Five Things You Need to Know About Visual Storytelling In Social Media

Social media has forever changed the way people share information. But the origins of social media behavior can be traced to an exercise most learn at a young age: show and tell. While traditional media has always done both, the early days of social media included long-form blogging and a Facebook page that featured only one image—your profile photo. Today, Facebook’s Timelines highlights images more than status updates and microblogs lean on photo captions more than narrative posts.

It’s no longer enough to simply use words tell a story; mastering this blended art of sharing is critical to a brand’s social media presence. Here are five things you need to know about visual storytelling in social media:

	Come to terms with the rise of visual content (and decline of text). Instagram is now a household name. Facebook’s acquisition of the photo-sharing social network for one billion dollars was simply the most public example of a larger shift in the social space—moving from copy-heavy status updates to dynamic visuals that rely on copy only to add context to a brand story. Other social platforms, such as Pinterest and Tumblr, gained major traction during the same months. All three networks boast highly engaged users, the true test of success in social media. In fact, more than 65% of consumers enjoy interacting with visual content online (ATYM Market Research). These social audiences are ready and willing to engage with brands that are telling stories through imagery.
	Unlock the keys to engagement on Facebook with visual conversations. Facebook’s switch to its Timeline format earlier this year highlighted one of social marketers’ greatest challenges: getting eyeballs to brand pages. Ninety percent of fans only see the content that shows up in their news feeds, making visual storytelling crucial to securing additional message amplification from fan shares (PageLever). In the Timeline Era, brand-created photo and video content has seen a 65% increase in engagement (Simply Measured). The savviest marketers have adopted a two-pronged approach to Facebook conversation calendars, offering fans compelling imagery on and off a brand page. Sharing visual content prompts fan engagement in news feeds while creating one-of-a-kind experiences on brand Timelines via apps.
	*Embrace creation and* curation of visuals.** The concept of original content creation can be daunting to marketers and community managers facing limited budgets. Clever social media strategists look to a brand’s audience as the next wave of content creators, encouraging community members to step into the spotlight and produce branded content. Brands must ensure that all imagery, including user-generated content, matches the overall brand look. Coca-Cola does this particularly well on its Facebook page, giving consumers the potential for their content to reach a broader audience than ever before. Bath & Body Works successfully utilized this technique when executing a consumer contest on Pinterest. The company encouraged users to create branded pinboards featuring a new product and the hash tag #LUVBBW, which centralized the entries and allowed for seamless searching within the platform.
	Turn dry data into superstar statistics. According to IBM, the world creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, a staggering figure that continues to increase. These mountains of ‘big data’ can seem overwhelming to both brands and consumers, and even the most interesting stories often fade into an oversaturated market of information. Sharing this information through compelling visuals helps it stand out in a sea of lifeless statistics. In fact, 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text (Zabisco). Infographics, or visual representations of otherwise static pieces of data, have proven effective for capturing audience attention. But infographics don’t simply attach images to accompany text—they seamlessly integrate the two, weaving a visual narrative and turning data visualization into a new form of storytelling. Marketers can use them to convey complex messages, explain difficult concepts, make comparisons and illustrate chronologies or timelines. The possibilities are endless.
	Don’t shy away from the lighter side of visual storytelling. When it comes to ‘going viral,’ memes are a shining example of how to use visual humor to generate social traffic. Just look at the success of Texts from Hillary or Nyan Cat, both nominees for Meme of the Year at the Webby Awards. (Note: Nyan Cat beat out Hillz for the win.) Memes typically begin when someone discovers an image, video, catchphrase or concept and shares it with an online audience. Users then add captions, produce their own versions or responses, create variations and play off the theme until the meme reaches a tipping point and soars into the mainstream. Dos Equis helped prove the brand worth of memes, utilizing the trend as part of its ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ campaign. Today, there are websites and Tumblrs dedicated entirely to memes. The rise in popularity showcases consumers’ love of sharing funny things with their friends, but it also highlights a desire to co-create content with likeminded people — and brands. When consumers participate in the creation of visual content, everyone wins. Ready to create your first meme? Click the link in the right sidebar to get started.

Hunter Public Relations has a wealth of experience in creating and executing customized social and digital media programs—from Twitter parties and Facebook contests, to webcasts and mobile app development. Our knowledge of social and digital media is both wide and deep—every account staff member at Hunter PR serves on one of our agency’s 10 task forces, each dedicated to a particular facet of social and digital media:

Blogs
Community Managers
Emerging Technologies
Geo-Social
Microblogs
Mobile
Monitoring & Measurement
Online Video
SEO
Social Networks

ADDITIONAL INFO

Create your own meme

THE 511 ARCHIVE

APRIL 2012
Five Things You Need To Know About Geosocial

MARCH 2012
Five Things You Need To Know About Pinterest

FEBRUARY 2012
Five Things You Need To Know About Old Technologies — And How They Are New Again!

DECEMBER 2011
Five Things You Need to Know About Online Video

OCTOBER 2011
Five Things You Need to Know About Google+

AUGUST 2011
Five Things You Need To Know About Using Social Media in a Crisis

MAY 2011
Five Things You Need to Know About Evaluating a Brand’s Social Media Presence

MARCH 2011
Five Things You Need to Know About Managing a Successful Facebook Page

PRNews Digital PR Awards: Hunter PR named a Best Digital PR Firm in 2010