Visual Storytelling: How To Tell a Magnetic Visual Story On Social Media

Published in

Startups.com

9 min readAug 16, 2017

Written by Vinay Koshy // Also shared on Startups.co.

Stories are always part of any successful marketing including social media. At the heart of all social media best practices lies the customer experience. In particular stories around their experience. So in producing social media content for your business, you need to look out for:

What matters to your customers?
Why do you matter to them?
What is it that you do or sell that fascinates them?

In other words, stories that further the customer experience are ones which serve as enablers of brands. They help brands to build personality and create a connection with their customers.

But is it possible to narrate a visual story on social media?

In case you are wondering about the power of visual content on social media the infographic below should dispel your concerns.

Let’s take for example, Instagram. Instagram has always been a popular medium to share visual content. But any modification to images usually requires a clunky collage-making app. It also requires a bit of preparation if you want to share anything more than an image or video.

That has now changed. At least with Instagram. Instagram now allows more than one picture per post.

According to their recent update, you’ll be able to share as many as 10 photos or videos via a swipeable gallery. These posts have a small icon and a series of blue dots below the first image. Each photo used must be square and can be edited or can have filters applied all at once.

This is a great feature. But, how can you use this feature to create a visual story that engages your audience?

HERE ARE 13 TIPS FOR MAGNETIC VISUAL STORYTELLING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

In this post we will look at ways in which you can tell a visual story on social media in a single post.

1. SHARE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Many Instagram users are looking for cooking, decorating, other household and DIY ideas. The new feature lets you share this content in an interesting, digestible format.

Take lifestyle magazine, Real Simple for example. They publish short versions of their online content via Instagram Stories. These mini-articles and videos convey useful information without being difficult to absorb.

Depending on the content, there is often a call to action that takes people back to the Real Simple website. You’ll often find the call to action in the post or at the end of the story.

You too could share similar content for your business.

For example, take a look at the content you share on the blog. You could find a how-to article that you could break down into a few slides or videos to share.

Once you have created the images and or videos you need to upload them in sequence. The sequence would work well with a cover image and a conclusion image. Consider adding a call to action to an URL that your audience can visit for more information.

2. SHARE SNACKABLE DATA GRAPHICS

Complex statistics and data from reports is quite hard to comprehend. Images however, can be a lot more engaging and easier to understand. So why not use them to convey quantified data? This works well if you want to create an impression on your reader. Why?

Because we remember images much better than we remember words.

Take for example this post about A/B testing. The author, Will Kurt uses graphs to illustrate the difference between the results achieved by “scientist” marketers and “impatient” ones.

3. SHARE YOUR PRESENTATIONS

You know about the importance of visual storytelling in business. But, practicing it isn’t always easy.

The usual norm with presentations is to use things like tables and bullet points. There is nothing wrong with using them. However, the content can all too often come across as overwhelming or confusing.

So, how do you create a presentation that engages your audience?

Begin with the end in mind.

Think through these questions to help determine that end:

What information do you want your audience to know?
What action do you want your audience to take?

Structure your presentation accordingly. To help with the process consider including the elements listed below. Then storyboard the slides and create the presentation.

Craft your opening: Consider starting with a question, story, or stat to hook your audience. Let your audience know what’s in it for them.

Use a hook: Try to boil your main idea or point down to one sentence. State it near the start of your presentation to create intrigue. Use it in other parts of the presentation as well.

Share your roadmap: Let your audience know what the outcome will look like. For example — “by the end of the presentation you will know how to do Y”.

Construct your outline: Decide on your major sections. Then use the following to make each section and subsection engaging.

Key points, data and stories that will lead your audience from awareness to action.
Photos and images.
Video clips

Finish on a high note: It is important to finish on a high note but, it is also important to provide a specific call to action to your audience. Consider the following questions:

What is your conclusion?
What is your call to action?

Let’s look at two examples from which we can learn to tell a visual story on social media.

The Calgary Zoo published its 2012 annual report on Instagram. The report consisted of 55 photos and captions. These took the place of pages and came together to tell a compelling story of the work the zoo had done over the year.

In this second example, the SlideShare presentation has some excellent takeaways we all could learn from. You could promote it on social media by sharing a few key slides to create enough curiosity. That in turn will encourage people to click through to the actual SlideShare.

4. CELEBRATE EVENTS AND MILESTONES

Visual content can convey emotion, mood, narrative, ideas and messages. All of which are essential elements of storytelling.

It’s been a key growth factor for image-driven networks such as Pinterest and Instagram. Today more businesses are using such networks to help share their brand story.

However, good storytelling is something that doesn’t just happen. You need to be intentional about learning how to tell stories and practice the craft. One of the easiest ways to get started is with events. They are great occasions to tell stories.

For example you could combine interviews and other tactics to tell an engaging story. Much like Southwest Airlines.

Cuba was launched as the 100th destination for Southwest Airlines. To mark the occasion, they sent photographers to capture some visuals of Cuba. They did this even before the first flight landed in Havana.

You could create a story like Southwest, to highlight your event or milestone. Consider using interviews and stories to add add variety to your content. You could do these around employees, customers or other unusual items and events.

What is important in the telling of these stories is to stay on brand.

Treat your brand stories like exciting events. This will help humanize your brand and keep your audience engaged.

5. SHARE UGC

Any form of content created by users of an online system or service is called User Generated Content (UGC). This content is often shared via social media platforms.

UGC helps makes the brand less commercial and more human. Other benefits in using UGC include:

1) Being able to use authentic content
2) Low cost way to build more content
3) Collecting content from your most loyal fans
4) Most consumers know the difference between paid and earned media. So this a better way to create awareness.
5) An opportunity for brand development with the help of your fans.
6) Developing your brand loyalty
7) Being able to influence buy decisions.

According to a study by Iconosqaure:

76% of Instagramers declare that receiving likes encourages them to publish more. 65% of users would feel flattered or honored if a brand liked one of their posts.

In other words, reposting UGC from users, on your account, encourages them to provide more.

Lululemon for example leveraged its Instagram page. The brand asked its customers to Tweet or Instagram pictures of themselves. The posts had to meet two criteria:

The pictures had to be of users exercising in Lululemon.
The post should include the hashtag #thesweatlife.

The campaign was very successful as it built on the brand lifestyle — being active.

The campaign hashtag continues to be used in the posts that their fans submit. The posts showcase:

Lululemon’s products.
The emotional connection customers have with the brand.

Here are a few tips to help your UGC campaigns become a shareable and relatable visual story.

Run campaigns that tap into an emotional connection users have with your brand. Your campaigns should relate to the greater lifestyle your brand represents.
Create a specific hashtag for your brand
Encourage the customers who love your brand to post images of them with your brand. Reward them for participating by sharing those images.
Encourage users and customers to create UGC for you, by reposting existing UGC.
Use a catchy hashtag that relates to your brand lifestyle for each campaign.
Make it easy for customers to buy products directly from customer content.

6. SHOW YOUR PRODUCT IN ACTION

If you want to promote a product, what better way to do it than to show your customers what it can do. In other words, give people ideas for using your product to show them what they can create or do if they buy it.

Vitamix is a popular blender brand. The company uses Instagram to showcase products created by their blender.

This post, for example, introduces the idea of making hot soups.

The post below shows their audience how to make almond butter. So with Instagram’s new update you could show your audience how to make soup or almond butter step by step while using your product.

The same idea can work for a range of physical products from makeup to skateboards. However, posting content for the sake of content has no purpose.

You need to ensure that your content entices people to purchase your product or service. Avoid annoying them with aggressive sales messages. Instead be genuine and entertain your audience. This way you’ll be able to draw more people to your website.