• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 11, 2015

In an Instagram world, marketers have to learn the new image language — and they will have a tool, GlimpzIt, to gather and analyze the data. The visual marketing platform collects picture/video responses from mobile consumers that help marketers understand human behavior.

"Images generally are culturally agnostic," said Misia Tramp, EVP of the insights and innovation practice at Tahzoo, a customer-experience agency. "The ability to gain data from visuals is huge."

Tramp said images can provide insight into consumer behavior, but in general, brands have a problem with gathering such data from social sites. "There's a certain amount of discomfort around social data because of the inability to know who the data comes from," which makes its accuracy questionable. "I'm never really 100% confident that the data represents the audience I want to talk with."

GimpzIt enables brands to ask consumers questions and allows them to respond by sending pictures rather than text. The data allows marketers to get to know their customers through the images they use to communicate. Tramp said she would like an API that feeds the "visual content" into all the sites and properties Tahzoo builds for its brand clients, which GimpzIt doesn't yet supply.

"There's a whole generation of consumers who feel comfortable exchanging images through mobile devices," said Sami Kaipa, co-founder at Glimpzit.

A marketer logs on to the Glimpzit platform, starts a conversation with consumers by asking something like "Show us your favorite pair of running shoes." Glimpzit gives consumers an option to share images with brands in private, providing a one-on-one conversation with a company.

Aside from Tahzoo, Glimpzit customers include NBC Entertainment and Research Now.