Learn

Research your audience to identify the type of visuals that move them.

Discern

Determine the optimal blending of storytelling words and images.

Earn

Gain targets' attention with sensory-rich stories that spark emotions.

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Forge a Lasting Impression with Visual Online Storytelling

We know storytelling is effective at reaching people, but visual storytelling is even more potent. Fully 83 percent of human learning depends on visuals, and 44 percent of followers are more likely to engage with brands that post pictures. Visual online storytelling is among the best ways to get folks' attention. Follow our guide to ensure your visuals carry as much weight and exert as much impact as your words.

TO KNOW WHAT VISUALS TO USE, FIRST KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

To make the most of visual online storytelling, you need visuals that resonate with your audience. Pinpoint images that resonate by determining what makes your targets tick. Who are these folks? Where do they live and work? Where do they play? What makes them excited and fires their imaginations? Addressing these and other questions about your audience will help you identify images that can make your stories compelling and powerful.

We help readers picture the world of visual online storytelling, reporting on its effectiveness and introducing a multi-step approach to visual storytelling that sells.

To gauge the emotional tug of human images, researchers scattered hundreds of "lost wallets" through Edinburgh; 88 percent of those with baby photos were returned, versus 28 and 14 percent respectively for wallets with photos of seniors and no photos.

Read The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use Visuals, Video and Social Media to Market Your Brand, by Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio.

Put your greatest effort behind the first image your audience will see. You don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.

Email or call us at 708-246-4211 to learn more about visual online storytelling best practices.

CAPTURE YOUR BEST PROSPECTS BY CAPTURING THEIR EMOTIONS

It's been said humans respond to visuals by first feeling and only later thinking. A grasp of that fundamental emotional response to images should guide your choices when selecting visuals. When you touch people's emotions, you also impact their decision making. Think of photos you've seen countless times in ads, from the red sports car to the romantic couple on a beach. Such images draw on deep-seated longings. When used in visual storytelling, they can be exceptionally effective in motivating highly-sought audiences.

Knowing your audience and tapping their emotions are first steps in creating visual online storytelling campaigns. Let's examine a few more best practices to heed when blending great visuals and persuasive text into stories that spur purchase and loyalty.

• • When considering which visuals to use in your online storytelling, give priority to those conveying sensory messages. Visuals suggesting taste, sensation, aroma or other sensory responses are highly effective in engaging audiences.
• Integrate your text within the image to ensure that the two are not uncoupled as they journey through social media. Studies have shown captions with photos are read 300 percent more than accompanying body copy.
• Use visuals of real people. Audiences respond more enthusiastically to visual storytelling that appears authentic, not artificial. A terrific example is an Airbnb campaign showing real homeowners and travelers connecting via Airbnb.