Storytelling is at the heart of any effective communications campaign, but you need to find the story that matters before you figure out how you’re going to tell it.
As we’ve discussed, it doesn’t matter if it’s social media, media relations, internal communications or other elements of a strategic communications plan, you have to tell stories that resonate in a meaningful way with your audiences.
There are some commonalities of effective storytelling, including embracing yourself as the subject matter expert, embracing your company mission, making an emotional connection, adding value for your customers, and finding the right CTA.
To make things more confusing, the tools available to brands have made storytelling more effective, but certainly more complicated. The available communications channels alone have gone from a few to a few thousand.
In that same blog post, we talked about the questions you need to ask yourself about the content you’re creating so it’s effective:
1. Does it apply to my core mission?
2. Will my audiences care?
3. Does it bring value to my audiences’ lives?
4. What do they need to know and how can they take action? and…
5. How can I portray it in a meaningful and exciting way?
Here’s the blog so be sure to check it out: How To Put The “Story” In Storytelling
But before you can come up with an effective content strategy you need to know what story to tell. Sometimes, an amazing story can fall right into your lap. Or sometimes you’re lucky enough to just stumble across an amazing idea, person, or narrative that fits perfectly with what you’re trying to accomplish.
More often than not, however, that’s not the case. The easy choice is usually not the most compelling story that you want to tell. What you typically end up with is a somewhat fun story that doesn’t resonate with your audiences.
It doesn’t bring meaning, value, or purpose to your connection with them, and if you can’t deliver meaning, purpose, or value, then you’re wasting your time and theirs.
There are a lot of theories and recommendations out there about questions you can ask to find the so-called “story behind the story,” but I like to keep things simple. The questions you can ask will vary from story to story, person to person, or content creator to content creator.
So, what can you do to make sure you’re finding the best possible story? Simply put, you need all the information you can find. You need to know how and why things are like they are.
I’ve used the five W’s before (who, what, when, where, and why) when talking about things like transparency, and today we’re going to apply that same thinking to finding the story that matters. Matters to your brand, your audiences, and your content efforts.
It’s easier to ask you customer to connect to a story about a person vs. a story about a product, place, or thing. Dig and find out who is behind your story, and what people have been instrumental in this journey. Whatever the story is, there’s usually a person or people pushing behind the scenes. Find out their story and integrate it into your storytelling.
There’s the basic, what does this product do, or what does this service accomplish, but that won’t get you to the deeper story you’re looking for. Ask questions like, “what makes it work?”, “what impact is it having on customers or clients?”, and “what happens after the product is used or service is rendered?”. This will help you explore the true value of the topic you’re creating content about, which will in turn help you connect with your audiences in a meaningful way.
It’s easy to get lost in focusing on today. I mean, that’s when you’re writing the story or creating the content. But the story you’re writing about likely started well before you put the proverbial pen to paper. So, trace it back and find out when this storyline started. How come it took as long as it did to come to be a reality? Or if it wasn’t a long time, why was it so accelerated? Just by digging into the timeline you can learn a lot about your subject and storylines.
This one seems obvious, but let’s dig in anyway. It’s not just about where your person, product, business, or service takes place. It can be about where all of that is having an effect on the world around us. Are there communities benefitting from a service? Is there a global trend your storyline can tie into? In a digital world the geographical boundaries are removed so find out where the impact of your storyline is being felt and you might just uncover an awesome story to tell.
We all know why a product exists or why a service is rendered. But why are we talking about it in the first place, or why is there a need for a product like that or a service focused on that specific need? Ask “why did the founder or creator have the idea in the first place?” or why did people find it appealing?
Ask why as many times as you can to find something truly meaningful to share with your audiences.
Again, there are a lot of ways to get to that story that matters, but follow these steps and you’re well on your way.
I’ve also been discussing how you can find success following the Coronavirus crisis through the RADD approach, which is Recognize, Adapt, Develop, and Deploy. Check out our previous posts to see how you can succeed with the RADD process:
– Get RADD And Plan For Success Following Coronavirus Crisis
– Prepare for Success and Get RADD, Part 1: Recognize
– Finding Success By Getting RADD, Part 2: Adapt
– Get RADD, Part 3: Develop Plans For Success
– Deploying Your RADD Communications Plan
Here are some recent posts to help as you create your Strategic Communications campaigns:
– Tips For Managing Unethical Communications Requests
– Internal Communications During A Crisis
– A Meaningful Message, Or Pandering Without Purpose
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of Effective
– Wake Up. Kick Ass. Repeat.
– How to Create Content That Engages Audiences and Builds Brand Trust Quickly
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