We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Never has that been truer than in today’s real estate market. With limited time and many listings to review, most home buyers will quickly move if a property’s photos are unattractive.

Online media has changed marketing forever. Realtors and home sellers are competing to capture the attention of buyers. And the best way is through visual marketing.

In a nutshell, visual marketing means to harness the power of images. This can mean anything from photos to video, to infographics and design.

Visual marketing is effective because:

Audiences have short attention spans. Consumers are unwilling to read large blocks of type. They need to have their attention captured quickly. Studies show it needs to take place in about three seconds.

Most of the information transmitted to the human brain is visual. Did you know that we process visuals tens of thousands of times faster than we do text?

Image-based social media is the fastest growing. Consider the success of Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat and Instagram.

Visual content gets shared more often. Studies prove that photos and videos drive more customer engagement with social media than text updates. When content is shared, it increases brand visibility and broadens the audience.

Visual content is great for search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines now incorporate social signals into their ranking algorithm. Every “like,” comment and share has an impact. The sites that have the biggest impact are Google Plus, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

So, if you’re considering selling your home in the Hudson Valley, New York, Philadelphia or Pennsylvania, make sure that your agent is up on all the latest visual-based marketing techniques. Contact me, Paul Biagini of Biagini Realty and I can help you get the most competitive offer for your home!