We're back to discuss another new and growing digital marketing trend — visual search marketing!

Just like a lot of these digital marketing trends, you've likely encountered visual search marketing while scrolling through social media or Google and you haven’t even realized it!

We want you to fully understand this new force in digital marketing, so let’s start with the basics.

What Is Visual Search Marketing?

Simply speaking, visual search focuses on using images to promote online searches of products by consumers. Algorithms will take an image online and generate buying options of either that specific product or similar-looking products.

Take this, for example:

Platforms like Google, Pinterest and Amazon have embraced this new technology, and it's paying off for them. According to research, it is estimated that the visual recognition market is projected to become a nearly 40 billion dollar industry by 2025.

Evidently, this is a robust and growing industry within digital marketing, but why is it important and how exactly does it apply to small businesses?

Keeping track of trends in the digital marketing world will help your business stay in-the-know! Check out the previous blog post in this series for more information on a growing trend known as influencer marketing.

Why Is Visual Search Important?

We already established the buying power this industry has, but the influence of visual search is not limited to just this!

Did you know that 62 percent of Millennials and Generation Z would rather have visual search than any other search technology?

Clearly, by including visual search features on a website, businesses can extend their reach to these younger generations.

For businesses that traditionally have had trouble reaching younger buyers, this makes younger consumers a part of the audience and leads the business to a higher chance of making a sale.

For those who have already reached Gen Z and Millennials with their business, visual search provides them with the opportunity to grow visibility and sales even more.

On top of this, we continuously emphasize the importance of showing up in search results, and this is a new way to leverage your search marketing strategy.

In fact, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann said, “The future of search will be about pictures rather than keywords,” and Pinterest is functioning proof.

Currently, 21 percent of Pinterest users search less when they have the option to use visual search instead. Also, over 600 million visual searches are conducted on Pinterest every month.

With visual search in place, platforms have seen extensive growth in interaction with posts, and businesses have gained stronger reaches to customers and a higher likelihood of sales.

Visual search is a step in the direction of increasing your business’s website traffic. Click here to learn more about some other ways to boost your website traffic.

Visual Search for Your Small Business

So, what are the best practices for implementing visual search into your small business’s marketing strategy?

Visual search marketing is especially important for e-commerce business owners to keep an eye on! But here are our top tips on how to make use of visual search:

1. Focus on advertising on Pinterest and make sure those ads have visual search capabilities included. Make sure you understand your audience on the platform and target those ads around their needs and wants. The visual search abilities on Pinterest are well-developed and easy to manage, making the platform optimal for your business’s visual search advertising success.
2. Consider building image search into your website inventory. This means that with the catalog of products you have featured online, image search will be functional on different platforms when consumers are interested in your product. It is merely about creating the capability of visual search for easy accessibility and browsing options of your products.
3. Make sure to optimize your product images. These images should be properly sized and clear, but they should also be optimized for both desktop and mobile visual display and search. This makes the processing of images easier for search engines and ultimately allows them to choose your photo to display in consumer’s search results.

Final Thoughts

With visuals having such a hold on the internet and social media users, take advantage of innovation like visual search. While it’s relatively in its infancy, there are ways to prepare for implementing it into your social media and SEO strategy.

We look forward to what the future holds for visual search, and you should, too!