Using Visual Narratives and Alternative Storytelling on Instagram Stories
In the last half century, Social Media, likely more than anything else has radically restructured our day-to-day activities including social and cultural interactions with the world around us. A picture is not complete unless you filter it on Snapchat, a life event is not fully experienced except when you share it on Facebook and your food and travel diaries are not enjoyed to the fullest unless you share it on Instagram.
We have all been enmeshed in a web of communication technologies and gadgets, which determine and drive our interactions in our everyday conversations with the society. Life, in fact has become unimaginable without a social media application at our disposal which performs certain interesting functions for us. They have been incorporated into our education, leisure activities, work-places and everyday communication. Interestingly, one such app that has taken over and has become a popular hit is Instagram. Launched in 2010, the photo and video sharing app owned by Facebook inc, has been steadily growing since, with the majority of its users clocking in at under age 35.
Interestingly, today, it is not just a platform for individuals to don their skills on Photography and videos but a space for brands including News organisations, business sectors and celebrities to endorse and sell their products to their desired target audience. According to a new study from Socialbakers, brands that use Instagram achieve up to four times the viewer engagement when compared to other social media platforms. Also, interestingly, Instagram images posted by influencers and celebrities earn more engagements. Thus, we see a lot of brands using celebrities and influencers to promote their product on Instagram.
For instance, in the image here we see model Gigi Hadid, has posted a picture of her holding a mascara. The image is very subtle, with no text and is a normal portrait of her. However, the 13 words caption that she posted along with the photo has #Maybelinegirls in it, thus, promoting Maybeline.
What we see today is that conversations have now changed from text to visuals, you don’t describe your travel experiences, rather you post your every moment of your travel experiences on Instagram as stories. If we look into travel bloggers’ Instagram accounts, it is so visible how they use their profile to recreate every beautiful moments they have had in their journey through pictures. Minimal texts, and contents, but visually their images are so appealing and they impart the moment they have experienced on to their viewers. It is the same idea that is being used by News Organisations as well, especially, The Economist. They use Images, animations and short videos on their stories to pique curiosity of their viewers to go and check the full story on their home website. Sometimes, they even use images with just a few words to convey the story to its viewers. So, is it for fashion industries as well, we see how description of clothing have slowly changed from text to visuals. We see, clothing lines as H&M and Zara’s Instagram account using images of a model wearing their clothes and a swipe up sign to re-direct the users to their home websites to buy the product. Food industries too use the same idea, for promoting their food products.
In the digital narrative ecosystem, the visual communication means through Instagram stories became increasingly popular. In 2013, when the team introduced video uploading option, they were able to address to a wider audience and reach out to many users from different communities and cultures across the world. A new visual narrative language through videos and photos was created enabling its users to express more about themselves and to understand each other with minimal words used. According to author Richard J Gerrig, “It is assumed that individuals are transported to a world where aesthetic based expression process is used rather than paradigm based analytical process.” It means, the viewers have their attentions fixed by the people, situation and surrounding of the story and they try to develop a relationship with each of the elements. Also, the audience when they see the visual story the play a active role in narration of the story.
There is an old saying: “You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it.” That is the truth, and the only way to find out is to test these theories about how and what works best especially on Instagram. But what is that makes the platform so engaging and popular for brands in terms of visuals:
- Minimalism is the Key: Gone are the days of text heavy contents and images. Today, people prefer simple text and image — Short captions and an attractive image can easily draw people to engage with the brand.
- Visually appealing: The app is perfect for companies that want to create stunning images, making it easier for visual marketing. The option of various tools that you can use to create posters and stories to attract your viewers, can be a great way to change conversations from boring texts to visually appealing fonts and colours.
- Mobile Functionality: Most people use Instagram on the go. Instagram is an app that you use on your phones, that allows you to take photos and edit it instantly. That makes it an in-the-moment experience, which naturally attracts more people.
- Time: People want to see, hear and know more, however, their time is very limited. Instagram, helps one to to deliver the message fast and concise — short captions and attractive images is the key here.
Very interesting and consistent visual storytelling is what engages the audience and catches the attention of the people especially when there is a lot of content posted online today. If a brand wants to grab the attention of a customer, it is important the brand use innovative methods and get creative with how they share their visual stories on their Instagram accounts.
