Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio, authors of the book The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use Visuals, Videos, and Social Media to Market Your Brand remind us that anything can happen at a moment’s notice online. Companies need to identify common occurrences, both positive and negative. It means looking for opportunities to create visual content solutions all around us. Some strategies include:
- Understand the most important factors that can influence sales and customer leads
- Weather may be an important theme to craft content around
- At key times of the year, companies can announce awards, rankings, events, speeches, partnerships, and make other announcements
- Understand the most frequently asked service inquiries and comments, both positive and negative
- Develop a robust content library to allow time for real-time opportunities
- The best storytellers play off their audience responses to hit the message home
- Extend the life of conversations and engagement as long as it is relevant
- Look at the content fans are sharing each day
While on the topic of user generated content, there is a higher barrier to engagement if it is not natural for fans to share visual content. Reward sharing behavior with a campaign, contest, and/or rewards. Look for themes in the most common types of photos, videos, hashtags, and sentiment.
Choose a clear call to action such as a unique hashtag available across all social media channels. Make full disclosure to customers how and where their photos and videos will be shared. Highlight examples to show a range of creativity. Give rewards and recognition by having an “image of the week” or randomly sending a thank you.
Customers can share their own content through videos shared on social networks like YouTube, Instagram, and the Vine. Look at your content calendar to determine which video(s) will help tell your visual story in a way that other media cannot. Think about your target audience, desired end goals, and what resources are available. Evaluate the needs of your audience and show off your personality. Mix up the content to a variety of different types and lengths of videos. Common videos include:
- Announcements
- Behind-the-scenes
- Case studies
- Celebrity partnerships
- Community involvement
- Company overview
- Demos
- Event highlights
- FAQs
- Goals
- How-to
- Live streams
- Office tours
- Parodies
- Testimonials
- Video blogs
- Visual portfolios
Fan shared content as well as company made videos can show another side to a business. The key is to make the most of what customers are saying about you.
Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography
The post Visual Storytelling: Responses appeared first on Kristi Dement.