Everybody loves a good story.
Whether it’s a fairytale, folktale, or fable, a story has a way of engaging whoever reads or listens to it. The better you are at telling stories, the more emotionally invested people get in your brand (or you).
Stories help us make sense of abstract concepts and simplify complex ideas. But their greatest strength lies in their ability to inspire or motivate people to take action.
“When you tell a powerful story, you create something from nothing. You create emotions, and emotions drive action.”
From a marketing point of view, storytelling has proven to be more powerful than statistics because of the significant amount of engagement it can generate. As a matter of fact, the most successful marketing campaigns thrive on storytelling. That’s why you really can’t separate storytelling from marketing.
But as beautiful as storytelling is, there’s a method of doing it that guarantees better results, and that’s video storytelling.
What is Video Storytelling?
Video storytelling is a marketing strategy where brands use engaging videos to communicate a narrative. These stories do not have to focus on a particular product or service- their main aim is to sell a dream or an idea. And when you sell an idea in an interesting way, it causes people to develop an interest in your brand.
In any case, your visual story has to be relatable to inspire an emotional response. And that’s all that matters in brand communication. Look around and you’ll see that almost all the brands you identify with have won you over through storytelling.
Why You Should Use Video Storytelling
Video storytelling is one of the most effective marketing strategies of this age. It combines the unique superpowers of video and the emotional impact of storytelling to create a perfect bond.
Wondering why? Check this out.
HubSpot says that 93% of marketers who use video consider it an important part of their marketing strategy while 87% of video marketers have said that video gives them a positive ROI boost. A recent study also found that social media posts containing videos boost post views by 48%.
These metrics make sense given video content is generally easier to consume. And when you add storytelling to the mix, your videos become even more enjoyable and the potential to go viral increases significantly.
Video storytelling is one of the most effective strategies for creating outstanding marketing campaigns. With the growing impact of technology, the attention span of active web users keeps nosediving. This situation leaves brands competing for attention with many other brands that are in the same market.
A lot of brands that have had huge breakthroughs owe their success to video storytelling. The reason is quite simple; a well-told story humanises your brand and creates an emotional connection with your customers.
How to Tell Impactful Stories Using Video
Storytelling is an art. The more compelling a story is, the more impact it can make. This impact can be in terms of brand awareness, engagement, loyalty, and positive ROI.
Telling an impactful video story can be tricky as there are lots of moving parts involved. But this is not something to worry about, as you can master it with enough practice.
The most important consideration is your goal for making a video story. Are you planning to sell a product, drive connection, engage with an audience, or create a memorable brand? Identifying your goal or goals will help you tailor your storytelling to your needs.
Regardless of the goal, a good video story is entertaining, educational, universal, organised, and memorable. It should also have the basic elements of storytelling which are the plot, purpose, characters, place, and audience.
Furthermore, you have to find a way to sprinkle emotional triggers in your stories. As a storyteller, you should arm yourself with tactics that help you capture emotions visually and communicate feelings.
Learn to use facial expressions, body language, and empathy to create meaningful impressions. This, combined with fascinating brand messaging make your videos create the desired effect.
With all of these in the bag, you’re on the way to creating a visually impactful story.
Challenges
It goes without saying that video storytelling has its own specific challenges too. It could take multiple recording and editing sessions to arrive at the best video production. Your content might not end up conveying the emotions you were hoping for, or you might have trouble finding (or creating) the right characters for the plot. If things feel a little rough at the beginning, don’t worry. It’s definitely a learning curve and everything takes practice. You can always outsource or bring in a professional to help you, but if you do DIY, with some practice and experience, you’ll get it right!
Check out our latest Video Storytelling production that MIH created for long term client Pirtek.