Ever looked at a giant bulk of text and immediately lost interest? It is a common thing to happen. Fortunately, visual storytelling is one of the tools that comes to the rescue. In this article we will cover what visual storytelling is and how you can use it to keep your reader’s attention.
Discover how to form engagement with your audience, increase traffic on your website, and improve the efficiency of any product launches or marketing campaigns.
It all begins with our two eyes.
Have you realized that our senses are the gateway to this human experience? Interestingly, sight is by far the most used of them. We perceive up to 80% of all information alone with our eyes! What does this mean in marketing? That we can take massive advantage of visual content and storytelling.
As incredibly visual beings, our brains are able to process images 60 times faster than text, making you finally realize why videos, images and graphics are so widely utilized throughout the internet.
Not only are they faster and easier to process, but visual content also allows for the receiver to build an emotional connection with what is perceived. A feeling of relation.
Imagery and videos particularly take the lead in this facet, with videos nowadays being the most powerful method of marketing communication.
Why else videos and images are so prioritized? Well, follow this thought process:
The goal of marketing is to attract and convert leads. In order to expand your reach, enabling content to be shared throughout your customer network greatly facilitates this process. And here it all comes together: images and videos are incredibly easy to share. They therefore hold a higher potential of the content actually being absorbed, consequently resulting in a wider target audience reach.
Interestingly, people only remember about 10% of what they read once a few days go by, whereas imagery & videos, or visual content, is remembered by a remarkably higher rate of 65%.
Additionally, research shows that implementing illustrations to text when following directions actually increases memory and understanding by 332%! That is a significant difference, and yet another reason why visual storytelling is undoubtedly a game changing addition to your marketing methods.
Let’s have a look at how exactly you may use this effective tool.
Using videos as visual storytelling
Here are some more statistics:
- One hundred million internet users watch a minimum of one video daily.
- Towards 2022, videos will take the lead in internet traffic, marking up 82% of all ongoing traffic.
- 85% of businesses utilize videos as a viable method of marketing.
It is needless to say that engagement is easily generated through a video. Besides, a well produced advertisement may also add quality to the perceived brand profile of a company. By giving spark to ideas of buying needs, you can closely relate to your audience’s purchasing motivators, whatever those may be.
Often, buying motivations include:
- Enjoying a sense of freedom
- Amplifying feelings of well being
- Feeling thrill and excitement
- Belonging
- Security
- Personality definition
- Uniqueness
- Success
To make use of this information, ask yourself what is the buying motivation within your target audience, and how you can create a story that easily creates a feeling of relation.
Luckily, transmitting emotions through a video is not the most complicated of transmissions.
Creating A Story
Not sure how to create a story? Not a problem. It’s actually quite simple. Stories in marketing unfold according to this structure:
Hook → rising action → climax → solution → call to action
There are infinite possibilities into the creative process of creating a marketing story. Whether long or short, it is safe to say that this method is one that people generally quite appreciate.
Images
Other popular methods of visual storytelling include:
- GIFs
- Memes
- Infographics
- Illustrations
Whatever method you choose, it is crucial to decide on the intended tone of transmission. Make sure this is in accordance with your company’s voice and style, as visual communication will likely be a great part of your company’s identity.
When dealing with a company that is more laid back and fun, memes might be a great approach. They are also a humorous reminder that we are all humans, after all, whether in a business suit or pajamas.
Illustrations may convey an extensive message within just a simple drawing and quote. They can inspire useful thought processes within your audience, and also bring in another sense of entertainment.
Graphics are incredibly effective when showcasing collected data or more directly analytical content. The two halves of the brain work together to efficiently perceive this information in an intellectual and creative way.
For onsite ads, platforms such as OptionMonster allow for interesting popups to be designed. Canva is yet another creatively utilized visual platform.
Run Tests And Make Adjustments
In this context, visual storytelling is no different than other areas of marketing. Though you may read and understand all the variously applied techniques, the best thing to do is to create something and simply try it. Putting your methods into testing is essentially what confirms whether or not an idea is successful. Take a good look at the outcome and then finally make adjustments wherever necessary!
Julia Arguello Busch – Ninja Partners
