Effective communication in business is critical. In fact, it is a modern day business necessity. Thankfully, there is a powerful way to connect with your audience and it does not require any new technology. The technique, in fact, has been around for thousands of years – Story.
The use of visual storytelling can be traced back to early Chauvet Cave drawings when it was important to communicate information in a compelling way.
Different parts of our brain activate depending on the content it receives. When the brain receives information only two parts of our brain activate. When someone hears a story, on the other hand, many parts of our brain activate and more interestingly the parts of the brain that activate are those parts that the listener would use if they were in the action of the story themselves.
When you combine the power of story and the power of visual communication you tap into humans inherent visual essence.
The brain is a visual organ – 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. In fact, neuroscientists from MIT found that the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds. Moreover, visual content is processed 60,000 times faster than text.
With 65% of the population being visual learners, marketers need to leverage visual storytelling by creating engaging visual content.
There are a number of visual content options. Images continue to be a popular and effective content choice. Digital technology has even created new categories such as memes and gifs.
Producing videos, whether live or corporate animation, is still the staple of engaging visual content. It has the ability to communicate in a powerfully visual manner while also offering the opportunity to share a compelling story. This mode of communication will help capture and maintain an audience’s attention, as well as, help increase message retention.
Not only are people sharing more video but they are finding it works.
87% of video marketers say video, in general, gives them a good return on their investment. Additionally, 93% of marketers who use video say that it’s an important part of their marketing strategy.
The key for connecting with video content is leveraging the elements that make a great story.
While the platforms and method of delivery for stories has certainly evolved, some of the fundamentals of telling powerful stories remain.
Using storytelling techniques (see below) will enable your next video to perform its best by creating visual content with impact.
Know Thy Audience
It all begins with what I like to call the 11th Commandment – Know Thy Audience. In order to determine what story to capture in vivid video, you need to understand what matters to the people you are trying to reach- – what story will resonate. Knowing about your audience not only enables you to create powerful, story-driven video content, it also allows you to use this information for better targeting if you engage in any sort of digital marketing.
Be Client/Customer Centric
This is related to knowing your audience, though a distinct technique for engaging with them when creating videos. Businesses have a tendency to talk a lot about themselves and how wonderful they are. Their video content may contain stories but they are about all the great attributes of the brand and the focus is on the wrong character of the story. These brand videos share stories about how the company is “the greatest,” “the most amazing,” “the top,” “the best” fill in the blank. These videos fail to understand that consumers don’t care at all about what a brand can do. Your audience only care about what your business can do for them! Just turn on the most popular radio station ever – WIIFM – What’s In It For Them. The stories told in your video content need to demonstrate you care about what your audience cares about and the way your product or service can help their problems. The focus shouldn’t be on your brand – the focus needs to be on your customer.
Make it Emotional
As you consider the visual story you want to share, remember that facts and figures or other data on their own rarely move people to action. Successful stories integrate data into a narrative that enhances their significance. What makes a great story is to penetrate into the hearts and minds of an audience using emotional appeals. This connection makes them care enough to engage in a meaningful way.
One of my favourite quotes by Maya Angelou sums it up perfectly:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
The goal of any marketing is to compel someone into taking some action. Creating stories with an emotional component will increase the likelihood that your audience will take action.
Appeal to the 5 Senses
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Uri Hasson coined a neuroscientific phenomenon called neural coupling. It demonstrates that when someone tells a story, the brain activity of the speaker is mirrored in that of the listener. If you tell a story about baking fresh, sweet-smelling, chocolate chip cookies, the Olfactory Cortex of both the speaker and the listener activate. When you create videos that engage one of the five senses you enhance the connection with your audience as you reach them on a brain activity level.
K.I.S.S. – Keep it Simple, Stupid
Kelly Johnson, an aircraft engineer is often credited with the advice – Keep it simple, stupid (KISS). This “is a design principle which states that designs and/or systems should be as simple as possible. Wherever possible, complexity should be avoided in a system—as simplicity guarantees the greatest levels of user acceptance and interaction.”
This principle will help as you craft brand communication and stories.
When communicating to a non-technical audience avoid using too much industry jargon. Use the age-old, simple, three-act story structure with a beginning, a middle and end.
Your video story may confuse or annoy your audience if its overcomplicated. Whereas, audiences with greater understanding will reward the simplicity with more interaction and engagement.
The appetite from consumers for compelling video content persists, as does the need for brands to produce more and more. Brands can communicate more effectively with their audience and stand out from their competition by embracing these storytelling techniques and creating powerful visual stories that drive results.
Geoffrey Klein is the Founder & CEO of nine dots, a video and animation company that helps businesses share their message through visual communication to connect with their audience. Geoffrey is also a Tedx speaker and an adjunct professor at Temple University’s School of Media & Communications. His experience spans from being legally trained to working for Seth Godin to working on major motion pictures at Paramount Pictures and MGM Studios.
