Assignment #4 Q2 a

Question 2a (8 Marks)

Why did you choose the specific image(s)?

Your explanation must include:

a) Business relevance

b) Target audience alignment

c) Image intent

d) Why this visual works better than alternative visual approaches

Based on the assignment’s requirements, I chose these specific images/screenshots I found on google for being able to tell a story. First the images even without the text express a story. They show a woman in a rush, looking stressed and looking at her watch because she is either late or forgot something and checking if she has time, both are good interpretations. The second image is the woman finding a Vending Glow machine on the way and purchasing something from it, telling readers that she might’ve found what she was looking for or what was stressed about in that vending machine. The third image is a woman using makeup and already looking happier. And the last image represents a woman with a  big smile, working on her laptop feeling happy and confident. 

1. These images are relevant to my vending glow business because it expresses how these vending machines automatically relieve stress, make people feel confident and on-time because it only takes a few seconds to purchase from the machines without talking to anyone or having to wait in a line or for a cashier. The first image shows the woman having no time to do her makeup or forgetting something which is the pain point. The second is a solution being found by her finding the vending machine full of beauty supplies. The third expresses the woman using the product(s) she purchased, already looking happier and pleased. Finally the last image expresses the outcome of the situation by the woman working, smiling and feeling better. This represents Vending Glow by showing exactly what the business is meant for by just taking a look at the visuals. Posts with visuals make a big impact and are very important because posts with engaging and relevant pictures get 94 % more visits and engagement and 60% more likely to click on a business or website if the images appear in search results and resonate with them. (W9-D-Enhancing Content). People make an impression on a business or web page in just 50 milliseconds (the power of visuals in web content overview) , so this visual representation is perfect because it portrays what the business does and what problem it can solve for users. 
2. The visual post created aligns with a big chunk Vending Glow’s target audience which are busy individuals, young adults who work either at their first jobs or close to being done post-secondary school meaning they are either college or university students. These people value their time, because they have busy lifestyles, and always on the go and quick services are time-saving and help their lifestyles a lot. Young adults are also more likely to be visual learners and part of the 65% of people, they also value high-quality and self-explanatory images and this also increases engagement becoming very relevant to viewers. 67% of consumers stated that clear images matter way more than product descriptions (The power of visuals in web content overview), proving once again why high-quality, relevant posts like these represent real scenarios in real time and a real woman using existing products that people, especially this audience, deal with on a daily basis, making it stand out and relate with Vending Glow’s target audience.
3. The intent of these images and this entire visual post is to communicate a problem, state the solution and express how to overcome it just by looking at the visuals. Linking visuals with short descriptive messages makes it more likely for people to remember it long-term, storing it into the brain easier.  The visuals also strike emotions especially for women that deal with situations like these all the time, where we forgot something at home and are running late for school and work. Even if the text and descriptions were removed from the post, the visuals will remain self-explanatory and resonate with people. Images are processed 60 000x faster than text (The power of visuals in web content overview) , along with them also triggering emotional responses because the same part of a human brain handles visuals, emotions and memory. (The power of visuals in web content overview) Showing the images with the woman, in this case being Ana she goes from stressed/overstimulated to happy and confident. 
4. This approach works better than alternatives in a few ways. First, it gives urgency and shows the benefits from using these vending machines. A plain text without much context or clear visuals that do not tell a story will most likely be ignored or not relevant to people. Users remember only 10-20% of written text after 3 days but a whole 65% is remembered if the post has clear high-quality visuals (w9-c-importance of visuals). Another alternative would be videos however this visual post is better because 53 % of mobile users (The power of visuals in web content overview) , this also is my target audience because young adults are mostly on their phones, they tend to abandon a page if it takes more than a few seconds to load. This post does not take long at all, maybe milliseconds to load making it efficient, triggering emotions, something that a page full of text would not be able to do as well.  These images tell a story, making people relate to it, understand it clearly and finally get them to engage and purchase from Vending Glow. This approach is persuasive, more memorable, striking emotions and making it engaging and relatable.