There is a rising trend of using visual storytelling to sell products, educate consumers, and connect with audiences. This comes as no surprise as visual elements make content pop to eyes in a way that text alone simply cannot. While visual storytelling is pretty common in the digital medium, it’s not used as much in other marketing channel. If you haven’t used visual storytelling or have only used it in a limited manner, here are five reasons why you should increase its usage it in all mediums.
Reason #1: You Can Convey Complex Concepts in a Simple Manner
Sometimes, it can be difficult to convey complex concepts to an audience. For example, how do you explain that your headphones feature a technology that produce a crisper yet balanced sound? With the use of visual aids and short explanations, it will be people to understand the concept and even buy into the concept with fewer objections to what you’re saying. I often do this in my photography. It is a powerful way to simply tell a stories in elegant and minimalistic approach. Think of it like the difference between telling and showing then explaining something.
Reason #2: It Stands Out From Other Competing Content and Ads
It’s already established that visual content stands out far more than text only content even in print design. But it’s important to keep in mind that it also stands out from competing content and ads. The reason why is because visual storytelling is often organized in a logical manner while keeping the reader focused with the visual aids. That means that it will stand out visually, keep the attention of the reader, and increase the chance of the content/ad being consumed.
Reason #3: There is a Strong Viral Element Present in Visual Content
Whether you’re creating an intriguing video or a infographic, visual content has that “share worthy” factor that makes people want to pass it on to their network. A good example that you may have come across are the parallax visual stories. Many brands have used a scrolling type design where scrolling down on the website would result in images being changed to tell a story. This is very similar to flip book animation and the uniqueness of this visual storytelling concept has really taken off for many brands.
Reason #4: You Can Kill Multiple Birds with One Stone
A great visual storytelling ad can do more than generate sales. If it is intriguing and entertaining enough, you can attract free links to enhance your SEO campaign, generate free press, attract potential business partners, and start a viral campaign. There are numerous examples of companies that have been featured in blog posts, news sites and industry sites just for presenting web design that is either unique or entertaining.
Reason #5: It Helps You Connect with Your Audience
Visual aids combined with storytelling really help you connect with an audience in a way that text alone can’t. By presenting imagery along with your message, you are relating to your audience on a more personal level. You can also evoke self identification, future imagery, and relevance while solidifying your story with social proof, viewable statistics, and visual examples.
So there you have it: five strong reasons why visual storytelling should be used across all mediums and platforms. Of course, there is a time and place for text only content and a time and place for visual content. But the takeaway here is to think about using it when you have an opportunity to explain complex concepts, stand out from the competition, or launch a unique marketing and branding campaign.