Tell Your Own Story
I found all of the assigned readings for this week’s class to be enriching, but the chapters in The New Rules of Marketing an PR stuck out to me the most. I love that the book provides such meaningful examples of businesses and organizations who are using digital marketing the “right” way. These real-life models really resonated with me and I found myself thinking about how I could apply the various techniques to my own work, even though my own work is quite different.
The one thing that stayed in the back of my mind as I was reading is the idea of telling your own story. I love this! Who knows what I do better than me? Who knows what my business is about better than me? Who can communicate my message better then me? It’s freeing to realize that you don’t have to rely on others to tell your story for you.
In the past, I have been responsible for reaching out to the media in the hopes that they will pick up a story. But, to me, the story that comes from those media outlets (if it is picked up) lacks a certain authenticity. Sure, it gets the facts out there, but there’s no personality to it. There’s no face to it.
One of the notes that I scribbled down says, “It’s not about creating fluff! Content should be based in facts.” I really like this idea. Not only am I inspired to tell my own story, but I also want to make sure that the story I tell is real. I want it to stand out and be genuine. I want it to have a distinct voice that people can recognize.
At work, I do a lot of posting on the various social media platforms. Mostly, I advertise workshops or events on Facebook and Twitter. You know, this workshop is coming up on this day at this time in this location and here’s a few reasons that you should sign up. Oh, and here’s a nice picture to catch your attention. And that’s great for those who know us. For those who’ve participated in our workshops or come to one of our events. But that doesn’t do much in the way of getting people’s attention. It doesn’t do much in the way of growing our client base. So, thanks to The New Rules of Marketing and PR, I’m inspired to do things differently than what I was previously taught.
“I don’t think of it as marketing. It feels simply like talking to people.” (p.31)
This is how I want to start thinking about what I do. When I talk to people about an upcoming program, they can sense my interest in it. They can see my reasoning behind it and they can see its value. Thanks to online engagement, the personal aspect is not limited to face-to-face communication. I can utilize social media platforms to start a conversation. I can tell my own story.
