You have a lot of information. About your company, about products you sell, about employees’ skills. Such an abundance can be intimidating. But breaking down data into digestible chunks and putting it to work makes possible powerful connections that wouldn’t otherwise exist. How can you do this? Through visual storytelling.
Wise people often tell us that we may be good at what we do but if we don’t share our expertise with the rest of the world, we are useless. This statement becomes more and more relevant in our modern virtual society where people try to find any means necessary to keep themselves entertained.
Think About It For A Moment-
If you can create stories around your information, will this information be useful?
The answer is obvious: of course it will! We live in a society that consumes a lot of content every day. And different kinds of media have come up with different solutions to satisfy consumers’ needs. There was a time when radio broadcasters achieved that by sharing news every half an hour; then came TV sitcoms that were broadcast on prime time and movies released in theaters on Friday night. But nowadays there are quite a number of sources vying for a consumer’s attention: newspapers, magazines, blogs… the list is endless.
What Does This Mean For You?
The competition out there is tough and you should find ways to get people hear about your content. Think of it as a challenge, don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. One such thing that proved rather successful in recent years is visual storytelling. No one can deny that stories are entertaining and emotional. Their existence in all cultures through centuries makes them so pervasive we hardly ever pay attention to them while they happen right in front of our eyes.
All we need is an information source and a way to share it with others and voilà: we have created a story! even come in different types: fairy tales, myths and legends; fables; jokes; movies; novels…
As you can see the variety is huge and allows for much creativity. The best part is that once we have a solid basis to build our story on (that is, an information source), we can create any number of narratives around it: make up a joke about it; write a poem; turn it into an anecdote…
Stories Help Data Make Sense
The simplest way would be to use the same approach as when creating informational content. In fact, this could work even better since people tend to engage more with stories than with plain data. So if your online store sells high tech equipment then you may want to talk briefly about how you acquired that equipment or maybe share an interview with one of your employees.
People are often encouraged to be more visual when it comes to marketing because images, when done right, can be so captivating that they immediately awaken our emotions and consequently persuade us in a way words never could. You have probably heard about the studies proving people’s relative inattention span , so I understand if you won’t want to read through long paragraphs of text . Photos seem much more approachable these days but try adding a small paragraph here and there where needed–it might just help you out! Of course don’t forget that adding too many visuals will distract readers from your message, which is what you should avoid at all costs.
We live in an era where “content” has become synonymous with “entertainment.” People are no longer interested in facts and data for their own sake. Show them that your information may be used to create a cool story!
