4 Tips for Using Images in Your Storytelling

Stories are a significant part of human culture and the art of telling stories is timeless. With the introduction and advancement of technology, storytelling has become a great marketing tool. Brands use storytelling to capture the attention of prospects and customers, as well as engage with them for improved sales and ROI. 

Using stories in marketing is prevalent on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. Visual storytelling is becoming one of the top methods of marketing for businesses and their audiences. It often uses images and other media that’s associated with visuals.

Marketers frequently implement images within their stories, as well as in their storytelling campaigns. However, if you aren’t familiar with storytelling for your business, you may have difficulty recognizing when you are on the right track and when you need to make changes. The following info will help you get and stay on the right path for your success. 

Using Images to Succeed In Storytelling

Storytelling using images requires the adoption of the right images and emotion-evoking message. Here are a few life hacks on how to use images successfully in storytelling.

1. Identifying good storytelling images

Before you use images to tell brand stories, it is important to identify and understand what should be considered when choosing images for storytelling. To make sure your images are relevant, motivate, and inspire think about the story idea and theme, the mood the audience currently has, and the feeling you want to leave them with, at the end of the story.

• Idea: There is no denying how challenging it can be to illustrate a concept using images. However, an image that captures a given action can save you here. Abstract images, as well as, symbolism are often used when telling stories through images.

• Mood: Image backgrounds are used to express the mood in a given photo. In case a dramatic effect is needed, blurred backgrounds are the best. However, it is important to have a close relationship between the subject and its background.

Since emotions and feelings are important, it’s very important to use images of people with feelings they can relate to now, such as fear, disappointment, frustration, etc. If you offer a solution to the problem causing these negative feelings, at the end of the story, use pics of people with confident, happy, and inspired expressions.

• Theme: Images you use in storytelling should follow a given theme. It makes it easy to tailor your message well to the audience you have in mind. Leave a few clues to allow your audience to develop ideas around your story.

In addition, the message you convey should resonate with the theme and your narration, whereby you’re let your audience into what happened before the current situation. 

2. Use a variety of images

Variation is essential in photography and storytelling. While deciding on which images to use, it is also important to consider your story’s pacing. You can achieve this by using diverse and quality images. For example, depending on the need, you can opt for a portrait, a close-up, or even a medium shot. 

3. Avoid redundancy

Usually, using many images does not guarantee you the most engagement. All you need are the relevant photos. Every photo you use should serve a different purpose. Your goal should be to elicit some action from the viewers. Avoid anything that does not have any overall effect. 

4. Use emotional images

A great story should evoke the right emotions. Emphatic stories often attract positive responses to any CTA. Emotions are usually conveyed through facial expressions. In addition, images showing the subject’s action can be a great bet when it comes to expressing emotions. For example, in a case of a lost boy, an image showing tears-streaked face, clenched fists, and red eyes can evoke the necessary emotions. 

Using images to tell a story is similar to storytelling via a film. You should ensure that several factors align, as well as adopt the right tricks and tips to ensure that your story moves your audience. The implication is that not every image you find out on the internet, or you shoot is suitable for storytelling.