Blog Email Marketing and SMS

Visual storytelling for your email marketing campaigns

Imagen Visual storytelling for your email marketing campa

Storytelling can transform a commercial message into an interesting piece for your target audience. A story is good when it is told in a way that makes those who hear, see or read it want to see it through to the end. This is important in marketing because that is where the call to action is usually found, so guiding the user through each part is the key to persuading them and achieving the objective.

Using visual elements will make your storytelling more attractive because it will be easier for the user to feel or remember what you want to tell them: they will really be seeing it! Moreover, you will also make the message stick better in their memory because you will awaken their emotions and a stronger bond will be created than if you use only text.

There are different formats that you can try to find out which one is better accepted by your subscribers and turn your email marketing into a success thanks to visual storytelling.

Images

For your story to be engaging, you have to choose a protagonist with whom the user can identify or connect in some way. It can be your brand, a real customer or someone who represents them. It will be more impactful if you personalise the images with dynamic fields because they will be reflected in what you are saying. Take into account the age, but also the lifestyle that can be imagined from them.

A further step in the use of photos is to create an interactive carousel. Although it does not yet work in all email clients, it is an element that can mimic the turning of the pages of a book and therefore be very useful to tell a story bit by bit.

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Source: Really Good Emails

Infographics

Graphics help to understand data, but infographics go further and allow you to tell a story with them. Unlike if you use only the combination of text and image, this format creates a common thread between them and connects them visually, for example by the background colour or with a design that continues vertically. This encourages subscribers to scroll down to continue reading and therefore increases reading time and the likelihood that they will click through to the end. Just remember not to exceed the recommended weight so that the download time does not spoil the user experience.

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Source: Really Good Emails

Illustrations

They show a greater care for the visual aspect because they have not been taken from a stock photo bank to get out of the way quickly before sending the message. The most obvious use is to turn them into comic vignettes, but they can also tell a story if they represent different situations in which the user feels identified or if they are part of an infographic. In any case, they are an essential part of the brand's visual identity, so they must be of high quality and personalised.

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Source: Really Good Emails

Animations

GIFs can have many uses within a campaign, also to make your storytelling more visual. They are so versatile because they stand out anywhere, from the header to the call-to-action buttons. They are useful because they convey emotions in a simple way, without complicating communication.

Source: Really Good Emails

A more elegant version are cinemographs as only a small part of the image moves, creating a more visually striking effect.

Memes

Think of a good story that you remember and you will see that it is not flat, on the contrary, it has ups and downs. The formatting of the text helps to make it less monotonous, but the images can't compete with bullet points or bold. Memes have become a tool that separates blocks with the same effectiveness as subtitles and provide extra information that can complement the story very well and give it that touch of humour or mystery that encourages further reading.

Emojis

Instead of considering them as simple icons to mark sections of a newsletter, use them as elements that bring non-verbal language to a conversation. Incorporate them into your mailings as you would an instant messenger chat and you can emphasise what you are explaining. Emojis with facial expressions can be as useful as any other easily understood emoji.

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Source: Really Good Emails

Videos

They are ubiquitous on social media, although they are still hard to find in email. For this reason, they can be an eye-catching format to use for your storytelling. All you have to do is create a design with some of the elements we have already seen and insert the video that accompanies it. It can be an interview, an explanation of an internal process or a summary of an event. There are many possibilities!

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