Ditch the Press Release & Embrace Storytelling

There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not intrigued or inspired by someone I do not know. We relate to, and can connect with, stories from real people. I scroll through my Facebook feed and watch videos shared by people around the world, or look at photos of a friend’s personal experience, or watch the news to see what is happening in my own community. I laugh, I cry, I share because I feel the authenticity of what I’m consuming.

Brands seem to be grasping this concept of storytelling more and more, which is very refreshing. Gone are the days of blasting out a press release to get your story out there. No one wants to read a canned article created by some third party agency that has been spun through marketing and tested through legal. Consumers don’t buy it.

The trick that most brands haven’t caught on to is when you truly grasp the concept of being authentic and transparent, you actually need to be authentic and transparent. You can’t fake your way through it and have ‘authentic stories’ that are staged, edited and promoted to death. However, with appropriate planning and finding the right people to tell your story, you can work to guide the conversation in the right direction.

Take Apple for example. They have some of the most successful product launches of our time. Do you think Steve Jobs would have relied on a press release to ensure that the iPhone launch was a success? No. He was a master storyteller who talked about real people and how their products solve your everyday problems. They invited people of influence to help them innovate and tell their story on their behalf. They staged events that couldn’t be ignored. They built anticipation and then elevated their success of each passing day through the stories of their consumers.

If you want people to talk about you and your announcement, compel them to do so. This is not done through a press release but through storytelling. Unfortunately there isn’t a cookie cutter approach; rather it is based on your consumers’ needs and what inspires them.

Let go of your control. Let PR take on a new form. Let people see behind the scenes and under the lid, and embrace the outcome. Every story that is formed by a consumer is a story that can define, or redefine, your brand if you let it. Plan ahead, listen, engage, and grow. Let your consumers be a part of your story and inspire them to tell it in their own words.

-Culled from: http://loyalty360.org