(1) The first image that visitors are presented with when visiting the St. Clair website is a large group of students on a staircase/walkway accompanied by text that tells users to “start HERE.” While the image may capture the atmosphere of the college campus, it is not captivating or attention grabbing because in terms of content, it is generic. Website images, particularly on the home page, are a chance for a company to illustrate their advocacy for “diversity, inclusion and equality.”[1] While the hero image includes a large group of students, many of which might be of different race or ethnicity, it is out of focus and does not directly promote this advocacy. This is important, specifically for the hero image, because you only have up to 8 seconds to capture the attention of the reader. If they do not believe that the content directly relates to them or fulfils their purpose, they will continue searching.

Visuals, especially in organizations like schools, are important in avoiding symbolic annihilation. This is the concept that “if you don’t see people like you in the media you consume, you must somehow be unimportant.”[1] Therefore, St. Clair college’s website requires more images that capture student experience while portraying students of different race, ethnicity, culture, etc. Rather than using an image that makes students feel like just another face in the crowd, they should use a more captivating image that shows students what their experience could be like at St. Clair so they can envision themselves having a positive experience in college. The visual like the following image should be used instead to accurately capture St. Clair’s inclusivity and potential for students of different backgrounds to learn and have fun together. This image in particular is beneficial because it is student generated and shows that St. Clair wants their students to be part of the narrative. Prospective students also prefer images that do not look staged.

(2) St. Clair should also implement infographics throughout their website to better explain processes to prospective students. Choosing a program and going through the application process is confusing enough on top of navigating a website with a sea of information. One of the top 5 components that prospective students are looking for in a college website is the effective presentation of content.[1] If you consider the admissions page for the ADV program, readers are presented with a generic stock visual for the hero image followed by a full page of subheadings and copy.

Infographics can increase traffic by 12% because consumers tend to focus on “information carrying images” more than they read the page’s text.[1] Infographics are also 30x more likely to be read in their entirety than plain blog posts or news articles. For example, if prospective students do not continue to read and scroll down the ADV page, they would not know that our program has a 90% employment rate! Therefore, St. Clair should include an infographic on  each program page that shows the benefits of the program and the results that students can expect when they graduate from the program.

The following infographic includes stats and other information that is organized in a visually appealing way. The use of visual aids in this case is beneficial because it makes content up to 43% more persuasive, which makes students more likely to choose St. Clair.

(3) Finally, the St. Clair website should implement documentary style videos that expand on the student life of each individual program. These videos would offer a look into the life of a student within that program and include student testimonials so that prospective students can have a better understanding of what to expect in their desired program. Alternatively, each program page could be connected to a corresponding social media page that shows this content in the form of Instagram reels or TikTok videos. Currently, the only visual content depicting student life is a video that encompasses all campuses in less than two minutes. For the downtown campus, it only mentions the MediaPlex, the school of business, and the Chrysler Theatre (which has nothing to do with most programs).

Video is the preferred visual content option for users as they spend 2.6x more time on pages with video than without.[1] In addition to making your content more engaging, videos used in marketing see a 27% higher CTR and 34% higher web conversion rate.[2] This content adjustment will result in more engagement from prospective students and potentially increase enrolment.

[1] https://empathunited.com/the-importance-of-homepage-image-diversity/#:~:text=These%20images%20are%20particularly%20significant,allegiances%2C%20customer%20base%20and%20more.

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Tired of Furniture Assembly Frustration? Book a Call with Furnisure!

We’ve all been here before. You’re excited to bring home a great addition to your space only to find yourself ready to pack it back up and return it, hours into the frustrating assembly process. Simply adding furniture to your space should never have to be this hard!

The most common problems with assembly and mass-produced materials include:

• Required tools are either cheaply made (if included) or not owned by the consumer.
• Pieces that are missing, broken, or misaligned.
• Parts that are difficult to tell apart.

So, skip the hassle, book a call with Furnisure, and we’ll do the heavy lifting – literally! Put down your neighbour’s drill and book a call where you’ll meet with one of our designers in person or virtually. We look forward to working with you!

A. Why did you choose the specific image(s)? (3 marks)

Effectively tells a story – I chose these images because they relate to the copy within the article, but they make the content more effective in telling a story. The article explains why custom furniture saves time and eliminates the stress of adding furniture to your home. It outlines the common problems with assembling your own flat pack furniture, which anyone who has experienced can relate to. The first image shows the consumer at the beginning of the process in a state of confusion and frustration when trying to build furniture from a store. The second/concluding image shows the consumer on a virtual call with furniture after deciding to return the flat pack furniture and have a custom piece made.

Triggers emotion to make the content more relatable – First and foremost, the images trigger the emotion of logic and gain because it immediately shows that the depicted consumer starts out flustered and ends out satisfied. This shows that choosing to buy from Furnisure over big box stores is an easier, stress free process that offers the reader a more positive outcome – a product that they will actually be satisfied with. It also triggers an emotional response of anger/confusion in terms of relatability to show that Furnisure understands that consumers are not alone in how they feel when trying to assemble something that makes them angry or feel as if they were not delivered the value that they initially thought they would. The second image shows satisfaction/relief once the consumer decides to ditch the particle board mess and call Furnisure for custom services.

Easier to remember/recall – the images also immediately illustrate the value that Furnisure provides with their custom furniture services. Seeing the man in the images go from anger/confusion in the first image to satisfaction/relief in the second image allows the reader to easily remember the feeling that Furnisure can provide. Humans tend to “remember the pairing of emotions and visuals in vivid detail” and these images allow the reader to imagine themselves in this situation. This makes the content more memorable so the reader will easily remember the business next time they think of furniture shopping or assembly.

B. Explain in detail why the image(s) was beneficial for the post. (3 marks)

The images are beneficial to the post because they illustrate a situation in which the consumer goes from a negative emotion to a positive emotion. This shows that consumer satisfaction is at the forefront of the brand’s proposed value. It allows the reader to immediately understand that Furnisure offers a service that solves a problem. The reader has found this article because they are looking for a solution to their problem: dealing with mass-produced furniture that is of low quality and frustrating to build. Since visuals transmit messages faster than text alone, the chosen images in the article efficiently tell the reader that this content can help them solve their problem/fulfil their purpose. Since this the purpose of this post is to promote Furnisure as a stress-free alternative to purchasing flat pack furniture, the images are beneficial to get this message across immediately as to grab the readers attention and get them to book a call. The images enhance the content, which may not otherwise be considered engaging, and consumers would not bother to read the information if it was presented as text alone. The images are beneficial because it allows them to recreate this experience in their mind and often times, the experience ends at the first image. The reader would relate to building cheap, complicated furniture and either look back at the product providing a less-than satisfactory result or having returned it to the store. The second image shows the reader what they could experience if they choose to buy from Furnisure. The story telling is important because it presents the consumer with an opportunity to feel the same way as the man in the second image as they recreate this experience in their mind. It allows consumers to envision themselves in the same situation, making them more likely to take action.

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Visuals are crucial to web content because they are easier to understand and remember than text alone, which can lead to higher engagement. Standing out to the reader is one factor, but being able to remember the content is an important element in the content’s ability to resonate with the audience. Incorporating visuals allows the content to be more easily absorbed, which means that your audience is more likely to complete the desired action based on the purpose of the content. For example, if an article explains the process of a caterpillar turning into a monarch butterfly, it will be much more difficult to remember than an infographic that explains the information using visuals. If the purpose is to get people more engaged with a foundation that protects endangered monarch butterflies and make a donation, this would be a more effective approach. Infographics alone can increase web traffic by up to 12%. This visual method can also be compared to the usage of flashcards with images on them rather than words to get students to remember a specific term or topic.

VS

Visual aids can improve learning by 400% and be processed 60,000 times faster than text on its own. Since people are able to retain images much better than words, it is important to use high-quality images that tell a story and further support your content. This is important particularly for the web because if your content is hard to understand, disorganized, or uninteresting, readers will quickly move on to something else due to their average 2.8-8 second attention span. This will impact your user experience, engagement levels, bounce rate, and ultimately your SEO success. Since users spend 100% more time on web pages with visual elements, it is important to deliver them content that easy to understand and retain to keep your brand in the mind of the consumer.

Visuals do a much better job at triggering emotion in readers, which leads to 2x more impact than content that tries to sell something based on functional value alone. This helps increase conversion rates and revenue by getting consumers to buy from your brand based on a decision driven by emotions. For example, images and videos can effectively be used to instill a sense of urgency in the reader to make them act immediately, giving them less time to consider the factors involved in making a purchase. In class, we discussed the emotional trigger used with the pictures and videos of sad, beaten animals to get people to donate to the ASPCA to make people emotional and feel bad for the animals. This campaign was actually the most successful in the history of the ASPCA because it raised $30 million in the first two years of its release in 2007.[1] It is incredibly effective, and this can be applied to web content! Putting videos like these on a webpage can increase conversions by 86%.

[1] https://www.redbookmag.com/life/pets/news/a41805/sarah-mclachlan-aspca-commercial/

Using images and CTAs with warm colours such as yellow, orange, and red instill a sense of urgency.[1] 69% of millennials experience FOMO when they cannot attend a popular event[2] so you could combine the emotional trigger of fear and urgency to sell tickets to your event. If you were working on a campaign for Shania Twain’s world tour and you wanted to increase ticket sales, you could include an image of people having fun at a concert and include a warm coloured backdrop or lighting with text that says, “Hurry! There’s only a few VIP seats left for <selected-location>” This is far more likely to get users to click. Using an image like this can also allow the reader to visualize themselves at the event and imagine the feeling you get when you’re having a good time at a concert because they can easily recreate the experience in their mind. This will also influence them to make a purchase.

Images are also important because they are better at telling a story and they transmit the message faster than text alone. Although an image may not tell the entire story, it elevates it by enhancing the overall content and transmits the message much faster. This enables the reader to quickly understand the content since visuals are the first element that they will notice. As advertisers, we have a matter of seconds to capture the attention of a consumer, so it is important to use relevant, high-quality images that enhance the message of the content. This allows the reader to immediately decide whether or not your content is what they are searching for and if will help them fulfil their purpose.

For example, your business may be a family style campsite that offers activities and events that the whole family can enjoy. The user is browsing the web for a family-focused campsite that offers this experience. Before the user even reads this headline or body copy, they would first notice and process this image:

They would immediately see an image of a family having a great time together at a campsite with a tent in view. Everyone in the family is smiling and spending time together through the activity that they are participating in. This will grab the reader’s attention and get them to continue to read your content since they are able to get a sense of this visual scene in just 1/10 of a second. This is far more effective than describing the scene or the experience that the reader will have with their family if they choose this camping destination.

[1] https://www.searchenginejournal.com/create-urgency-conversions-sales/249643/#close

[2] https://www.marq.com/blog/subtle-art-using-emotion-visual-content

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