Within the last week, and while conducting workshops for two different clients in Germany, I have received information that is quite encouraging about the impact that linear, visual storytelling has on users.
As you know, a linear visual story is one where the text and the visuals blend together to tell the story. Unlike print, or more traditional treatments where narratives and visuals are kept separate, in linear visual storytelling we approach the writing technique more as we do our own phone chats and/or What’s App conversations. See the image below.
As we see above, in a linear story the movement is always that of scrolling down to the next bit of content/ screen.
What do we know about reader behavior?
My clients at Sudkurier, the regional newspaper in the south of Germany report that, when stories are told lineally, there is a +64% higher retention level, with the users staying longer and reading more. On average, the readers will stay with these stories about 143 seconds. The Sudkurier test was based on 142 linear stories produced since our SHIFT project began 12 months ago.
At the NOZ Digital group in Hamburg, the results are almost identical, but with some added data:
Here, the test, with fewer stories, as this project is still going, showed that there is +65,9% higher retention of readers when the story is presented in a linear, visual manner.
However, what is also significant here is that readers who read a linear story are more likely to stay to read a second story. According to the NOZ Digital research, normally 42% of all readers finish reading after one article, but those who read a linear story stayed longer, with 34,1 % leaving.
On average, the readers will stay with these stories about 141 seconds. This is almost identical to the numbers from the Sudkurier study.
This is great data to have as we prepare to train more groups in newsrooms globally to engage in linear, visual storytelling.
Linear stories from Sudkurier, NOZ Digital
A sport story:
An economy story:
An agricultural local feature
Feature: how technology turned this young man into a 70-year-old.
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An interview of interest
http://www.itertranslations.com/blog/2019/3/11/fd60ybflpvlqrgrpdp5ida5rq0c3sp
TheMarioBlog post #3016