Telling Your Story with Video

Written by: Ryan Philp

Which do you remember better: the Disney movie you watched when you were 10 years old or the Spanish class you took in high school? Chances are you can recall the Disney movie more vividly than learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs.

Why? Well, research by cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner shows that stories are 22 times more memorable than facts. Stories engage the emotions of listeners and keeps their attention. That is why PR professionals have been using storytelling to build brand reputation for years.

As we enter 2019 the storytelling tactic is still very much alive. However, the way that we tell the story is changing. Brands can no longer tell their story through a paragraph on their website or their Facebook bio and expect the same engagement they used to get.

Since 2016, daily video watchtime has increased dramatically and it’s still rising. On Facebook alone, 100 million hours of video is watched everyday. Videos also make up a majority of the posts shared by any one user on Facebook.

With this in mind, it only makes sense that this old school PR tactic should adapt and be applied to videos. When storytelling is applied to videos, it becomes even more powerful. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words,” isn’t a lie. Viewers can gain so much more from seeing a video that displays the impact of your brand.

Nike is a company known for their amazing visual storytelling abilities. Saying that an athlete puts a lot of dedication into their sport is very different than watching a video of them working from sunrise to sunset to improve their abilities.

So, when developing a visual story for your brand, it’s important to be sure that you can create visuals that evoke powerful emotions. Emotions are the driving force of brands, if you can get a consumer to feel an emotional attachment to your brand, then you’ve created a loyal customer.

If you need help developing a story for your brand, Steve Clayton, the Chief Storyteller for Microsoft, has identified four p’s that make a good story:

People – Think about who in that company developed an amazing idea? Who’s had an interesting journey with the company? Who has your product affected the most?
Places – Where does your company make an impact?
Process – How did your company get to where it is?
People – Think about who in that company developed an amazing idea? Who’s had an interesting journey with the company?

Whatever you do, make sure that your video is so compelling that it leaves people with no choice but to love your brand and what you do.