50 THE POWER OF VISUAL STORYTELLING visual content about your company. Chances are, you’ll find that the trust is generated in part because of their reputation but also because they dis- cuss and share product attributes in a relatable, easy-to-understand way. It’s also important to go beyond what people are saying about your company and understand what else they care about. Learn what issues, causes, and interests are important to them, plus what motivates them. For example, if your customer base is passionate about sports or enter- tainment, content can be crafted around a major event, season, and more. This is strategic because people aren’t going on social media sites to hear from companies. They are hopping onto Facebook to see their cousin’s vacation photos or to post photos from a birthday party. Being human also means fitting in, so your goal as a company is to craft visual con- tent that’s a welcome interruption between the status updates, photos, and more that people come on social media platforms to view. One way to show the more human side of your company is by putting your community’s user-generated content in the spotlight. In Lululemon’s #TheSweatLife campaign (http://thesweatlife.lululemon.com), the com- pany prompted its fans to share on Twitter or Instagram how they get their sweat on for a chance to appear on the company’s website or social media channels. It used a service called Olapic, which offers software for collecting user-generated photos across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Naturally, the photos all put Lululemon apparel in the spotlight, but it did so in a way that personified the brand and the people who live an active, healthy lifestyle. Lululemon could craft a ton of inspiring visual content to promote its brand, but seeing real people out living their lives while wearing the company’s apparel is more relatable. People could see how the clothing fits on real bodies and not just on models. They could also use the images to source styling ideas, fitness tips, and more. According to an interview with Nancy Richardson, Lululemon’s vice president of digital and brand strategy, the campaign launched in fall 2012 and, as of spring 2013, there had been more than 26,000 people who had used #thesweatlife hashtag on Instagram, plus over 2 million page views on Lululemon’s 14 website.