Digital Storytelling And The Creativity Behind It
Organisations that are good storytellers are the new stars of marketing and digital engagement.
One way to stand out on the very busy web is to master digital storytelling. Why? Because since the first time human beings were able to speak to each other we have shared stories and experiences and have chatted about all kinds of random things.
Digital storytelling is the fusion of stories and digital technology. By combining text, images, music, videos and voice together with a story you create a digital story. The outcome can be a blog post, a video, a slideshow, a gif, or a blog post with a mix of different elements in it.
Anyone with a story and access to a digital device can do it. It’s about trying out new combinations of what’s available and incorporating them into your story.
Good stories make us watch, read or listen when we are online, they light a fire in the mind and make you consider what you stand for yourself. Organisations that are good at getting us to do that are the new stars of marketing and digital engagement.
Imagine you are on a weekend trip with friends. You chat, hang out and have fun. When someone tells a good story everyone listens and then you say things such as, ‘love that story’, ‘wow’, ‘what a surprise’. When we are in groups we share stories without even thinking about it, and a good story always has a point.
Every post that you share online is part of your digital story. This is true for both brands and people. It’s the collection of stories you share that together create the full picture.
A large organisation with a big web presence will carry out say 70 website and social media updates per day. All of these updates are part of the organisation’s digital story.
Being Fluent In Digital Storytelling
Having an innovative approach to branding and marketing helps hugely when creating stories. We have apps, smart digital tools and software that can help us to create and combine sound, video, images and text.
Digital storytelling is an ongoing process that starts with ideas and next moves into the research stage when you start writing down the story. Then you create the content and edit it. In the last step the story is shared publicity and then you evaluate the results, and here you learn what worked and didn’t work and start again. When you take creativity to the next level you are moving through this loop and listening to the feedback you get every time.
Stories work like an engine for our imaginations. Brands that help people to imagine what they want, build closer relationships with them.
One secret behind great storytelling is people. People who are engaged and enjoy their job create better stories than people who are uncommitted. To create content that stands out online you need to have a devoted team.
Something else that makes your stories stand out is continuity. You need continuity in your workflow with new stories of all sizes appearing every day.
Behind a great storytelling team lies commitment to the brand, great leadership, a clear branding message and a sense of common direction.
When you have a dysfunctional digital team that doesn’t share information or understand the branding and the mission you will find it incredibly hard to create good stories.
People and passion are connected. People with passion will create content that leads to engagement, and that will (hopefully) lead to higher profit.
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