Storytelling, Social Media and beyond

This piece from Content Marketing Institute raises some very good issues for brand storytelling and content marketing.

Here's an intro:

One "often hears advice, in the content marketing, to be a “story teller,”
which some might argue is very much harder than it sounds. You might
argue that a “story” in a content marketing context has to do with
illustrating a brand promise in some tangible way.

The way one frequently encounters “stories” of this sort could be a case study where a “customer has a problem and my solution was the answer.”

But be honest: how many of you find this “good story telling?”

Here's what caught my attention:

Jerry Cleaver’s Immediate Fiction is a fantastic book on storytelling and writing, he argues, and he emphasizes three elements of every good story. Greatly simplified, they are:

* Conflict – there is a big problem

* Action – the character fights the problem

*Resolution – there is a clear ending

****The issue is how to create dramatic tension for a case study, or any other piece of content marketing, where there is genuine conflict, some action and a resolution, that is not so much within the typical “case study” script that it fails to engage storytelling and content marketing

I know there are people who have answers to this and I'm hoping some of you will make comments here.

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Storytelling, Social Media and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/vgXeyM]

This piece was written by Raf Stevens, author of "No Story No Fans"

I selected this because the author gives some very good tips on how to use storytelling that lets your audience know who you are and why they should trust you. People work with and buy from people they like. If you're not connecting with others through your content online, this article will help you.

Intro:

Many organizations are not even aware that their message has lost all connection with their audience

The strange thing with all this is that the solution to creating compelling content is so obvious: Use stories and storytelling

Do you think that you or your business is in touch with its own stories? And can they be told in a way that connects them with their audience in this hyper-connected world?

Chances are this might not be the case if you have trouble answering any of the following questions:

**What story really defines you?

**How does your story fit with the heart of your organization?

**How is your story emotionally engaging to your audience?

**Can your audiences retell your story?

**In what ways can they develop trust in your story and act upon it?

Here are a couple of good takeaways:

Remember the universal truth:

Nobody wants to be sold, but everyone wants to be helped. Create content that:

**answers your audience's questions

**provides them with answers and solutions or demonstrates how your offerings can help them in their everyday lives

Build trust

Honesty among people is important, but trust is critical for marketers to gain audience support. So make sure your story demonstrates why you arae worthy of your audience's trust.

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Storytelling, Social Media & Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/t2Wx1d]

Here are six trends we are seeing that separate good versus great content marketing programs and brands.

This piece was written by Venessa Miemis for her blog.

"I see that life can very much be lived as a form of art. We can each choose to become multidimensional, a unique creative expression, a story of elegance, beauty and grace. The cultivating force is love"

This is one of those gems that don't come along very often. It is moving, written with grace and certainly has something that will connect with anyone who reads this, it's about the story of your life.

Here are some highlights:

**Life is simple. That is the beauty of it. Narratives define the relevance of antagonistic complexity and the centrality of that which is beautifully simple to us, that which in our universe has become tame to us

**Have a narrative for every discipline you care about

**every person that you care about 

**every part of your body 

**every part of yourself

**every idea you bring into this world

**imagine the world as it would be without your presence

**then imagine if you had infinite love and finite time. Identify an infinite variety of possible quests that relate to the narrative of each 

**define your diversification strategy so that you seek returns of the right forms of meaning for who you are and who you wish to become

**review the top pages of that list prioritized by feasibility and your own constraints

**Redesign iteratively until the parts of yourself symphonically agree that having a specific implication in your world would be an act of art worthy of the identity you would wish to gift yourself.

**Leave everything you care about better off to the degree to which it is in your life as a matter of art the grace of only being traceable by our love and not by the degree to which we are a burden to our world

**Be visible only in the love we create in our world so that when we look in the mirror if we see what the world sees then all we will see is love

Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Storytelling, Social Media and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/HVIcue]

Brand storytelling as part of your website and content marketing efforts can make the difference between success and failure. See why Crop Ventures got me.

This piece is from Evivio Blog - I selected this piece because today is the beginning of the Reinvention Summit where people from all over the world gather together to hear and share stories of change. All businesses are going through reinvention, telling the right stories to connect with their audiences in a new way is crucial. 

Here are some highlights:

**Stories are the new currency in digital marketing, as digital media allow consumers a surfeit of channels to listen to and engage on.

**Consumers want to be engrossed and entertained, and as with other entertainment media, they expect a story.

But stories are not just entertaining.

**Stories are useful, descriptive, beautiful, interesting: shareable.

**Shareable, and participatory: when your audience shares your content, they often add their perspective to it, adding social credence that can further enhance its relevance

**The iconic marketing goal of the social media era is ‘viral’ content – a video, photo or other content that spreads like a virus from host to host, making millions of people laugh, cry or think.

**But one must consider how many of those attempts at ‘viral’ marketing have succeeded.

**On a Wikipedia list of the most viral internet memes very few of them are associated with a brand and those that are were almost always created by a third party or viewed as a public joke.

**Trying to produce a viral internet meme is like trying to stand up on a water slide. The chances that you will fall flat on your face and look pretty silly in the process are very high.

**Rather than attempting to create ‘viral’ content, marketers should aim for ‘shareable’ content. That is, content that genuinely affects their target demographic; content that addresses real problems or communicates similar ideals.

Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Storytelling, Social Media and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://ht.ly/aiwUY]

We are all publishers today, but that did not used to be the case. Here's an overview of the history of content marketing and how got here.

Content marketing and storytelling are becoming a larger part of the marketing organization in general.

**Content Marketing Institute and their colleagues are seeing an evolution of the marketing department transform itself into more of a publishing department.

Although this is not an easy transition and the pain has just begun, some larger brands have clearly made this transition.

**For example, Kelly Services now spends over 60% of their marketing budget on content creation and distribution activities. Even though Kelly’s VP of Thought Leadership Todd Wheatland (and Content Marketing World speaker) states that Kelly has been “doing content marketing for more than 10 years”

**many brands are still struggling with content marketing structure. Even though the barriers to entry are gone and we have all the opportunities in the world to develop valuable and compelling content

**the biggest corporate challenge is the creation of engaging content.

Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Storytelling, Social Media and Beyond"

Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/AuNBY]

I really liked this very short but important piece by Shawn Murphy - It's thought provoking and very valuable for anyone who is in business today.

It's absolutely crucial to tell a story, that conveys the essence of your brand message, and connects with your audience.

Here are a few questions Shawn asks his readers:

**What story do you want your leadership to tell?

**What story is told through your actions? 

Does your story illustrate what you believe or want?"

****As you prepare for this week, think about the story you want to craft through your leadership-in-action.

Make it memorable. Leave people touched, moved, and inspired

The link to this story is here: http://lindaziskind.com/the-power-of-storytelling

Nonprofit communications too often get tangled up in the language of data, generalities, and high-level objectives, which keeps supporters at arms-length from the emotional core or their organization. To be effective, they need to tell a compelling story, giving supporters a one-to-one connection to the impact a donation can have. Find out how one organization communicates with stories that carry the emotional resonance to touch and connect with supporter, and read about four resources for undertanding and utilizing the power of storytelling.