At WordWrite, we believe that every organization has at least one great story to tell: its own. That’s why our premier service is our StoryCrafting℠ process, which taps the deep and elemental human love of stories to build two-way, ongoing relationships with the audiences our clients need to reach.
For us, the power of storytelling has been an agency practice since its founding nearly ten years ago. It seems pretty simple, right? Audiences are drawn to compelling stories, so why not communicate information to them in a way that helps them make sense of what they are processing, a la storytelling?
But as we all know, what may seem simple and practical does not always hold true. Public relations and communications professionals hell bent on getting their client’s names out using any means necessary will blast press releases, product announcements, social media posts, etc., filled with jargon, hype, and useless information that neither connects with an audience nor compels it to act.
Which is why it was pleasantly refreshing to read “Storytelling Rules & Writing Better Press Releases,” an insightful post from PR Newswire’s blog, Beyond PR.
Author Rod Nicolson, PR Newswire’s VP of user experience design & workflow, contends, “Everything is a story. Stories are how we make sense of the world around us, how we communicate, how we reach out and touch others. Press releases, videos, podcasts, blog posts, tweets . . . they’re all forms of storytelling.”
Even as a “fluent storyteller,” Nicolson’s article provided excellent insight as to what makes a good story, and more importantly, reminders of how and why it is so important that we share them on our client’s behalf:
- Providing valuable content is no longer going to be just a part of an agency or brand reputation-building strategy, but could now improve web visibility. According to Nicholson, “well-told, genuine, audience-focused stories may be more important than ever. Google’s ‘Farmer’ update may have included the ability to interpret what users consider ‘valuable’ in content. This is a very new and radical change. If true, then the more original and well written the story, the more likely it is to rank well.”
- The quickest way for someone to identify with a story is to see themself in it. “If a press release can plant the image of ourselves using that product, attending that event, buying that stock, it’s been a story well told,” writes Nicolson.
- Don’t let your great story end with just audience interest — engage them. As Nicolson says, “give them the tools to share it [the story] with friends and colleagues on social networks or media or e-mail or whatever their social poison is.” What if the first person to ever hear Hansel and Gretel never passed the tale on? Stories are meant to be shared, and in today’s world of online content sharing and social networking sites, there are limitless options for ensuring your audiences can do so easily.
We offer free StoryCrafting tools that can help you explore the power of storytelling to deliver results for your business, which you can find here.
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Samantha Wannemacher is an account executive for WordWrite Communications. You can find her on Twitter @shw72388.
