There’s Never Been A Better Time To Be A Storyteller
I have always loved to tell tales and am a creative person at heart. I like to think that had I been born in another time, I would have entertained my family by the light of the fire spinning yarns of fantastical worlds and epic adventures. Sadly, I grew up just as the race between Playstation and Xbox was heating up and so my mind was wasted away in front of the television.
Unlike many who feel devoted to crafting tales, I haven’t honed my skills writing various pieces of fanfiction or short stories. You won’t find my name on any books on Amazon (yet) or gracing the New York Times bestseller list. No, over the last few years I’ve been telling the stories of companies, products, and people. I’m using my storytelling abilities to market, and right now, there’s never been a better time to put my skills to the test.
The rise of social media and smartphones has given marketers the ability to reach out and connect with their audiences at all times of day and night. But it’s also exponentially upended the marketing world not just in how we market but how we incorporate our fans into our strategies.
Let’s say that McDonalds was releasing an ad for their new burger. Traditionally, they would release several different TV spots, a newspaper/magazine ad and a radio ad. The video ad that played on TV would be uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as a way to expand the reach of the ad. That’s a fairly comprehensive campaign across a broad range of channels and markets reaching some different demographics. If you add advertising on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram into the mix then tens of millions of people will now know that McDonalds has a new burger coming out.
Most marketers would stop there. They’d point to the metrics and tell the client that they’ve done their job. But that’s not telling a story. That’s not bringing your followers into the conversation. That’s merely creating an advert and repurposing it for different networks. How would McDonalds use this opportunity to tell a story? How does it enhance the campaign?
First, you need to recognize that each platform has their strengths and weaknesses. Traditional marketing will always have its place when telling the story of a new product. Give your social media audiences a peek behind the scenes. The chances are that they’re going to end up seeing the original ad on TV, so why would they want to see it again on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube? People follow you on social media because they want something that they can’t get anywhere else: a coupon, an inside scoop, interesting content. People have to get something out of your page for them to like it or follow you. Why not include a behind the scenes video of how the ad was shot? Interview the actors, the chef, the creators of the burger. All of this goes beyond the original ad and delves in deeper to the story of the burger. Integrated marketing, adding in the different dimensions of a campaign through social media, gives even the most basic ad lots of depth.
Secondly, realize that you and your audience are on the same playing field: you’re both human. You and your audience’s humanity means that you can weave a narrative with these increasingly interactive tools. If we return to the example of a new McDonald’s burger, how would we create the narrative of a new burger? What’s the story behind the burger, other than the fact that McDonald’s wants to increase their profits? The story will often lie in the emotional connection that people have to the brand. We all remember eating at McDonald’s when we were kids, having birthday parties supervised by Ronald, Grimace and Mayor McCheese. The new burger would be an extension of those very real human emotions, and McDonald’s would use social media as a way to connect their audience to these childhood memories.
Social media networks are where we go to connect with friends, look at baby pictures and live our lives. When we open up Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, we’re entering into a new mental state that revolves around emotion. This shift in our way of thinking is why adverts stick out so horribly on social media. It’s not because we’ve become accustomed to them or have no interest in them but because they do not appreciate the fact that our mood changes when we enter our social networks.
When McDonald’s releases their new burger ad on TV, they do so with specially crafted Facebook and Twitter posts which are designed to spark engagement and add to the story of the new burger.
That’s why it’s never been a better time to be a storyteller. Digital platforms and social networks have given us the opportunity to go far beyond what we thought possible only a few short years ago. For those who consume only traditional media, they’re still seeing the ad and experiencing the campaign. No one is left out. But, for those who want to continue down the rabbit hole, a good marketer can bring the audience into a whole other world.
