Question 1

As discussed in class, please provide three reasons why visuals are important to web content. Please ensure
you go into detail for each item.

(6 Marks)

Visuals stick in long-term memory. 

Transmit messages faster. 

Improve comprehension. 

Visual cues trigger emotions. 

Motivate consumers. 

Making web content without including visuals is almost always a critical mistake. Visuals, when used correctly, immensely enhance your content. 

When it comes to web content, users have short attention spans. If not immediately engaged, there is little stopping them from leaving your content. This is why speed is important in web content. Communicating your message efficiently and engagingly is vital, which is why we employ techniques such as the F pattern. However, arguably one of the most efficient message communicators is visuals, and here are some reasons for that. As discussed in class and in Week 9 PowerPoint, we learned that 90% of information transmitted to your brain is visual and that our brains can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. This allows content creators to communicate something immediately and with no language barrier. 

We know that visuals enter the brain faster and are comprehended faster, but on top of that, they are even more effective than text at staying in your brain. In class, we learned that most users will only mentally retain 10-20% of text or spoken language, but around 65% of visual information over a three-day study, leaving lasting memories and impressions in the minds of consumers is one of the most important things an advertiser can do. So, using visuals should always be a no-brainer. What makes this extremely potent is combining your content message with engaging/meaningful visuals, as we discussed in class. 

A third reason that visuals are important to web content is their ability to trigger emotions. Getting your users to feel a certain emotion is almost always one of our goals as advertisers. Studies have shown that emotional campaigns perform around twice as well when compared to campaigns using only rational content (How our brains decide what we share online). As learned in class, visual memory and emotions are both processed in the same part of the brain; the two are undeniably linked. 

Combining these three elements: lasting impression, message comprehension, and emotion evocation, it paints an obvious and clear picture of why visuals are a necessity. Not using visuals needlessly puts your content at a statistical disadvantage.