Planning for social media storytelling

Jun 2, 2010 by Stephanie

I’ve heard it said again and again that social media is about telling stories. I agree that for brands, crafting a brand story that’s compelling to consumers is a great way to build and retain brand engagement. But it’s more than just a single story or storyline, it’s got to be a whole, fleshed-out brand personality, though not necessarily the brand personified, but fully realized and supported in a way that’s sustainable over the long term.

img credit: Sahbapasta

That’s a tall order.

So where does a brand manager start to plan for telling the brand story through creating personality in social media?

Well, as is my answer to almost anything in social: listen first. Understand your community (or desired community). What are they talking about that’s relevant to your product or service? What topics or themes resonate with them that you could incorporate into your brand persona? Which voices are the most influential, the strongest, the most dedicated to your topic(s)?

Once you understand the key themes and types of voices in the conversation, it will be easier to begin to craft a brand personality and voice that will be more likely to be accepted by the community once you begin to engage.

Next, you need to determine which platform(s) make the most sense for your brand. Listening should (hopefully) have indicated where most of your brand (or category or related topic) conversations are taking place. If there’s a lot of engagement happening on Twitter, that could be a good place to start. Facebook makes sense for many brands. But for my money, I think a blog is the best platform for a brand personality to emerge and live, where longer-form stories can be told. Twitter and Facebook are then outposts for your blog, and can help to create attention for your blog through those communities.

Video is also an excellent medium for brand storytelling, though most marketers seem to still shy away from it, as many assume it’s too expensive and time consuming to create. The reality is that social video can and should be more casual, more immediate and much less costly than advertising or promotional video. In fact, the most effective casual video is often the stuff shot behind the scenes, which most marketing creatives would leave on the cutting room floor.

Don’t overlook other types of social integrations, both online and off. Creating offline events, such as blogger parties or consumer events, helps to extend your brand personality and bring it to life in a three-dimensional way. Some of those attributes can translate online to Twitter parties, authentic brand participation in forums or newsgroups, or through emerging platforms like Polyvore, Loopt or Blippy. Brand participation in online gaming, such as Farmville in Facebook, can further enhance a brand persona by creating unexpected (though hopefully relevant) brand references in places where people will be surprised or amused to see them.

Are you stuck in planning your social media storytelling? Or have great experiences to share? Tell your stories in the comments below and we’ll help each other out.