Visuals Over Everything
Being a Communication student at Washington State and studying the emphasis of journalism, I’m more than aware of how crucial visuals can be to a story. This idea of the importance of visuals can be easily as crucial in brand storytelling. I personally think visuals can make or break an entire story and I think that Vicky Waski, Visual Editor at Serious Eats, would agree with me in her interview with NewsCred.
Think about it, when you’re scrolling through your Facebook or Twitter page, which stories are you most likely to click on? The ones with photos or videos linked to them, right? Because that is definitely the first thing that catches my eye. I also would go as far to say a boring story that has been well produced with appealing visuals is more successful than an amazing story with low-quality visuals. However, this doesn’t mean the content should lack. It is necessary to have strong content in order to keep the reader engaged and to maybe even be driven to read another article by the same company. I would say there are varied expectations and rules by industries as well as smaller business versus bigger ones but for the most part, industries need to follow these simple do’s and don’ts for visuals in brand storytelling.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Visual Storytelling With Help From My Friend Vicky Waski
DON’T add photos that are irrelevant to the story, no matter how awesome they may look.
DO make sure the visual is portraying whatever the story is about.
If I’ve learned one thing in broadcast journalism, it’s the rule of “see cow, say cow”. If you are talking about a cow, put up the picture of a cow. Vicky says, “I always make sure the image is consistent with whatever content it is supporting”. For example, she talks about how awesome this image is that was taken during a shoot for a peach pie…
To me, that says we’re baking something but peach pie is definitely not on the list of the first ten things I would think of.
DON’T choose images that look too fake or staged.
DO choose images that are more authentic looking.
I’m more likely to choose a photo with depth and with color to it, rather than a white background. Vicky explains this concept exactly with the difference between these two chili peppers.
The photo on the left is clearly more authentic and interesting than the one on the right. Vicky says she likes her photos with personality, texture and imperfection.
DON’T use the same teaser post for each form of social media.
DO change it up with every platform you use.
For my personal social media, I am strategic about what I post on each platform so companies should be as well. Vicky agrees with me by saying that each platform deserves it’s own personality. It shouldn’t be duplicated on every material they publish. She says that on Pinterest, she would post more of a visual graphic like this one but on Instagram, she tries to be more behind the scenes and post the final beauty photo of the food she posts.