How to Take Your Visual Storytelling to the Next Level
3 essential features that will bring your visual storytelling to life.
When it comes to content marketing, the internet is littered and competition is rough. This means it's critical that your content be first-rate, eye-catching and unforgettable if you want to break through the noise and get the attention of your target audience.
Fortunately, a great way to make your content noticeable online is to make it more visual. Visual content is not only faster and simpler for the human brain to process, but it is also an excellent way to generate more clicks, visitors and conversions.
The significance of visual content has been emphasized by the growth of the social media sites that marketing teams use daily to promote their brands and content online. Facebook continues to change its news feed to include bigger and more prominently displayed videos and images. Pinterest is now ranked fourth among the social networking sites, and Twitter now brings videos and photos directly into its timeline.
If you’re not completely won over by the power of visual content, consider this - your content can generate up to 94% more views if you add captivating visual graphics and elements.
To create successful visual storytelling, however, you can’t merely throw a couple of stock photos onto your social media posts or blog. Just as headlines and calls to action must be constructed carefully and methodically, your visual content warrants more than just a passing glance. Your target audience will form their own opinions based on the visual elements you choose to put before them. What is your visual image really saying about your brand?
Are you conventional? Ultramodern? Easygoing? Eccentric? You can communicate all of this through a well-thought-out visual brand strategy. A consistent plan also generates a connecting path, dropping visual bread crumbs across your website, social media and blog, for your viewers to easily recognize you. By incorporating visuals into your marketing blueprint, you are attaching sensory elements to associate and clarify to your audience what you’re trying to say.
To take your visual storytelling to the next level, be sure to include these three features:
Reality
“Memory demands an image.” ΜΆ Bertrand Arthur William
If the popular trend of selfies is any indication, we are all about visually-driven content. That’s why the majority of people can spot fake or sorry attempts to grab our attention from a mile away. Viewers want candid, genuine moments, not tacky, unrealistic promotional or stock photos. As a marketer and business owner, you want to tap into your consumer’s emotions, and say something that is meaningful and relevant.
Sensory
A high-quality image is not only pleasing to the eye, but it arouses all the senses. Imagery goes beyond the basic communication of a person, place or thing; it can create joy and pleasure, invoke nostalgia, or inspire innovation.
“A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.” -Ansel Adams
We all enjoy looking at videos and pictures that are interesting, beautiful, poignant or even awe-inspiring. Even if your imagery achieves every one of those characteristics, that doesn’t automatically, make it relevant for your target audience. Consider whether or not a video or image will communicate to your customers and conform to their ideals and viewpoint.
When illustrating your brand principles, choose bold images that keep your target audience in mind. Keep your context relevant by taking your viewers into consideration. Additionally, be sensitive to religious or cultural subjects and beware of overdoing the promotional aspect.
You don’t need to be Ansel Adams or Frank Lloyd Wright to create a spectacular visual identity for your brand. Select images that are authentic and relevant to your brand and your target audience, that will make you feel emotion and embody the people with whom you’re trying to connect, and will help you create an influential impact for your content.
Ask us how to maximize your consumer base and boost your business’s online presence with virtual storytelling.
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