Yes, the photo is a selfie — a picture I took of me. Sure, “selfie” reigns as the Oxford Dictionaries’ current word of the year.  But I can imagine you thinking, “Really? How is this relevant to my agency or me? Ridiculous!”

How’s this for ridiculous? Snapchat’s 23-year-old co-founder, Evan Spiegel, turning down offers to acquire the photo messaging app for $3 billion and then $4 billion.

Selfies and Snapchat are parts of the visual web, the collection of sites that value imagery over text.

Think Instagram and Pinterest, among others. Now, self-portraiture is not new. Ask Rembrandt or van Gogh. Selfies are the digital version of their art. (Is it all about narcissism? Maybe we’re “transcendentalists with iPhones,” as Washington Post reporter Dan Zak writes in “‘Selfie’-reliance: The word of the year is the story of our individualism.”)

As for Snapchat, it’s the poster child for perfect timing, riding the crest of the visual web.

But its promise of short-lived imagery also taps into the growing concern over privacy and overcomes the fear of “what happens on the web lives forever.”

Still wondering why you should care?

It’s always more important to pay attention to cultural trends than to focus on a specific technology. Let’s look beyond the technology to consider what drives this transformation from text to images:

• Connected consumers prefer to scroll through pictures rather than read through paragraphs. It’s easier and quicker, especially considering that most web/app use happens on smartphones.
• Pictures and video humanize a brand and infuse personality into a brand message.
• Advertisers find visual ads more profitable compared to text-heavy ads — they’re less invasive and objectionable.

So how can you use the visual web in your firm’s branding and marketing efforts?

• At a basic level, use lots of real pictures — not stock photos — on your website and in social media posts.
• Use video. Instead of a written explanation, how much more interesting is it to create a video covering what to do after an auto accident?
• Consider a selfie or a 10-second Instagram video posted to your social sites of you participating in a charitable event or coaching a youth sports team.
• Use Pinterest to look up prospects. It’s an easy way to learn about people’s interests. Imagine going on a sales call already knowing that the prospect likes photography and wine collecting. It’s a great way to start the conversation. This holds true for commercial lines as well as personal lines.
• Use personal and agency Pinterest boards to provide insight into your brand.

I have no idea what the next billion-dollar app will be, but I’m pretty sure it will have lots of pictures.  Selfies or otherwise — are there pictures in your future?

This article was used with the permission of Aartrijk the original post can be found here.