It’s not easy being a content marketer. Readers’ fight or flight response to content is downright depressing. Really, how effective can you be in a world of 8-second attention spans? Not very … unless you give them something to look at, too.

Customers want riveting visuals. If you don’t deliver, they will find someo ne who will. Sad, but true. The most compelling content will lose eyeballs without a visual component. No amount of Ben & Jerry’s will change that fact. (Hey, put down that ice cream spoon). Now is the time to dig into visual content marketing. Here are 10 reasons why:

1. No one reads anymore.

Despite your best efforts, the average website visitor reads 20 to 28 percent of the words you write during a single visit (without visual stimulation).

2. Visuals improve readability.

As a general rule of thumb, you should use at least one image for every 350 words you write. The idea is to add images at regular intervals throughout your copy so readers can “breathe.” If you want to increase shareability on social media, add even more images. Articles with an image every 75-100 words get double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images.

3. Video consumption generates traffic.

It is estimated that video consumption will generate 84 percent of all Internet traffic by 2018. Posts with videos attract 3x more inbound links than those with just plain copy. If you don’t embrace video your company will not be able to compete. It’s that simple.

4. Social media craves “snackable” visual media.

Brands that include images in their Facebook posts earn 87 percent of all engagements. Tweets with images generate up to 18 percent more clicks, 89 percent more favorites and 150 percent more retweets.

5. Relevant images generate views

Content with relevant images get 94% more views than content without relevant images.

6. The majority of your customers complete their buying process before they call your sales department.

The top 3 content formats that B2B buyers seek out to research a purchase decision include visual-heavy whitepapers (78%), case studies (73%) and webinars (67%).

7. Infographics condense information into a visual asset that’s easily digested.

They are liked and shared on social media 3X more than other any other type of content. Chances are, you already have content that you can repurpose into an infographic … and they are well worth your investment.

8. We are hardwired for visuals:

The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than the written word. Images also improve learning up to 400%

9. People remember just 10% of information they hear three days later.

If a relevant image is paired with that same information, people remember 65% of the information three days later.

10. Average video views doubled recently.

Between April 2015 and November 2015, the amount of average video views on Facebook doubled from 4 billion video views per day to 8 billion. And that trend shows no signs of stopping.

What do all of these stats mean?

It’s time to invest in visual content marketing (if you haven’t done so already). No matter what you’re looking to accomplish — brand awareness, high quality leads that convert, social media dominance, customer engagement (or all of the above) – visuals are key. We’re in an era where you will not be successful without them.

What is your visual content marketing strategy for 2016 and beyond? Are you allocating more of your budget to crafting compelling visual content?