Being a part of a continually evolving industry demands talented budding designers to keep themselves updated with the upcoming evolutionary trends.
Designers are, most of the time, curious about the new surprises coming their way, and they feel more than determined to master them as soon as possible.
From bold typography to minimalistic movement to parallax scrolling, the design industry has indeed come a long way. So talking about the next big trend is the already existing buzz of visual storytelling that has been consistently witnessing upward growth.
Starting from animated GIFs, real-time storytelling, and snazzy infographics, visual storytelling is scattered everywhere.
All of these things indicate only one single thing. Visual storytelling is definitely going to be a long-lasting, powerful trend for the next couple of years. So here’s everything you need to know about this next big thing!
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What is Visual Storytelling?
The concept seems pretty straightforward and refers to the mode of communication that involves visual multimedia as a part of the messages. A mere picture is capable of portraying thoughts that are sometimes tough to convey through words.
Nonetheless, even in this highly dominating digital age, we can clearly see how relevant this concept has become, especially in the competition of seeking more consumer attention. Today, visual storytelling is done through videos, graphics, pictures, and images to drive a connection with the users and eventually spark an emotion.
Marketing tactics like these have been predominant for many years. However, the evolution in digital marketing has resulted in the designers taking the lead to convey the messages.
Best Visual Storytelling Techniques to See the Best Marketing Results
What are the ways in which you can come up with some great, eye-catching visual content to grab the attention of your audience? Well, it’s time to look at this list of techniques that each of the marketing teams needs to consider.
1. Show rather than telling
One of the most fundamental aspects of visual storytelling is not just confined to your visual storytelling or content. One of the main tasks involved in this process is to reduce your text to only minimal, essential lines that highlight the important stuff. And of course, your superior visuals are the thing that will do the speaking.
2. Use of color psychology to build scenes
One of the best opportunities you will find to express your ideas is through the selection of an appropriate color palette. Consider yourself to be a director who focuses on each and every shot that will ultimately bring out perfect visual storytelling. And as a part of this, you must select the right color for every emotion.
3. Start with a creative pitch
A key feature to make your content stand out among the rest is to start with a creative idea. An irresistible idea will undoubtedly ensure that the audience remains glued to their screens. For instance, in most of the successful campaigns, you will notice that the creative team stays entirely true to their quirky yet straightforward concept.
4. Engage in gorgeous photography
How do you turn yourself from a marketer to a photo editor? The best option is to hire a professional photographer who can help you come up with a more compelling and attractive story. There is no better way to engage a vast audience than to come up with a perfect shot.
5. Get started with a video
No one can deny the fact that video content has also been gaining huge attention. Therefore, it’s time for your team to focus on coming up with an excellent video for better engagement. Wherever you might travel, just start shooting moments on your phones for social media.
6. Tell an Entire Story
The best types of web content are the ones that showcase a whole story, from beginning to the very end. Come with some great topics on case studies or any other category and stick to familiar structures each time to feel more comfortable and avoid being deviated from the central thought.
Rules for Visual Storytelling Every Marketer Must Know
Want to boost your brand with better visual storytelling? I recommend you follow these few simple principles that you must have already come across in real-life situations, especially in movies.
1. Context Is Everything
Context is a kind of shortcut that you could use to communicate with the audience without actually saying it directly. It could be done by pointing out hints, such as supporting characters in the scene or only the location and overall getup.
Also, the visuals could convey a bright idea to the audience about the entire situation, which simply indicates that you not need to force dialogs or lines to make your point.
2. Show the people
Note that assumptions won’t always work your way, and the audience might have a harder time understanding in certain situations. In such scenarios, the best thing to do is to convey content that is relatable to people. Remember that we can always relate to people better than compared to businesses or brands.
So, show the world the story of all those people behind your brand, from employees to workers to even your customers.
3. Be True, Be personal
One of the most powerful tools is to share your personal story behind your business or brand. Every person has a uniquely personal experience while they strive to achieve success. Share with the audience and see for yourself how they connect with your true self.
Most of the viewers will be easily able to reciprocate your thoughts as most of them might have some things in common. Thus, showing your true personal self plays a crucial role in turning around the way they perceive your ideas.
4. Focus on First Impressions
Human nature is such that we are programmed to judge things at first glance itself. Our reflexes and our way of instantly reacting to signs also indicate the fact that one quick look is what it all takes to create an impression in our minds.
The digital world also faces a similar kind of scenario. The first content, such as a quick preview or a first picture, is certainly going to give your audience your first immediate impression.
If in case your viewers tend to get the wrong idea at first glance, they might simply move on. Hence, a visual story created by you must be far beyond words like unworthy or unprofessional.
5. Make your story move
Most of the finest stories are the ones that have a smooth flow throughout the entire segment. “Move” is not just about having video content or even GIFs. At times, there is content wherein the video itself lacks movement just like a simple standalone photo.
On the contrary, a single photo that is captured from the right angle could easily portray motion as you immerse yourself in its eye-catching visuals.
Importance of Visual Storytelling In Winning More Leads in Marketing
I’m quite sure that most of you’ll have come across posts that are filled with the monotony of texts that simply make you feel bored after a certain time. That’s where you feel the need to have images to break this wall.
One of the main reasons why many marketers don’t consider it as an option is because they find the use of visuals to be unprofessional. Now this notion is far beyond the truth and strictly needs to be changed.
Visual storytelling is known for gaining instant leads in marketing due to the following top reasons :
- Unlike text, images are quick to grab the attention of the audience and also keep them engrossed in the content. Instead of going through a long series of texts, a picture conveys the same idea within seconds.
- Creativity and uniqueness are the things you need to focus on while portraying your message through visual storytelling. Conveying an idea that is crystal clear through the visuals helps the idea to resonate effectively with the viewers. It is likely to grab more attention to your content.
- Visual storytelling involving certain personal flavors, along with a sense of uniqueness and portrayal of your true self, helps you connect with your audience at an emotional level. In this way, visual storytelling lets your audience feel the connection and they will easily be able to relate with your ideas.
Few Stunning Examples of Visual Storytelling
A cornerstone in the field of marketing, visual storytelling, opened up the endless possibilities of offering your customers what they want. This creativity in business marketing has led them to be more artistic and also cater to the illiterate section of the population.
Check out this list of a few best-known companies that have successfully managed to put forth their brand story in front of their vast audience, stealing their hearts away.
1. Modcloth
Every time you visit Modcloth, you will find yourself sticking around, mainly because of its appealing parts. The platform will certainly make you feel like checking it time and again, and you would simply fail to hold back yourself.
Its homepage will display the bright lives of women who are enjoying every part of their lives. The visual storytelling of the retailer is simply spot on.
Each slide here is a collection of clothing that is categorized for expanding the availability of each idea. Aspirational ads like these make you want to get in the mood for those clothing lineups.
2. Slack
The one-piece visual that is offered to you on the homepage speaks a lot about why this seems to be yet another creation of a fantastic marketing slide. And with such an exciting tagline “Robots on Mars,” curious nerds like me will definitely find it to be even more thrilling.
Overall, the creative tagline, along with a spectacular image, simply portrays to the audience that the team is all set to accomplish incredible things.
3. Toca Boca
This platform offers some immensely adorable educational games and apps for kids. The products they offer are termed “Digital Toys.” One significant aspect of these toys is that they pose numerous benefits to the children that aren’t precisely provided by the physical toys.
Such benefits include the ability to collaborate and share, build something bigger, and even things such as the ability to take up risks.
Entirely appropriate for the brand, Toca Boca is pretty simple, and the images used as well have blocked characters along with simple colored shapes.
4. 1001 Knights (Kickstarter)
This anthology project is all about a stunning set of books that portray great noble characters that have feminist overtones. Platforms like this totally depend on visual storytelling since it is quite difficult to grab the attention of a considerable audience and convince them to pay.
And a plea like this certainly requires a display of compelling visuals to keep the audience stunned and curious, while craving for more content.
One of the significant parts of its success is the voice-over of the videos, along with the stunning portrayal in images that do not require you to read even a single word for connecting with the content.
5. Twoodie
This brand is all about beauty and simplicity. Their easy-to-recognize images make these games quite fun and exciting to play. Apart from its simple yet vibrant color choice, the photos displayed on the platform are just as fundamental, stirring, and mesmerizing.
The Bottom Line
Visual storytelling is not something that has been introduced recently but has been prevailing for quite a couple of years. Although, the catch is to keep yourself updated with its continually evolving nature in the digital landscape.
Due to its exceptional significance in the field of design, every budding designer must keep up with the trends to develop a stable career and make their portfolios stand out from the rest.
Additionally, go try out any one of the above-discussed techniques to boost your marketing capabilities by adding a touch of visual storytelling to your amazing content. It’s all about experimenting and coming up with fresh ideas.
Image source: Freepik Premium
