For better storytelling, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In case you weren’t sure, Content Marketing is storytelling. And if you want your stories to stand out, be remembered or shared, you need to add visuals to them.

Today, text is the default storytelling medium. And that’s ok to a point. Because all search is built on words, you need your words optimized so that people will find your stuff.

However, telling stories with visuals is different. Because visuals evoke emotion, communicate instantly, and create a completely different impression than the written word. As a result, they’re going to make your story more approachable, more interesting, and more likely to be shared with others.

Numbers prove that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Recent research has shown just how important visuals can be for improving content:

• | Visuals will transmit an idea or meaning to the brain 90% faster than text | Source:3M
• | Content with images attracts 94% more total views on average| Source:SEOmoz
• | Posts with videos attract 3 times more inbound links than plain text posts | Source:SEOmoz
• | Website visitors spend 100% more time on pages with videos | Source:MarketingSherpa

Ask yourself if you think a straight-up Microsoft Word press release is exciting or worth sharing with others? Telling stories visually can make a huge difference in how you will be noticed, remembered or shared. To that end, consider these 6 tips for adding visuals to your stories to get better content marketing results.

1. | Invite, don’t intimidate

Unlike a dense block of text, visuals are inviting. If readers are intrigued to check your content with a strong headline, it’s vital to keep the reader engaged and moving through the rest of your content.

Visuals can do a lot to support and further the content title and your subheads. Remember that readers will scan your content to get the gist of your story before they do a deep dive and read all the detail. As the examples above demonstrate, using typography as a visual to complement an idea or concept is a great way to accomplish this.

2. | Make it a magnet

People are naturally attracted to images and pictures—especially if they have other people in them. Well-composed, well-lit, and provocatively cropped images will do a lot to communicate an idea quickly and inspire your audience to read your entire post.

3. | Don’t say it, prove it

The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words has never been truer. By showing a visual with your written content—even a pie chart—you instantly telegraph more than the meaning of words. Visuals can also dramatically emphasize a key point in your story and intrigue people to read more of your written content.

4. | Share what people want

Data scientist, Dan Zarella, from inbound marketing experts Hubspot, has done research that indicates that photos on Facebook perform best for likes, comments, and shares when compared to text, video, or links. So be sure to make it as easy as possible for people to share your visuals with “pinnable” one-click visuals that can be shared on Pinterest or other Social networks.

5. | Differentiate your brand

The images and visuals integrated into your stories and content can do a lot to set you apart from your competitors and define a personality for your brand. Without consistently high-quality visuals, building a memorable personality for your brand is going to be a lot harder and a lot more boring.

6. | Get it found

Just like you optimize your post content, make sure that you optimize your visuals too.

Every visual should include the ALT TEXT and image descriptor tags that integrate the keywords of your content. Your carefully constructed and considered visuals should work hard to enhance your story. And they should also enhance the opportunity for your content to get found through search on the web. With properly optimized images, your chance of driving searchers back to your site significantly improves.

7. | Guide visitors through a story

SlideShare is a perfect solution to guide your readers through a story at their own pace. At SlideShare, you upload PowerPoint, PDF, Keynote, and OpenOffice presentations which can be viewed on the site, on mobile devices, or embedded into other sites.

You can also encourage people to register to view your other presentations and it’s a fantastic tool for enhancing your SEO for lead generation.

Recap

If you want your content to be memorable, shareable, and findable, you’re going to have to leverage the power of visuals, photographs, video, and graphics for a successful content marketing program. These are just a few of the many ways you can build your brand beyond just the written word.

How about you? Are you telling better stories with images? Are your customers noticing, commenting, or sharing? Fill us in!