How to focus on visuals to capture your audience.

As I stated in the post before the last one, according to hubspot, Facebook images and photos receive 53% more likes than the average post. So why would a marketer not pay attention to visuals when creating a marketing plan.
One fact about marketing is that the plan will differ depending on who your target market is, where your target market is, and many other factors. So when using visuals to capture a market, one must choose meaningful images. I will discuss four important things to consider while marketing using visuals.
1. UNDERSTAND! Understand your consumer! This should go without saying, but if your target market is tween girls from the suburbs of L.A and you're posting videos marketing eyeshadow and using RoseAnne Barr as the spokesperson, you're clearly not understanding your consumer.
2. FIND MEANING! Why should anyone even consider your product? What sets you apart? Why would your target market prefer you over another brand? Have meaning!
Look at Toms shoes for example. Many people don't necessarily think the shoes are the best aesthetically, however, the brand actually has meaning! For every pair of Toms shoes you buy, another pair is donated to someone in need. This also ties to corporate social responsibility, but I'll elaborate on that another time. Brands can have meaning in different ways, but a brand is nothing without meaning.
3. CONNECT!
I don't believe you can connect if your brand doesn't exude meaning. But you want to REACH your target market. What better way to connect than through visuals? Pinterest is the perfect website for this. It's exponential word of mouth. Users choose whether they want to "pin" your items and their friends then "repin" it and so on and so forth.
As well, Instagram is awesome for connecting. Many consumers connect to brands by posting photos (of the specific brand) to Instagram and hash tagging the name of the brand. This is so simple yet speaks at way higher volumes than just exclaiming, "I LOVE THESE NEW SHOES I BOUGHT, YOU SHOULD ALL BUY A PAIR!" Users of Instagram can search hashtags and see photos other users post. This is great for seeing a pair of shoes (or really any clothing) on someone (besides a photoshopped 18 year old model) before making your purchase. This also creates a connection among your consumers.
4. HAVE A BRAND PERSONALITY!
Last, but certainly not least, HAVE A BRAND PERSONALITY! This is especially important when connecting with users through visuals. Nobody wants to see visuals from a robot, it's like having a conversation with Siri. Don't be afraid to post things that don't always pertain to your brand specifically, as long as it pertains to your brand personality! I will use the shoe example again. For instance, you don't always have to post photos of your shoes, you could even post a photo of a cute cat with a funny caption if that's what you prefer. Just make sure it pertains to your brand personality. Also please don't post too many photos of cute cats...you may cause your consumers to think you're a "creepy cat lady" (what's so wrong about that anyways??)...I hope this helped! And never forget about the visuals.