Thanks to the meteoric growth of image-based social media channels like Pinterest and Instagram, the ability to create and share compelling images has become more important than ever. But who are the thought leaders in this Brave New World of visual social media? Here are 7 experts with whom you should connect:
(Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this mind map – which includes links to the Google+ pages of these visual marketing experts. Simply click on their topics to visit their Google+ pages.)
- Stephanie Diamond – Author of the outstanding book, The Visual Marketing Revolution: 26 Rules to Help Social Media Marketers Connect the Dots (read my review here)
- Donna Moritz – Her Socially Sorted blog is the definitive source on the best tools and techniques for creating eye-catching visual content.
- Gerry Moran – His MarketThink blog never fails to inspire with innovative visual content and infographic ideas.
- Rebekah Radice – Her blog focuses on a variety of social media strategy topics, and uses visual social media content in some truly admirable ways – it’s part of the DNA of her site and her outlook.
- Paul Biedermann – His RE:DESIGN consultancy and blog focuses on a smart visual strategy as a cornerstone of branding in today’s Visual Age.
- Jeff Bennett – Jeff is the founder of Digital Splash Media, and often writes about trends in visual design and visual marketing. One of his specialties is video infographics.
- Visual Contenting – Visual Contenting is a visual marketing magazine covering the latest in visual content marketing, social media and technology.
These 7 people and pages focus their Google+ channels heavily on visual thinking in general, create outstanding visual content of their own, and provide advice on how you can do so to support your online marketing efforts. Why Google Plus? Because it’s unique, card-based layout makes it the perfect platform to share rich visual content nuggets. It also collects a lot of excellent advice in one place on this important topic.
This growing importance of image-based content “means a massive opportunity for businesses who can leverage the power of visual marketing,” explains Donna Moritz, author of the Socially Sorted blog . “If we can learn how to use images, photos, video, and other visual media in our online marketing, then we have a greater chance of reaching more people with our message. This then provides the opportunity for more exposure as visuals drive traffic to our websites products and services.”
If you’re looking for ways to flex your visual thinking muscles beyond mind mapping, visual content and visual social media are a fascinating growth area.
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