Visual marketing has become a critical component of reaching target customers in today’s competitive business landscape. In fact, 20 percent of marketers report that their visual content has been twice as effective than their text content. The reason is the power of visual marketing. To boost that power even more, consider using image tagging to give your images enhanced context while also making them easier to locate.

Image tagging, or the practice of adding descriptive information to a photo when you upload it, can be vitally important for social media marketing on platforms such as Pinterest.

Along with providing an excellent method for boosting images within search rankings, tagging gives you the opportunity to effectively reach your target audience on social media. Additionally, marketers can add key data, such as item names and price tags. However, before embarking on an image-tagging campaign, be sure you are following three key important steps.

1. Do your homework first.

Begin by researching keywords to find the best options for your company. Keyword research is vital for both text-content marketing and visual marketing. The keywords you identify as part of your research efforts should be used in your image file name as well as your description and alt tags. It is also a good idea to include those keywords in any hashtags and status updates used in your social media marketing.

2. Leverage trending hashtags.

In addition to researching keywords, it is also important to make note of hashtags that are currently trending on social media. A great tool that can assist you with your search is Hashtagify.me, which provides a list of hashtags that are currently the most popular. By using trending hashtags, you have a far greater chance of reaching people who are surfing through hashtags to locate interesting content.

Related: How to Create a Social-Media Marketing Plan From Scratch (Infographic)

Do make sure that you understand the context of a hashtag prior to using it, however. Otherwise, you might unwittingly find yourself jumping into a conversation and stirring up unwanted controversy that will do nothing to enhance your brand’s reputation.

3. Make use of tools for easier image tagging.

As visual marketing has become increasingly important, a number of tools have emerged to make it easier to reach your target audience with unique content. Among them is Fyuse, which offers dynamic image-tagging features. With this tool, your brand can do everything from tag prices in images to promote links. You can even take advantage of the opportunity to tag images according to location while benefitting from geo-imaging capabilities.

Image tagging can provide incredible value and event context to your images. An image without proper tags is often meaningless. This can be particularly true when your business utilizes a large number of images. In such cases, image tagging can be essential to convey the right sense to customers and ensure that images are not misleading.

Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248877
By: Brett Relander