BEYOND THE BASICS: STORYTELLING AS STRATEGY

While, brand storytelling in the digital era has undergone a seismic shift, there are enduring story elements that will always apply. Today, many traditional tactics fail to reach audiences who are armed with to skip over and ignore advertising messages. Connected users can cherry-pick their media diet based on their individual preferences and desires, meaning that brands must fight harder than ever before to captivate target audiences. To break through brands need to deliver content that engages, passive messages on a banner ad are easily ignored, wasting valuable media dollars.

Banner ad click through rates have fallen to less than 0.1%.

So, how do you break through and connect to your audience in relevant and meaningful way?

1. Listen to your target market: Be where your audience is online, and listen to the stories they are sharing. What meta-narratives are they following?

2. Leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Set up search streams with critical keywords, and continuously refresh and curate content to stay relevant.

3. Engage with your audience: Actively manage and connect with your community. Ask them to participate in your campaigns and provide opportunities for feedback.

4. Emotively convey classic story structures: Align the hero of your story with your audience to spark a connection.

5. Strategically build momentum: Schedule your social channels to release content at prime times; work with suitable influencers that will share your content with a loyal and captive audience.