This is a buzz piece I wrote in December 2018 for my Genre + Substantive Editing course at BYU. The article encourages the use of multimedia elements by writers and content creators to maximize their reach.
The internet has evolved into a competitive marketplace. Between websites and social media, you aren’t the only one trying to get your voice out there—which means you need to make a big splash with your digital content. Embedding creative multimedia elements in your content online will get visitors to stick around longer and increase opportunities for them to share that content. Plus, your content will be optimized for search engine results. Whether the content is for your own brand or for a client, it needs to be multidimensional to compete in today’s media market.
The Infographic
An infographic is a great tool to display information in a creative and easy-to-understand manner. Infographics combine information with graphic design. Such graphics generally feature facts, statistics, and quotations, demonstrating a level of expertise on a given topic. If a visitor is impressed with or intrigued by your infographic, they may be more inclined to engage with the rest of your content.
Infographics can also easily be used to represent your brand. Color palettes and logos help to push your brand’s style forward, familiarizing the audience with your brand’s purpose and voice. The more an infographic evokes your brand’s complete style, the more effective it is. Audience members are interested in seeing a cohesive aesthetic. Visual appeal combined with interesting information increases the shareability of an infographic, meaning people who come across it could share it on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Pinterest.
You can easily create an infographic on a site like Canva, which gives users the ability to design graphics for free. Canva has hundreds of design templates, including ones for infographics. Just input your information and tweak the design to match your style or brand. Or if you’re familiar with graphic design, you can use Adobe InDesign to create a more freeform infographic.
The Listicle
If you’re looking to attract visitors with clean and concise content, the listicle is the way to go. This very article, yes, the one you’re reading right now, is a listicle. Listicles can feature tips, checklists, top lists, and more. In a listicle, your content is presented in an easy-to-share format, which makes it more appealing to visitors. Your content will be simple and entertaining to read, rather than bogging down the reader with wordiness and clutter. Also, a listicle is the perfect format to add personal touches to your content like photos, GIFs, memes, and emojis. This might not be applicable to all types of content, but it can contribute to a fun, casual voice if that’s the approach you’re looking for. A listicle may also be your best bet if you’re looking for interactive communication with your audience. Because listicles usually come from a basis of opinion, they are a natural invitation for audience members to share their thoughts in the comments of a post.
And here’s an expert tip: use an odd number of items for your listicle. Headlines featuring odd numbers are more likely to be clicked on than those with even numbers, according to the Poynter Institute.
The Photo Slideshow
As the saying goes, a picture is worth 1,000 words. Images can evoke messages that words cannot, so a photo slideshow is a great multimedia option to accompany your content. You can gather and display photos from around the web to use in your slideshow. Stock photo sites as well as major news outlets are great sources to collect up-to-date photos that can be properly credited. You can also take your own photos, depending on accessibility of the subject and the type of content you’re creating. Most website management platforms give you the option to create a gallery or slideshow within your site, allowing you to write detailed captions and give proper credit to photographers and organizations. Once a slideshow is embedded in your content’s web page, visitors will be able to look through the photos and visualize the message of your written content.
The Video
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, just imagine what a video is worth. Video has taken over all digital platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube all feature capabilities to enjoy this form of multimedia in full sound or in silence with captions, making it that much more convenient for media consumers to get information with a visual component.
There are several ways to approach the video format. The basic beginner video format is to feature facts or important information on a series of graphic backgrounds that transition into one another. Add catchy background music and the video is ready to go. This simple video condenses and highlights the important information from your content. The next tier of video production is to aggregate public photos and videos to use as the background for the featured information. Sites like The Dodo have made this style of video popular and shareable, especially on platforms like Facebook. Basic videos like these are easily achievable right from your mobile device, with apps like Adobe Spark and iMovie. The highest tier of video production is to create, film, and edit original videos. Content like video blogs, reviews, and short films all have visual appeal and can be created to uniquely suit your brand. But this video format takes much more time, creative effort, and professional software. If those three things are available to you, original video can be a valuable companion to your digital content.
The Timeline
Maybe you’re writing a news-oriented piece, or maybe you’re advising readers about the milestone markers in the process of planning a wedding. Either way, interactive timelines are suitable for a variety of digital content genres. They are an informative way to demonstrate pertinent events in chronological order. Once a timeline is embedded into your content’s web page, visitors can interact with it in different ways, like scrolling through the dates or reading through event summaries. Plus, there’s a variety of methods to construct a timeline. If you’re short on time or just want to focus on the displayed information, use a timeline generator site. Sites like TimeGraphics and Visme are built for users to input specific information and create a timeline in minutes. Or if you have more time on your hands and want your timeline to appear more like an infographic, you can open a designing program like InDesign and brand your own timeline.
The Social Media Slideshow
Social media is the quickest way for people to share their opinions and perspectives on everything from news topics to family reunions. It’s a vehicle for us to connect to one another, despite distance and time. That’s one of the appeals of social media: seeing what other people have to say, whether we know them personally or not. When social posts are displayed in one slideshow, they can be even more appealing to visitors.
A social media slideshow can be an easy way to represent public reaction to certain topics and can be an entertaining multimedia element to include in your content. A fashion blog might include a social media slideshow of posts featuring a certain clothing item. A political news site might feature a social media slideshow of various politicians’ tweets. Aggregating social media posts ultimately demonstrates your authority as the creator by showing members of the audience that other people on the internet are part of the same discussion. Also, it can be a fun way to introduce a visual element to the digital content without taking the time to create something from the ground up.
The Audio Clip
Some might underestimate the value of an audio clip. Although audio doesn’t have the same visual appeal that a video or graphic might have, it’s still a form of media that’s appealing to the senses. And as podcasts have become increasingly popular, audio storytelling has proven to be an effective companion to digital content. You could include a recorded interview, a song, or even soundbites from televised speeches or newscasts. Using audio clips from outside sources demonstrates that your topic is part of a relevant conversation. This shows that you, as the creator, are willing to learn more about the topic from those sources and make a connection with the audience in this way. You could also create your own podcast or a small-format version of a podcast that features you speaking. This will establish your authority as a content creator and build an intimate relationship with the listener as you speak with your authentic voice.
Just make sure your featured audio clip doesn’t include a soundbite that is quoted word for word in your content. You want visitors to interact with the audio because there is additional information to be heard. They’ll lose interest if the soundbite just features something that is repeated in your content.
Conclusion
Once you figure out which multimedia elements suit your content and your audience best, you’ll be able to increase the value of your content and see immediate results in audience engagement. The creative possibilities with multimedia are endless. Whether you use just one of these elements or a combination of these options, there’s no limit to the effect you can have as you interact with your audience.
Jillian Argento 