In the age of modern-day marketing, storytelling has become an essential factor in compelling people to action. And through the visualization of videos, that’s being done in ever-shorter amounts of time. With Vine and Instagram video, we’re already starting to see short and inspired bursts of marketing in well under 10 seconds. The only question left is wondering just how short marketing video may become in future years.
It could go a little shorter, though the advent of storytelling on marketing might require a little bit of expansion. Or, the way it stands now, it poses a creative challenge to tell some kind of story in under 10 seconds. Are we looking at more of that in years to come as companies seek your undivided attention?
What Might Lie Ahead with Snippet Storytelling
When Entrepreneur.com reported on snippet storytelling becoming an approaching marketing trend, it might have puzzled some who couldn’t quite visualize how to tell a story in snippet form. Is it even possible to create an emotional tie to the customer within a very short amount of time?
Considering emotion is the new trend now in marketing, it’s not always easy to convey emotion in seconds. Comedy usually works the best in that scenario, only because ironic situations can be understood in shorter intervals. With emotion, you may think you need a little more time to build, even if emotional TV commercials can usually do it successfully within at least a couple of minutes.
Then again, with Vine and Instagram videos setting the time trend, it’s worth studying the existing promotional content there to see how emotion could possibly be conveyed.
Setting Emotion in One Scene
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that a snapshot scene can create an emotional feeling. While visual cues will have to make the viewer’s brain connect the dots, it may be the new approach marketers need. We already see this approach with the more ironic or comedic promotional videos companies put up on Vine and Instagram every day. It can give you a quick education to see how snippet storytelling works by watching those.
We’ll have to wait and see whether emotion can work through other means other than using people. This isn’t to say that a quick shot of people doing something emotional still wouldn’t resonate. Most people are just too geared to expect emotional situations over a longer time frame.
Regardless, as time goes, our minds may be shifting and evolving into processing emotions in faster terms. Some company will master the art of emotional snippet storytelling, and then a standard will be set. It might as well be you by experimenting with one quick scene that establishes a strong feeling.
The one secret to that is to show an event after it occurred so the viewers can quickly put two and two together for the best kind of emotional experience. Sometimes not showing everything creates more palpable emotion than what you actually do show.
References:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/08/idUS583591020140108
Snippet Storytelling in Online Marketing: How Will it Work to Attract Customers?
