It's All About Me

Who are we?!

CONSUMERS!

What do we want?!

STORIES!

When do we want it?!

NOW!!!

We all know the saying, “Same story, different day”. This is exactly what marketers are up against when trying to develop good content. We live in a content saturated world, and it is up to today's marketers to develop new, interesting and engaging content that isn't telling consumers the same old story they have heard a thousand times. Today's content is more then just catching the consumers attention, it is about engaging the consumer and getting them involved in the conversation.

So how do you get a consumer involved? While first of all you need to spark their attention with content that is so new and so relevant that it is like a meteor hitting Earth, no one will want to miss hearing about it! Carl Friesen refers to “meteor” content in his article, The 5 Types of Content That Grab Attention for the Best Content Marketing. He believes for good “meteor” content, “you’ll need to keep your eye on the sky, so to speak, and watch for news of sudden changes that will affect people in your market.” It is when a “meteor” hits that marketers need to be ready to act fast and create content that is engaging. “If you can write engaging “meteor” content, you can probably position it in several different media – and it will get pickup from others, as well as plenty of retweets. A “meteor” piece positions you as someone with a finger on the pulse of things that affect your market”. By creating a “meteor” piece you are STARTING the storytelling process.

So now we have this “meteor” piece we need to get people talking about it. We need people to feel like this is about them, and how it affects them in order for them to engage with it. “One of the biggest challenges in content marketing is to put the needs of our customers ahead of our own and to tell stories that connect with people.” (Michael Brenner)

Let's be honest. As a consumer I don't care about the details of the product/company/brand, I care about myself. How is this going to affect me? What is this going to do for me? I don't want to read about all the details, I just want to know if it is going to benefit me and I want to be entertained while learning if it will. Joe Pulizzi has recognized this fact and believes that "the more we educate them or entertain them, the more they don't mind being sold to". In other words, I won't mind watching an advertisement if it interest me to the point I don't think about the fact I'm being sold to. The less today's content actually looks and feels like a sales pitch the more successful it tends to be. I don't want to feel like I'm reading/watching/listening to an advertisement, I want to experience it, I want to be PART of the story being told.

So what is better then content that is so engaging I forget I'm being sold to? Content that I helped create. “Weave the results of your social conversations with customers into your content, across media channels. Good conversations seed good content, and vice versa. Write about things that people will want to talk about and share on their social networks” (Gail Goodman). Consumers more then ever are having the last word. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and blog posts to name a few, consumers are becoming more then just observers of content, but creators.

“Your audience is far from passive; they are their own publishers on social media, storytellers in their own right, and they can amplify your brand’s story or they can disrupt it, hijack it and drown it out. The point is, storytelling is a two-way street. It works best, and really only, when it’s responsive, flexible and interactive. The audience is part of the process, and that’s good news for publishers of all kinds because it accomplishes the goal of the enterprise: to reach people, to make them more engaged, more informed, more active and more thoughtful.” (Michael Howerton)

If your consumers are getting involved with your brand and creating content for it, don't fight it, but work with it. Adapt their story into yours to create a story that will not only capture your audience but make them feel like they were involved in the process of creating it. Todays' companies have to become more then just the storytellers, but rather the narrators as they tell their story, while working in the story of their consumers as well. It is an ever-evolving and continuously growing process.

As consumers are adding to your story by creating their own content through various social media sites, it is important to keep track of the conversation and get involved to keep it going. “Be sure that once you start a discussion, you're present to monitor and participate in it. When a topic catches fire and gets people gabbing, jump in and fan the flames to keep the chatter going.” (Gail Goodman)

So, the “meteor” has hit and you've started telling your story. Your creating such rich and entertaining content that the consumer forgets you are in fact marketing to them. You have made your consumers feel like they are involved and part of the conversation by involving them in your story. Now you have to KEEP them involved and engaged until they take the most crucial step of taking action.

“Lead your reader to take action. Give them a taste but don't give up the story. After reading your content, they should be emotionally invested and ready to act.” (Sue Duris)

The key here is don't be afraid to take your time getting to the final desired point, making the sale. Joe Pulizzi takes Corporate Storytelling Lessons from Kevin Spacey when it comes to the distribution of a story. Consumers are desperate for stories, and as Spacey outlines in the video, “some of the best stories in the world take time to play out. They simply cannot be told in one blog post, or one video, or one tweet.” 

In the video, Spacey himself speaks to the potential benefits of this innovative distribution strategy, proclaiming, “Give them [the audience] what they want, when the want it, in the form they want it in…”

While there is so much content to sort through in today's world, if your content is worth it, consumers will take the time absorb it. We may want the content NOW, but it doesn't mean it has to be short and sweet.