1,000 words really aren't that many, are they?

Just think about how that compares to the last 10% of information being divided up across all of your other senses.

Especially if you're prone to cute animal pictures, like most of the Internet community...

In the time it takes to read this sentence, how many images do you think you could have looked through, understood, and memorized enough to remember them later?

If you want people to really understand any point you're driving home, or be inspired by an idea you're sharing, there's no better way than to support it with visuals.

You can totally add "understands some signs in foreign languages" to your résumé. You're welcome.

You've been on Facebook.

You know it's true.

Think about how many photos you've revisited, movies you're re-watched, etc. compared to articles you've re-read. Also, consider how much easier it is to share a photo with a group of friends than it is to get the same amount of people to read an article.

No need for dramatic, click-bait headlines! Just include beautiful, interesting, exciting photos, and people will love ('like') it.

Readers feel more engaged with posts that feature images, making them more comfortable diving into conversation about the topic at hand.

Whether you want users to click, view, read, comment, Tweet, share, post, email, or Pin to Pinterest, the evidence clear: visual communication is the best way to drive engagement and grow your audience.

In sum: using visuals in your communications will cause your content to be understood more easily and quickly, cause a better emotional reaction, and driving user interaction and sharing.

Here are some tips to make the most out of visual communication:

You can illustrate a point, demonstrate inspiration, open a story, tell the punchline, and more. Be creative!

Have you ever passed a billboard and thought a character on it was smiling a little *too* much about dental insurance coverage to be realistic? Don't do that.

Give your viewers characters they can relate to, and they will find themselves more easily immersed in your content.

Don't overwhelm with text or with images. Find a pleasant conversation between the two.

Don't just use photos for the sake of using photos; people will skim past your content and learn not to pay attention to it. Make every image meaningful and interesting for the topic at hand.

People love to share things that bring them joy and happiness, and tend to pass over things that are going to ruin their day. Make your viewers smile, laugh, or be surprised, and they'll want to do the same for their friends... by sharing your content with them.

Haiku Deck makes it super easy to tell your story visually, with over 35 million free images with Creative Commons license attributions.

Sources:

"19 Reasons You Should Include Visual Content in Your Marketing [Data]" by Amanda Sibley:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33423/19-Reasons-You-Should-Inc...

"Seeing is Believing: Why Using Visual Content in Your Marketing Makes Sense" by Curve by Getty Images:

http://curve.gettyimages.com/article/seeing-is-believing-why-using-visual-c...

"5 Ways to Connect with Your Fans Using Visual Content" by Anna Francis:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/connect-fans-using-visual-content/