You're probably familiar with the term “storytelling.” From movies to literature, commercials and therefore PR: stories come back everywhere. As humans, we love stories. All such 36,000 years ago stories were told through cave drawings. But why do we want to be told a story so much? And how can you use this as an organization to reach and engage the right audience? I'm going to explain that to you!
Storytelling helps you get a message across in a creative way. The reason this works well is that people make an emotional connection with a story rather than dry matter. And when an emotion is triggered, the message sticks better. Exactly what you would like, of course. The trick is to come up with a story that people can relate to. Do you paint a familiar picture for your target group? Then they are most likely immediately fascinated. With that, you can brand loyalty build and increase the engagement of the audience you have chosen.
Storytelling is beneficial in many situations. Also in public relations you can use storytelling to ensure that your message is heard. Here are a few tips for using storytelling in pr:
It is important to know who will receive your message. Who is your target group? On which platform do you reach them? And what do they agree with? To visualize this, create a persona of someone who represents the target group. Then create an empathy map to identify the feelings and thoughts of your target group and to empathize as well as possible.
Decide what you want to say and, based on that, choose the emotion you want to provoke from the audience. Humour, emotion and sadness stick best. For example, consider the annual advertisements from the State Lottery New Year's Eve Draw. With the right emotion in mind, you can start shaping the message.
Not only do you want the message to get across and stick, but you also want it to seamlessly match the identity of your organization. This way, the audience gets to know you immediately as you are. Especially for the younger generations (Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha), sincerity extremely important.
Sending a press release to the journalist of a newspaper, magazine or website is not enough. Of course, you've already researched your audience, so you know where they are. Make sure they can't get around you. Appear in the podcasts they listen to, show yourself at talk shows or on the radio. Where they are, so are you.
Encourage interaction. Make sure you capitalize on the hype around user-generated content (UGC) and call for personal experiences to be shared. With this, your customers create earned (a.k.a. free!) content for you and you get the chance to set up a community.
As mentioned earlier, emotion is the driving force behind receiving and remembering messages. You do this, for example, by sharing a personal story or an inspiring anecdote.
Imagine: you are an entrepreneur and you have survived the corona crisis. Share what it did to you, how you got through it, and what you got out of it.
Make sure your story is distinctive and visual. A good story takes the listener/viewer on a journey. If you choose a spoken or written version of your story, make sure that the listener/reader can imagine it. This keeps the target group engaged and ensures that you stand out from similar stories.
Take the entrepreneur as an example again. Of course, there are several entrepreneurs who have survived the corona crisis. Sketch a story that is as visual as possible to make it personal. For example, tell us where you were and what went through your mind when you first heard that stores were closing.
As you can read, there are plenty of reasons to use storytelling and you can get a lot out of it. Remember: preparation is half the work. The first few steps are the least glamorous, but they can get you so much closer to your goal. And a good story often has multiple iterations. Pitch your story to multiple people and be open to ideas and feedback (preferably from the target group). Read your story multiple times and take the time to do it on different days.
Now that you know how to work, it's up to you to try it out! Can't you figure it out yourself? Our PR experts have been there, done that. That's why we love helping you! Fill out our contact form to find out what we can do for you.
