Some Guidelines for Company Storytelling
by Gregg on January 4, 2010
Implement a storytelling strategy. It doesn’t have to be as involved as writing War and Peace but it should be thoughtfully planned and considered.
Integrate your storytelling strategy into your overall Marketing and PR plan.
You will want to know who the audience is for your stories, where they are, and what kind of stories they like to tell and to be told. Social media tools can be very helpful in this regard.
Keep in mind that those audiences likely have not heard the story or stories you’re going to be telling, don’t necessarily know who your company is, are probably more than a little bit skeptical, and, have little or no reason to care about it until you give them a good reason to do so.
Your audience is both internal and external. This list includes employees and their families, people you might want to hire, investors, potential investors, Wall Street analysts, media types (yes, bloggers and tweeters count too), your competitors, and your customers past, present and future.
There is nothing wrong with letting your customers help you to tell your story. There is very little more authentic than someone who doesn’t have a vested economic interest in the story.
Look for ways to integrate your vision statement, mission statement, press releases and other corporate pieces into your story.
Make your story as human as possible. Don’t be afraid to involve your employees and let their faces become the face of the company. People relate much better to other people, not to spreadsheets and trial balances. We invite people to dinner not corporations.
They’re stories for goodness sake, don’t be afraid to spruce them up with some colorful (not off color) language.
As part of your storytelling strategy, keep looking to refresh your stories whenever possible.
If you’re stuck trying to decide what story or stories to tell, look at some of the classical themes and plot lines that have been around since (wo)man first started telling stories. Nike’s done well borrowing from mythology as has the space program.
If you just aren’t comfortable with stories but know that you need them to compete, hire someone and give them the tools, and access to the people, to enable them to tell your story and ensure your success.
I’ll be posting a list of story types shortly that might be helpful if you’re struggling with what type of story to tell. Do you have any questions that I haven’t addressed here? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about them.
