About our guest blogger: Jos de Schiffart is an Entrepreneur & Co-Founder at MyAlbum. He lives in Heerenveen, Provincie Friesland, Netherlands and is passionate about storytelling.

Have you heard of Digital Storytelling yet? I am not talking about reading your kids a bedtime story. Digital storytelling is a hot new content marketing trend. Is it really new though? In short: No. Storytelling has been around since we started writing on the walls of the caves we lived in. Following are 5 ready to use examples to get extra traffic to your blog.

The WHY of images

Content containing visuals generates 180% more engagement and 94% more views than content without. Add to that people can process visual information 60,000 times faster than plain text. In a time where we are flooded with huge amounts of information on a daily basis you’ll need visuals to grab the attention and make an impression that lasts.

1. Showcase your product
“Create an album showing your product from all sides and use it as an online brochure.” — Jos de Schiffart
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Create an album showing your product from all sides and use it as an online brochure or sales tool. You’ll want the readers of your blog to get a good idea of how your product will actually help or benefit them. Is your blog about beauty products, walk the ‘reader’ through the different steps of how to properly apply mascara. Are you a travel blogger? Take your ‘reader’ along on a trip to Indonesia.

A realtor could create a great looking album presenting the house he or she is trying to sell and make the ‘reader’ feel he’s actually there. Add descriptions, a floor plan and emphasize the strong points of the house. Make sure to include photos of the environment both in winter and summer.

2. Show what’s driving you
“Tell the story behind your blog, company or product.” — Jos de Schiffart
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Tell the story behind your blog, company or product. What is it that made you create this? Did it solve a personal problem for you? What aspect really excites you? Describe the passion on which you’ve built your company and explain how it sets you apart from all the other blogs. Include the story of some of your co-writers and show how hard they work to come up with the best content. This is all about relating to your readers and making a connection with them. You could also choose to gain support for your cause or ideals (NGO’s or non-profit organizations).
3. Engage with readers

Show what happens on an ordinary day in your business. Take the reader along for a sneak peek and show him the things he normally can’t. This will make your reader feel special and obliged to ‘give back’.

4. Use Testimonials
“Imagine combining the power of a testimonial with photos and videos and a story about your product.” — Jos de Schiffart
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We all know testimonials are very convincing because they are authentic; it’s not you saying your product’s great, but a peer. Imagine combining the power of a testimonial with photos and videos and a story about your product. That would add a great deal of credibility to your message. Ask your reader to create stories for you! It’s less work for you and far more convincing.

Imagine you could offer this to the company who asks you to do a review of their product. They’ll be sharing this within their social channels for sure, so make sure to include some links back to your blog and get some additional traffic.

5. Create a Portfolio
“Create a portfolio site with all your stories and stress your passion and experience.” — Jos de Schiffart
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Once you, or your readers, have created a fair number of visually enhanced stories, you’ll want to show them all in one place. Create a portfolio site with all your stories and stress your passion and experience by showing your best work. Use this page to present yourself and link to your social channels from it.

Inspired? Let’s do some digital storytelling!

You can use just about anything to get started with digital storytelling on your blog, and you’ll see it’ll pay off in terms of traffic and engagement. It’s just a matter of seeing the obvious. There’s a story in anything!

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