variations: Decide on 3 font you feel fit your brand’s message. Design your visual image 3 times using a different font each time. Walk away from the project and come back later. When you have ‘fresh’ eyes you will be able to immediately see what font best suites your message.3. Nothing is worse than a font you cannot read: You have been a victim yourself right? You see a visual marketing attempt, but you cannot read the words because the font was a wrong choice. Just because you feel a font is ‘pretty’ does not mean the audience can digest it. As we learned in the past 2 tips, if your audience does not digest the message fast, they move on.Tip #4Choosing Appropriate ImagesA study performed by Trend Reports found that 65- 85% of people say they are visual learners. Visual learners prefer to look and study as opposed to read and comprehend. Marketers need to optimize images to accommodate the majority of visual learners.Accommodate visual learners and you stand apart from competitors who only use text. When you are choosing images to tie in with your colors, titles, and fonts, you must keep relevancy in mind. Does the image you’re choosing fit the audience you’re choosing it for?Visual learners process information using the part of the brain associated with vision. Which is 60,000x faster than the part of the brain that processes written information.Visual learners look at your image and decide if what they are seeing matches up with what they like, etc. They use the part of the brain that tells them to stop and investigate or keep moving because it is not the right fit.When you choose images ask yourself these 3 questions “does this image fit my”:· Brand· Audience Niche· Important News Feed UpdateIf they answer is yes, your next goal is to transition your audience from the image to your call to action. Getting your audience members to complete a specific action is your main goal.With each image you create moving forward you must ask yourself:”Does this make sense for my audience to act it?”Not sure about the best interaction from your audience? Start looking at the leader’s in your industry. What does their visual marketing strategy look like? Find posts getting a ton of interaction and you have found a winning combination for yourself.Capture the Audience’s AttentionMost people are completely overwhelmed in this information age. When we talk to the majority of people around us, we hear that all this data has become overwhelming. This is why the majority of people on social media skim and scan at rapid speed. The key to visual marketing, is to cause skimmers and scanners to look at your post while avoiding the rest. Most visitors have lost the patience to read through consuming social media posts. They want images that grab their precious attention.Tip #5Use Filters to Get More LikesInstagram gives more than a dozen filters to customize your photos. Gone are the days when you chose a filter because it made your picture look better. Now you choose a filter based on scientific research to make your image perform better. Again, the whole reason we are studying visual marketing, right?Once you take a photo, you can edit it by applying filters using the steps below.1. Tap the filter you’d like to apply.2. Tap the filter again if you want to adjust filter strength up or down using the slider. Tap the check to save your change.3. Tap Next to add a caption and location and to share your photo.Filters make your photos feel more refined. Studies show filters plus editing results in more views, comments, and shares.We used to use filters because they made us look better. Now we understand that filters enhance our content. So what can you choose if you want to work with filters off of Instagram? There are 2 options to enhance your images without going through Instagram.1. The Wix Image EditorIf you use Wix, you can also use their image editor to enhance your pictures.Wix’s image editor allows you to enhance your images while working on your site. Wix’s image editor rivals Instagram in ease and options.2. Online Photo Editing ToolsLooking online you will notice that there is a good variety of image editors. These tools give you complete control over your final image feel and look.Some of the online editing tools are:· Befunky· Canva· RibbetThese are reliable photo editors, all available online and for the most part, with no or small cost.Tip #6 Graphics1. How to Use Quotes (the creative way) for Visual MarketingWhere do you fall on the social media timeline? Do you prefer the days of using social media to make friendships and build relationships?Or, are you the newer generation who loves quotes and not so funny memes of babies with grouchy faces?There is nothing wrong with whatever group you fall into. When you are surfing social media for your personal time.But, there is something missing if you want to build your business only using memes or cat videos.As a visual marketer you cannot afford to miss your goal 100% of the time posting to social media. If your images are not supporting your branding message then you are failing in business.Sure you can build up likes, shares, and comments on your latest baby meme. But ask yourself, “Does this make my audience want my product”?Let’s look at graphics and how to make them resonate with your message to hit your visual marketing goal.· You have spent the better part of an hour creating an image. It is quirky, it is sarcastic and you think witty!· You post to social media and expect an outpouring of comments and questions about your business. But the quote had nothing to do with your home business. So, you hear crickets, not a single follow up question. Sure maybe a ‘like’ or two. But not a single sale. So what went wrong?The question you should be asking yourself is: did my effort investment fit in my sales strategy?If your quotes do not support a larger goal on the back end (to take your call to action), then your effort failed. Be careful of creating and posting visual content without knowing why you’re doing it. And how every single post fits in your sales strategy.2. Infographics: Explain Complex Topics by Using InfographicsDo you remember Tip # 4 about choosing the right image? And how we discussed your audience is 65% – 85% visual learners? This is the exact reason why infographics are so popular. And so effective!You might be dealing with an industry that has complex topics (or even boring topics). When you try and explain them in text form to your visual audience, it is not received well.Spend your time creating an infographic that delivers your complex message through an infographic. Now you have made it easy for your audience to understand. Successful parts of infographics are the ‘visual pathways’ that lead your audience. The end of the infographic will stop right at the invitation to learn more, or any other call to action.The call to action gives the reader somewhere else to go, ideal is your own website. Your infographic goal is to create a visual pathway to lead the reader to your call to action.Distribution Map Infographics are another great example of making a boring topic fun.Here is an example: global economic productivity landscapes. Pretty boring topic right? Unless you are an economist, and in that case, my apologies!Yet, you could create a distribution map infographic using a great palette of colors. With gradations of light to dark, you can produce an effective way to display a boring topic. Another way to standout is to present the statistics in an organized, 3-D form. Looking from a distance, the viewer engages with this arrangement because of its uniqueness.Your infographic goal: Use color gradation to illustrate abstract statistics.Conclusion:Visual marketing is a ‘must-have’ to attract your target audience and grow brand awareness. As you move forward, put into place these elements for your visual marketing strategy.Remember to follow up your designs with an examination of results. Make correct conclusions and then make the right modifications.
Opt For Preventive Care To Reduce The Cost of Healthcare
People often do not prioritize their health and visit the hospital or their doctors while detecting some disease-causing symptoms in their bodies. However, preventive care is the best possible way everyone can undertake and cease the risk factors before the symptoms become dangerous and life-threatening. The following article will focus completely on preventive health care and how it helps reduce further costs involved with healthcare.
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What is Preventive Care?
Preventive health care or prophylaxis involves the measures that people consider for preventing any diseases. The form of healthcare includes utilizing medical services or precautions that fight against the potential health crisis. It is the most important step that people can adopt in better management of their health.
Several factors such as genetic predisposition, lifestyle, environmental factors, and disease agents affect people’s health. Hence, everyone must undergo periodic health check-ups and screening tests from the doctors.
People opt for preventive health care for maintaining better health, and eliminating the disease becomes serious. Preventive care in conjunction with medicines will save a patient from health breakdown and save money from future expenses, especially if the patient is suffering from a chronic disease.
What are the Preventative Care Services?
Here are some of the examples of preventive health care services, along with their frequencies. ·
Annual Check-up (1 per calendar year): During the annual check-up, the doctor or Primary Care Provider (PCP) checks all areas of a person’s health, including physical and psychological. Examining the patients in detail helps in detecting any health care concerns in the early stages.
· Flu Shot (1 per year): Most health plans include flu shots and protect the patients from all strains of flu viruses.
· Mammogram (1 calendar year, after the patient attains the age of 40 years): Patients over the age of 40 must undergo routine x-rays of breast tissues and check for signs of cancer and other abnormalities. Some health plans might cover the costs of 3D imaging. ·
Colonoscopy (usually once in every decade after the age of 50) for detecting colon cancer.
· Vaccinations, including boosters for such as measles, rubella, polio, etc. administered during childhood.
Preventive health care helps keep people productive and active, enabling them to earn well during their senior years. Studies show that approximately 35% of people have to consider early retirement, even before they are financially ready. Opting for affordable, preventive care helps in reducing the numbers.
Why Should Patients Opt for Preventive Care?
Access to preventive health care helped reduce healthcare costs among Americans, as the physicians can prevent or treat the disease before the patient needs emergency room (ER) care. Almost one-third of costs in America include hospital care, which is undoubtedly very expensive. In 2010, 21.4% of adults paid at least a visit to the emergency room, which reduced to 18.6% in 2017. Adults not having affordable access to preventive care are more likely to pay a couple of visits to the emergency room.
Statistics show that 7% of the adults in the age group of 18-64 paid visits to the ER in 2014, as they had no other option, regardless of their health insurance status. About 77% of Americans went to the emergency rooms due to complications in their health, including those whose doctors advised them for emergency room care. Approximately 15.4% of uninsured adults in 2014 are more likely to use the emergency room, as they lacked other providers.
Undoubtedly, the cost of ER care for uninsured patients was extremely high. Hospitals provide care, even if the patient fails to provide fees for their services. As hospitals must recover the cost, they shift to Medicaid and health insurance premiums, which increases the healthcare cost for everyone.
Impact of Preventive Care Cost on Health Care Costs
Chronic diseases are the major leading cause of death among people, either preventable or manageable with regular visits to health care. These include:
· Heart diseases
· Cancer
· Stroke and
· Chronic lower respiratory diseases
Poor nutrition and obesity are the leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Genetics and smoking lead to lung cancer, which is the most common type of cancer. Obesity also risks several other forms of cancer.
Treating these chronic diseases is expensive, even before they reach emergency room status. Approximately 90% of the 3.5 trillion USD includes health care expenditures for people suffering psychological problems and chronic diseases. Patients who never went for preventative care or did not have any prescription coverage failed to afford the treatments, screenings, regular check-ups, and medications that would manage the underlying conditions of the disease. Instead, they head up to the emergency rooms with cases of strokes, heart attacks, and other complications.
However, with regular access to affordable, preventive care, the patients were more likely to discover and manage their chronic conditions. Doing so lowers the chances of visiting the emergency rooms and investing more into expensive treatments for those diseases, which passed regular management. With the decrease in the expenditure for treatments, the overall healthcare cost also decreases for everyone, as the hospitals no longer try to cover the treatment cost of the uninsured patients.
When and What Preventive Health Care is the Most Suitable?
A patient’s primary health care provider will help him or her coordinate the most suitable shots and tests. While analyzing the beneficial shots, the health care provider will consider certain aspects such as family history, age, sex, current health status, and several other factors.
Conclusion
Preventive health care often covers 100% of health plans and offers the patients several benefits both in cost and health. However, if the patient experiences doubts or are in dilemmas about the things covered and tests conducted, he or she must communicate with the physician at the earliest.
Everyone knows, “health is wealth.” If a patient is healthy, he or she will perform the best. However, it is also important to adopt a healthy lifestyle, reducing the risk factors and saving the patients from spending money on medicines.
5 Online Video Editors without Watermarks
With video sharing at an all-time high across all social media platforms, using an online video editor makes your life easy. For example, the YouTube Platform alone uploads millions of videos a week. The right tool can give you a competitive edge. Thus, finding an editor with no watermarks is your best ally to promote your business with video content. After all, watermarks distract viewers when it comes to branding. Need an online video editor with no watermarks? Take a look at the top choices below.
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Factors to Weigh When Selecting an Online Video Editor
With so many video editors online, it can be overwhelming to pick just one. Though most of them share the same purpose of crafting stunning videos, they are not created equal. Even online video editor tools share different characteristics. Here are some factors you must weigh when selecting a digital solution:
Some online video editors are free to use with no watermarks. This is your best bet when you have a limited budget. However, others require a fee so you can remove the watermark. Most editors also offer tiered rates that provide more features the higher the level. Thus, when choosing an editing tool, you must assess your budget and your purpose. All of this will tell you how much you can afford to spend.
The Price
Online video makers come with a broad range of features, from hundreds of transitions to funky animation. The key is finding the tool that you feel comfortable working with. If you have computer memory issues, then pick an editor with cloud-based storage help. Similarly, having access to templates and footage will be helpful for newbies. Most of all, finding a tool with “no watermark” is a priority
The User Interface
Some digital tools are quite complicated. There’s a learning curve, so you need to study first before feeling at ease to use the tool. If you’re new to this field, finding a video maker with an easy user interface works best. Consequently, this means you don’t have to spend hours editing. With drag and drop features and a few clicks of the mouse, you will enjoy the finished product in a matter of minutes.
The Objectives
If you intend to create video ads for your business, then access to a business suit with professional themes works best. When releasing short video commercials, you definitely cannot choose an online video editor with watermarks. It will confuse your target market because they may end up thinking you’re advertising some other product.
Top 5 Video Solutions With NO Watermarks
If you need to create ads, tutorials, explainers, and other videos with no watermark fret not. These top five solutions assure you can create stunning works of art without other people’s branding. Let’s get started.
Promo.com
This lives up to its name by helping you promote your brand well on social media and anywhere else. It offers free to use with no distracting watermarks. Even the basic package comes with lots of templates and free music that assures you can create with ease. If you want to enjoy more features, you can pay for an affordable upgrade. This tool assures you can access:
Thousands of pre-designed templates
Millions of stock video clips and photos
Extensive copyright-free music
Ability to do voice-overs
Animation, effects, transition
Background, colors, fonts
Moreover, if you feel unsure about what to do, 24/7 live chat support is ready to offer assistance anytime. You can actually chat with a real-life customer service agent and not some random bot.
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Movie Maker Online
The biggest perk of Movie Maker Online is there are no registration requirements. Just hop onto the site and start editing. There’s no need to download on your PC and install. Most of all, it is free to use, and your final product will have no site labels or watermarks.
This online video editor lets you upload your photos and footage with ease. Moreover, you can add effects, transitions, and music. Best of all, other than editing videos, this tool allows you to:
Edit photos
Make animations
Create collages
Craft slideshows
Make GIFs
WeVideo
If you want to upload stuff from your phone gallery and have the final edited output within seconds, WeVideo is a great ally. It is compatible with android and iOS mobile. Moreover, it also works with your PC without downloading it. It provides a cloud-based storage system that offers unlimited saves.
In addition, WeVideo allows you to upload and edit any file format. You can swiftly edit, no matter where you are, and immediately share on your site or social media profiles. This allows you to enjoy these perks:
Free stock photos
Extensive video clips
Free music
Various effects
Hippo Video
Try Hippo, another online video editor with no watermark. This tool means you don’t have to download any software. As long as you have internet access, you can edit in the virtual world. This tool allows you to import and export any files from the following:
Gmail
Google Suite
Google Drive
Other cloud-based storage apps
This solution has everything to satisfy your needs. Enjoy its library packed with clips, photos, effects, and music. You can trim, cut, blur, add emojis, or include callout options. Moreover, you will enjoy using templates for whatever you want to create. Best of all, Hippo Video allows you to narrate using the mic tool.
VSCD Free Video Editor
This wonderful tool has no download, no ads, and no watermarks. Just download this software from its site, and you can begin editing. However, your device must meet certain specifications so the app will run.
From there, you can edit all types of file formats and enjoy super effects. With your mouse, you can readily alter images and footage. It also comes with a chroma key that helps you adjust color. Moreover, it has an excellent audio editor for the best sound equalization and volume correction.
The Final Wrap Up
With so many online video editors, it can be overwhelming to choose just one. However, it is okay to have a few editors in your marketing tool kit. And a digital solution with no watermark works best because it will help solidify your branding. Remember, the right tool plays a crucial part in ensuring you edit and share high-quality video content that makes an impact.