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Amy Balliett: Visual Content Strategy – Episode 60
Amy Balliett
Amy Balliett grounds the power of images in strong narratives. Her visual stories deliver the kind of content that humans are hard-wired to crave.
Amy and her team pair word people with picture people. In her office, content strategists work side-by-side with visual-communication experts. This tandem creates strategically driven visual content that addresses the visceral human preference for images.
Amy and I talked about:
the origins of her original visual brand, Killer Infographics
the history of the rise of modern infographics - which first arose as a link-bait tactic for SEOs
the impact of the iPhone and social media on increasing the demand for visual media
how that demand worked in tandem with natural human wiring that favors visuals over text
the rise of visual media sharing
how her word staff interacts with her visual staff, and how most of her executives have a writing background
the importance of words in visual communication
how she once said, "text is dead," and was promptly and properly corrected
the emergence of Buzzfeed-like, headline-driven culture
the foundations of their research and practice methods - from font theory to color theory and illustration styling
the advantages of having been acquired by an insights-and-research firm and how that has helped them double down on their work to understand their audiences and their goals
how a project they did for Comic-Con shows the importance of adapting branded images to the immediate communication intention
the role of the content strategist at Killer Visual Strategies
the importance of having narrative drive the visual story, not design
how their process starts - right after the discovery process - with the content strategist crafting the narrative for the project
how she helps writers with long-form content backgrounds adapt to creating the concise, short-form content that is their specialty
their brand transition from Killer Infographics to Killer Visual Strategies
the differences between information visualization and visual storytelling
how she helps her Fortune 500 clients formulate and implement visual strategy
their discovery that in 2019 90% of marketers found that their most important content-marketing tactic was having a visual communication strategy
Amy's Bio
Amy Balliett is the CEO and founder of the visual content marketing and communications agency, Killer Visual Strategies (formerly Killer Infographics). She owned her first company, a candy store and ice cream parlor, at the age of 17 before heading off for college. She subsequently built a successful career in SEO and marketing, and has headed up SEO at several companies. In 2009, she and her then co-founder partnered to build lead-gen-based websites, but in the fall of 2010, the business pivoted to an entirely new model: visual communication design. In the years since, she has grown Killer Visual Strategies to become the industry leader, driving visual strategy and campaigns for global brands including Microsoft, Boeing, Adobe, Nikon, Starbucks, the National Endowment for the Arts, the United Nations, and more.
Considered an expert in her field, Balliett speaks at dozens of conferences each year including SXSW, Adobe MAX, SMX, and more. She is also a regular teacher at The School of Visual Concepts, a guest lecturer at the University of Washington, and a LinkedIn Learning instructor.
Video
Here’s the video version of our conversation:
https://youtu.be/JXszlNo1o_w
Podcast Intro Transcript
Human beings have always been hard-wired to prefer visual content. So, when smart phones and social media emerged about 10 years ago, the stage was set for a new wave of visual communication...
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By Larry Swanson
4.9
2222 ratings
Amy Balliett
Amy Balliett grounds the power of images in strong narratives. Her visual stories deliver the kind of content that humans are hard-wired to crave.
Amy and her team pair word people with picture people. In her office, content strategists work side-by-side with visual-communication experts. This tandem creates strategically driven visual content that addresses the visceral human preference for images.
Amy and I talked about:
the origins of her original visual brand, Killer Infographics
the history of the rise of modern infographics - which first arose as a link-bait tactic for SEOs
the impact of the iPhone and social media on increasing the demand for visual media
how that demand worked in tandem with natural human wiring that favors visuals over text
the rise of visual media sharing
how her word staff interacts with her visual staff, and how most of her executives have a writing background
the importance of words in visual communication
how she once said, "text is dead," and was promptly and properly corrected
the emergence of Buzzfeed-like, headline-driven culture
the foundations of their research and practice methods - from font theory to color theory and illustration styling
the advantages of having been acquired by an insights-and-research firm and how that has helped them double down on their work to understand their audiences and their goals
how a project they did for Comic-Con shows the importance of adapting branded images to the immediate communication intention
the role of the content strategist at Killer Visual Strategies
the importance of having narrative drive the visual story, not design
how their process starts - right after the discovery process - with the content strategist crafting the narrative for the project
how she helps writers with long-form content backgrounds adapt to creating the concise, short-form content that is their specialty
their brand transition from Killer Infographics to Killer Visual Strategies
the differences between information visualization and visual storytelling
how she helps her Fortune 500 clients formulate and implement visual strategy
their discovery that in 2019 90% of marketers found that their most important content-marketing tactic was having a visual communication strategy
Amy's Bio
Amy Balliett is the CEO and founder of the visual content marketing and communications agency, Killer Visual Strategies (formerly Killer Infographics). She owned her first company, a candy store and ice cream parlor, at the age of 17 before heading off for college. She subsequently built a successful career in SEO and marketing, and has headed up SEO at several companies. In 2009, she and her then co-founder partnered to build lead-gen-based websites, but in the fall of 2010, the business pivoted to an entirely new model: visual communication design. In the years since, she has grown Killer Visual Strategies to become the industry leader, driving visual strategy and campaigns for global brands including Microsoft, Boeing, Adobe, Nikon, Starbucks, the National Endowment for the Arts, the United Nations, and more.
Considered an expert in her field, Balliett speaks at dozens of conferences each year including SXSW, Adobe MAX, SMX, and more. She is also a regular teacher at The School of Visual Concepts, a guest lecturer at the University of Washington, and a LinkedIn Learning instructor.
Video
Here’s the video version of our conversation:
https://youtu.be/JXszlNo1o_w
Podcast Intro Transcript
Human beings have always been hard-wired to prefer visual content. So, when smart phones and social media emerged about 10 years ago, the stage was set for a new wave of visual communication...