It's 2014 and there is no question that visual storytelling is an important tool in every marketer's tool belt. However, how to swiftly produce consistent, cost-effective and beautiful work is a lot less obvious. To arm you with the methods, resources and workflows you need to win at visual storytelling, we've asked marketer and data visualization pioneer Leslie Bradshaw to share her playbook. In her own words the session will deliver: Less hype. More do.

1. STEP TWO
(i.e., how to actually do it)
@LeslieBradshaw ||#StepTwo || #INBOUND14
visual storytelling’s

2. howdy :)

3. I am the Managing Partner of their NYC office
& head up marcom globally

4. I am the Managing Partner of their NYC office
& head up marcom globally
In my career, I’ve helped pioneer visual storytelling
efforts on behalf of some awesome brands

5. AGENDA

6. AGE ND A
(Latin: “Things fit to be done”)

7. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma.
The production of visual storytelling dilemma.
Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling.
The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps.
Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.

8. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma.
The production of visual storytelling dilemma.
Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling.
The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps.
Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.

9. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma.
The production of visual storytelling dilemma.
Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling.
The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps.
Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.

10. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma.
The production of visual storytelling dilemma.
Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling.
The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps.
Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.

11. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma.
The production of visual storytelling dilemma.
Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling.
The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps.
Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.

12. UNDERPANTS
!
GNOMES
!
ROMANCE
!
GRIT

13. #STEPTWO

14. STEP ONE:
collect underpants

15. STEP TWO:

16. STEP THREE:
profit.

18. STEP ONE:
decide to use
visual storytelling

19. STEP TWO:

20. STEP THREE:
profit.

21. THE ROMANCE

22. THE FLIRTATION…
you “like” and “share” visual content from other brands

23. THE FLIRTATION…
you “like” and “share” visual content from other brands

24. THE SEDUCTION…
everyone is doing it! they look so successful!

25. THE HEARTBREAK…
time
producing good work is hard
budget

26. THE HEARTBREAK…
trust = weak
time coordinating
stakeholders externalities
data = weak approvals story = weak
overly
branded
producing good work is hard
budget

27. THE HEARTBREAK…
budget
timing
just “off”
design = weak
trust = weak
time overplayed
coordinating
stakeholders externalities
lost in
translation
beat to the
punch
approvals
tactic
data = weak
no
ROI
story = weak
overly
branded
producing good work is hard and it doesn’t always work out

28. THE NITTY GRITTY

29. PLAN THE WORK, WORK THE PLAN
1. Customer
Research
2. Identify
Opportunities
3. Test Propositions
(Repeat 1 - 3)
4. Supplementary
Research
Get out in the field. Ask
open-ended questions.
OBSERVE real behaviors.
Distill your findings. Extract
out the opportunities. Let
the data speak for itself.
Start with sketches + small
batches. Don’t blow your
budget on one BIG idea.
Do you have all the data
you need to make a sound
argument? No? Go fish.
5. Analysis
6. Creative Brief
Development
7. Sketch /
Wireframes
8. Copywriting
Combine what you know +
what you’ve learned. Be
ruthless RE: cutting fat.
Combine goals, mandatory
elements, dimensions,
sketches.
Don’t be afraid of pen and
paper. Or Balsamiq.
Everyone should contribute.
Respect a designer’s time by
buttoning up the copy and
nailing character count.
9. Moodboards &
Styleframes
10. Combine
Design + Copy
11. Edit
12. Release, Refine,
Reuse
Explore styles through
mood boards (Pinterest!)
and rough color mock ups.
Sort of like folding the dry
ingredients into the egg
mixture. Taste the batter!
Get a fresh set of eyes on
all aspects of the asset.
Release and monitor
performance. Templatize
and watermelon smash.
PHASE 3 PHASE 2 PHASE 1

30. PHASE 1
evidence over opinion

31. over opinion
over your goals
evidence
customer

32. over opinion
over your goals
evidence
customer
strategy
over tatical enthusiasm

33. 1. CUSTOMER RESEARCH
Flickr: darronb

34. 2. IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES
Flickr: nathangibbs

35. 3. TEST PROPOSITIONS
my pic :-)

36. 4. SUPPLEMENTARY RESEARCH
Flickr: jacobgutierrezflores

37. small batches over BDUF
PHASE 2

38. small batches over BDUF

39. over BDUF
small batches
co-design
over table tennis

40. over BDUF
small batches
co-design
T.E.A.M. over “creatives”
over table tennis

41. 5. ANALYSIS
Flickr: internetarchivebookimages

42. 6. CREATIVE BRIEF
my doc :-)

44. 7. SKETCH / WIREFRAME
Flickr: baldiri

45. team’s rough sketches

46. turned into this…

47. 8. COPYWRITING PRECISION
Flickr: mamchenkov

48. PHASE 3
continuous improvement over finitude

49. continuous improvement over finitude

50. over finitude
continuous improvement
over marketing fluff
real value

51. over finitude
over marketing fluff
over profit
continuous improvement
real value
trust

52. 9. MOODBOARDS & STYLEFRAMES
Pinterest:
Tiffany Farrant Gonzalez
Mark Kulakoff
Jehoaddan Kulakoff

53. 10. COMBINE DESIGN + COPY
Flickr: benward

54. 11. EDIT WITH FRESH EYES
Flickr: nics_events

55. 12. RELEASE, REFINE, REUSE
Flickr: joeybls
Concept: @jchernov

56. Video eBook
resources time

57. Video eBook
Script = Blog Posts
resources time
Vector Images = Template Building Blocks
Styleframes = Snackables for Social
Animatics = Gifs
Thesis
Evidence
Authors
Graphics

58. FINAL ADMISSIONS

59. Respecting the process is key.
The second step is always hard.
Used to sell it, still believe in it. Most of the time.

60. Respecting the process is key.
The second step is always hard.
Used to sell it, still believe in it. Most of the time.

61. Respecting the process is key.
The second step is always hard.
Used to sell it, still believe in it. Most of the time.

62. SPECIAL THANKS

63. @tiffanyfarrant
@marklemunyon
@ChristianJDay @supnah
@TheTraceyCarl
@Kyle_Musgrave
@alixmcalpine
@ripetungi
@olsonchr
@RobynCantTweet
@ripetungi
@jennykarn
@jchernov
@nishachittal
@michael_hendrix
@theEABrown
@sarahEhill
@kulakoff
@JehoaddanK

64. leslie@madebymany.com
PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH :)
@lesliebradshaw

65. POST SCRIPT:
WHAT MAKES YOUR
TEAM TICK?
!
WHAT TICKS YOUR
TEAM OFF?

66. “…the client allows us to experiment
and trusts our vision without injecting
heavy-handed branding or logos.”
!
!
!
- @alixmcalpine
creative, BuzzFeed
I LOVE IT WHEN…

67. I LOVE IT WHEN…
“… the client knows exactly how
the content will be used, and then
repurposed.”
!
- @supnah
content strategist, BitTorrent

68. “…the client fully shares the brand with
me. Not just a brand guide, but the
raison d’être… it’s a lot more genuine if
we're telling the story of the company
as well [as the product].”
- @olsonchr
content strategist
I LOVE IT WHEN…

69. “… the client hands over the all
the data, and says: ‘we think this is
the story, but would like for you
to help us refine / find it’.”
!
!
- @ripetungi
information designer
I LOVE IT WHEN…

70. “Good content should deliver on
both business needs and user
needs. It's easy for clients and agency
folks to keep the business needs in
mind, but fighting for value for the
end user can be difficult at times.”
!
- @Kyle_Musgrave
content strategist, Havas Worldwide

71. "The hardest parts of a visual
storytelling project are all at the
beginning, when your focus is on
crafting strong content before even
beginning the visual work.”
!
- @michael_hendrix
strategist, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation

72. “It's easy to get excited about the data
set and to want to share everything
you have. But there's a real art in
cutting the fluff to reveal the singular
message you want to get across.”
!
!
- @jennykarn
co-founder, Beutler Ink

73. “Sketches are the key to happiness, smooth
approvals and sunshine all around.
!
One of our designers sketches things by hand
with pencil to paper and I love that we have
a tangible product on our side to hold on to
after a project is completed.”
!
- @alixmcalpine
creative, BuzzFeed

74. I HATE IT WHEN…
“… the client is married to one visual
solution instead of being open to letting
the designer explore ideas.”
!
!
!
- @RobynCantTweet
art director, Beutler Ink

75. I HATE IT WHEN…
“… the client gives piecemeal feedback
and copy updates round after round
after round, when … we could have
received the feedback in one complete
round — our time is as valuable as
theirs!”
!
- @ChristianJDay
creative director, Knight Studios

76. “… the client doesn't have a clear
objective for telling the story in the first
place. Why will your audience find this story
of value? Who is the audience you are
telling this story to?”
!
- @TheTraceyCarl
content strategist
I HATE IT WHEN…

77. “…the client judges the world
through a camera instead of
their eyes.”
!
!
- @theEABrown
strategist
I HATE IT WHEN…

78. “… my boss asks for the impossible, or asks
for sky high conceptual ideas without
understanding the executional realities.”
!
!
!
- @nishachittal
strategist, msnbc
I HATE IT WHEN…

79. I HATE IT WHEN…
“… the client shoehorns their
marketing objectives into the
story.”
!
!
! - @marklemunyon
client manager, NOBODY

80. “… decides the creative strategy
before proper research and
team brainstorming.”
!
!
- @sarahEhill
content strategist
I HATE IT WHEN…

81. “… I am told I only have a
width of 600px to work with.”
!
!
!
- @tiffanyfarrant
information designer
I HATE IT WHEN…

82. I HATE IT WHEN…
“… the client starts with the
visual, before allowing the data
to reveal the story it wants to
tell.”
- @ripetungi
information designer

83. I HATE IT WHEN…
“… the client is certain they
want to say X very emphatically,
but is pretty sure X is not actually
true or that any evidence exists
for it.”
- @supnah
content strategist, BitTorrent

84. leslie@madebymany.com
PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH :)
@lesliebradshaw