In a world of increasing distraction, today's brands are constantly battling for people's attention. Many of them are successful with video storytelling. Did you know? According to Cisco, in 2022, videos will have more than 82% of internet traffic, making videos a crucial marketing medium. And according to Invasia, people retain 95% of a message through videos, which is huge compared to 10% retention through textual content.
Every brand using video marketing would then try to capture a portion of this huge traffic and the brands with the right storytelling would obviously win. But what is video storytelling and how can it be used effectively in your marketing strategy?
Read this blog till the end to find out!
What Is Video Storytelling?
Video storytelling in video marketing campaigns is a marketing strategy that creatively integrates storytelling with videos to promote a product, company or brand. Video storytelling guides the viewer through comprehensible content that addresses their pain points, ignites an emotional connection and offers a satisfactory solution.
People are drawn to what happens because of a combination of factors ranging from the camera angles to the soundtrack, the characters, to the emotions of the story itself.
Video storytelling is not just a sales pitch but a lot more than that. It's immersive, powerful, and very effective at promoting engagement.
The Power of Storytelling in Video Marketing
Every story comprises mainly three parts: an engaging beginning, an interesting middle part, and a climax, but how does that relate with a video? Every video must have a plot that consciously unravels a story with characters who can convey the brand's story in the most engaging way possible.
For example, the story should highlight a service or product & explain its benefits. The purpose should be the underlying factor behind the creation of the video that drives the narration. The characters are your target audience - they are people with common traits that they target.
The Basics Of Storytelling
When it comes down to creating a story for your video content, there are a limited number of story types in the world. This means you need to include a few simple elements in your storytelling to make it work, such as:
A well-defined & memorable character
A goal
A conflict or obstacle
A climax
A resolution
These are basic things but are essential to creating an effective story in any form, and especially your video campaign. How you use these items will depend on the type of story you want to tell, but you will need them all. An easy way to create a story about your product or service is to parallelize the story with your customer journey.
For example, if you're in the web design business, you can show a client that you have web design issues that you can resolve with support associated with your company. This is a very basic structure, but it is one of your options.
How to Make a Storytelling Video?
To excel in the art of video storytelling, you must first understand how to tell a good story. Remember, people have short attention spans and you want to tell a story that will captivate them from start to finish. Use techniques to evoke emotions and remember the key principle of "show, not tell". Smartly edit the video so that you're not explaining every idea to the audience, just the elements necessary to weave a compelling story that calls for more.
Here are five easy steps that can help you create effective video storytelling:
Determine Your Goal & Target Audience
Identifying your end goal with video storytelling is crucial as it will help you lay down the right strategies. This will also help you to move with your video marketing campaign with confidence and deliver the right results.
Create An Effective Story
Narrative is one of the most important things in video storytelling because it is the factor that will drive most of the engagements. So, you may want to hire professionals with screenplay experience. These professionals can help create a clear plot and interesting characters that are well-defined.
You may take your own time to create a narrative and should get creative with effective brainstorming sessions. The more engaging & intriguing your narrative is, the better response you will receive on your video marketing campaign.
Choose the Right Video Format
Brands & companies use different video formats to tell their stories, such as live-action, animated, stock videos, etc. The decision to select a video format may majorly depend on the budget of your video marketing campaign. Additionally, your deadline will also influence this decision. For example, creating video content using stock videos is a relatively faster method than filming a live-action video with real-life actors.
Assemble Your Own Production Team or Hire A Video Agency
Hiring the right video agency is a crucial step towards making an effective video marketing campaign that uses storytelling. Before you choose an agency, you may want to learn about their past experience & watch videos they created for their clients to know the quality of their work.
Create an Effective Marketing Strategy
Promotional strategies are crucial to making your video marketing campaign effective and this may include press releases, social media coverage, and even unique local events. All of this will help raise awareness of your brand and will get more eyes on your new video. Ensure you have the promotional schedule created before your video goes live, as you will need to get the news out right away.
Budgeting is a crucial factor when you consider creating video storytelling. If this is your first time delving into incorporating storytelling with video marketing, you may want to get the best talent on your side. A professional video agency will help you guide the process right from creating video content to video production and video marketing.
A video agency is well-equipped with the right talents, tools, and experience to help you plan an effective video marketing campaign.
