Think about the content you interact with online.
In the current digital landscape, it’s difficult to find content that uses just one type of media.
You’ll be hard-pressed to read a blog that doesn’t use at least one image. And this doesn’t just apply to written content. Visual-based content goes hand-in-hand with audio and sometimes, even copywriting.
Using multimedia content gives you a higher chance of captivating your target audience and stopping them from scrolling through your post. This gives you an advantage in your storytelling approach, allowing you to utilise different media to highlight and reinforce the key messaging you want to share.
Being strategic with your multimedia content will elevate your digital storytelling campaigns. As we’ve previously discussed in another blog, digital storytelling involves creating interactive content to engage audiences, build your brand and increase lead-generating results.
Digital storytelling typically includes scroll-based animations and rich digital media such as infographics, galleries, media embeds and visual effects. However, your options expand dramatically when you include multimedia content in the mix.
Understanding how to effectively use different types of multimedia content increases the impact of your digital storytelling.
Why should I use multimedia storytelling?
Storytelling in your marketing does more than entertain readers–it engages your market, educates them on the value of your offer, and builds positive relationships between your brand and your target audience.
Using a multimedia approach to your digital storytelling elevates your content and helps your brand stand out, which is essential for a content-saturated landscape.
This also allows you to be creative and innovative with how you present your brand messaging, as there are many ways to combine different media types into one piece of content. Key combinations include visual and audio content (e.g. videos, “vodcasts”) or visual and written content (infographics, blogs).
Spotify Wrapped is a great example of multimedia storytelling. Every December, Spotify provides a personalised “Year in Review” for each user, allowing them to discover their favourite artists, songs and even podcasts across the months. Spotify Wrapped is a colourful mix of audio, video, and visual effects, combined with infographics about a user’s listening habits and preferences over the last 12 months. This generates a lot of highly shareable content that encourages users to post on their social media accounts.
Spotify Wrapped 2023
Consistently creating high-quality multimedia content helps you build your audience over time, increasing your brand visibility and audience engagement.
Where should I incorporate multimedia content in my digital story?
It can be challenging to identify where exactly to incorporate a new type of media in your digital story. The wrong placement of multimedia disrupts your audience’s attention and takes them away from the immersive experience of your digital storytelling.
Stony Brook University has identified elements in conventional digital composition and digital storytelling. For our purposes, we will look at three of these elements and how they will help you in strategically placing multimedia content for maximum impact:
Dramatic question
Setting up a dramatic question at the story’s beginning (or “hook”) draws in your audience.
In a fictional story, this question can be whether the protagonist reaches their goals. In marketing, this will depend on your brand and business.
For example, your dramatic question for a story can be how your products and services will change your target customer’s life. Adding a visual or audiovisual element increases the tension and keeps your audience invested in the story.
Emotional connection
Look for the emotional touchpoints in your digital storytelling, if there are any. Inserting a complementary image or audio effect builds on the existing emotional moments in your story and sparks a connection with your audience.
Pacing
You need to create an immersive environment for your audiences, but at the same time, it’s important not to overwhelm them with too much information or visual effects.
Including multimedia at natural resting points of your story keeps the flow balanced as you move through your story.
3 types of multimedia content to incorporate into your digital storytelling
We’ve shortlisted examples of multimedia content that you can easily incorporate into your digital storytelling campaigns.
1. Quote cards
Quote cards combine visuals with powerful copywriting to create images that foster trust and connection with your audiences. You can source quotations from celebrities, renowned industry experts or even senior executives from your organisation. A quote is a great way for audiences to glimpse into the values and principles you uphold.
Quote cards are also quite versatile. While they’re most often used in social media platforms, you can also incorporate them into your long-form blogs to break the text and highlight notable “soundbites” found in the article.
2. Short-form videos
Short-form videos perform exceptionally well on social media, but they also complement your digital storytelling campaigns. It adds a different dimension to your content and provides a new voice for your story.
Some of the best practices in creating short-form videos include:
- Focusing on one key message
- Planning your video structure in advance
- Incorporate the principles of storytelling
Your customers are some of the most compelling storytellers about your business because they add a different voice and perspective to your brand’s marketing.
This makes customer reviews a great source of content for short-form videos. At Story League, we provide packages that transform your customer testimonials into engaging short-form videos.
Customer reviews also support the larger overall task of increasing your brand’s awareness among multiple audiences.
3. Infographics
Using infographics makes your digital storytelling campaigns more memorable, especially when you’re showcasing hard data or statistics. According to Search Engine Journal, using infographics increases your content’s exposure and enhances its shareability.
A well-designed infographic is easy and convenient to share on social media, as the image contains all the relevant information. This helps you expand your audience base and increase engagement.
Multimedia content will elevate your digital storytelling, allowing you to expand your content strategy and engage your audience in a fresh, innovative way. Reach out to us and let’s explore how to tell your story together.
