2013-09-10



All the best insights and advice from our last live discussion on the effective use of storytelling in content marketing
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Kathryn Cave, editor, IDG Connect International

Find the human story: A lot of written material fundamentally fails because it doesn't lead with the most interesting material. Usually with human stories the more emotive the tale and the more people can relate the better it will perform. People ultimately need to take a journey and identify with characters.

Learn from old-school direct mail packages: If you really tell a good story and make people identify they will want to buy. There is lot to be learned from the really long, old-school direct mail packages which are written to a tried and tested formula. Lead with the picture, then offer a promise, deliver your proof and conclude with the pitch.

Alex Cheeseman, head of brands and agencies, Outbrain UK

Think like a startup: Our advice is to start off small and think like a startup. Create a test and learn strategy, to demonstrate the value of content.

Balance owned, paid and leased content: Brands need a balance between owned, paid for and leased content to effectively support their strategies. It's often unrealistic to rely purely on owned to support continued audience engagement across all channels.

Nick Cohen, managing partner, MediaCom

Work with great talent: It's so true that as more and more people are pushing out content in all sorts of forms it gets ever harder to do something that really cuts through. In my view that's where brands can benefit most from working with those who've already proven they can connect with an audience: great talent, writers, producers and media owners.

Understand how social media is changing storytelling: I do think that real-time response via social has changed brands' relationships with storytelling: nowadays, we have to recognise that the stories that are passed around on social media about a brand can be even more powerful in shaping mainstream perceptions than the brand's own communications.

Authenticity is key: It needs to come from an authentic place and really add something, otherwise people will just view it as an annoying interruption rather than valuable content.

Clare Hill, managing director, The Content Marketing Association (CMA)

Know your audience: Brands need to add value and gain consumer trust in order to ensure engagement. Irrespective of the channel. The digital age means that content needs to be in the right place at the right time to the right audience.

Success is more than an arresting strapline: Successful authors, screen-writers, anthropologists, journalists and artists already understand that the craft of storytelling is based not on sentences or arresting straplines, but on a journey in which characters represent our lives and desires. The story remains the same but the way in which it can be told and delivered in a more engaging way is the real advantage and challenge of the digital age.

The importance of data: Data and insight are critical and tracking performance gives insight for making the next story even better.

Nic McCarthy, director of content, Seven

User-generated content is adding a new dimension to storytelling: For me one of the most exciting things about digital storytelling is the way it breaks the traditional narrator and listener mode. Everyone had a chance to add their twist, their take on the story. A small example – in Sainsbury's magazine we published a traditional interview with Romilla Arber from the Food Education Trust. It was picked up through social and generated a brilliant discussion about their work, making it much more nuanced and interesting

Seek editorial experts: That's where our job as editorial experts come in. Our mantra at Seven is to 'keep brands real' – to work with our clients to make content useful, entertaining, interesting, original. That's where a background on the newsstand (print or digital) comes in very handy. Your job is create content so ace that people are happy to pay for it.

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