story telling workshop_sxsw_2013

Storytelling The next wave of social media marketing Presented by @MarkWilliams and @CarriBugbee

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About @CarriBugbee •  Join @PeggyOlson’s creative team (new saga!) at

Bit.ly/TeamPeggyList

•  Social TV explorer, social media marketing strategist & speaker; advertising/PR pro

•  Social TV columnist/analyst & editorial board member of TheSocialMediaMonthly.com

•  Contributing author: “The Big Book of Social Media Case Studies, Stories, Perspectives”

•  @socialTVtrends, @PeggyOlson, @JazzCrowd

•  Bio & other profiles (G+): CarriBugbee.com •  Join Carri’s Diigo groups:

•  Storytelling for brands: bit.ly/brandstorytips

•  Social TV: bit.ly/socialtvfilm

•  Social media training for marketers: bit.ly/smmtrain

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About @MarkWilliams

•  Director of Social Strategy & Content Programming, LiveWorld

•  Theater Actor, Director and Producer

•  “Forest Gump” of social media

•  BA in History, MFA in Theater

•  Travel in 6 continents, 50 states

•  facebook.com/mark.williams2

•  [email protected]

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Client history includes: •  Kraft Foods, HBO, MINI,

QVC, Sprint, TJX, a major sports league and…

•  #1 retailer in the world •  #1 CPG •  #1 Travel & Financial Services •  #1 and #2 Pharmaceutical

Social “engagement” has come to this?

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And this?

And still more like this?

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Until we end up with this.

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Storytelling has always been at the core of smart marketing

“It's not called the Wheel. It's called a Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around, and back home again... to a place where we know we are loved.” - Don Draper

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And still is today

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Social storytelling: •  Includes customer stories as part of the brand story •  Conveys brand attributes in a more memorable context •  Entertains customers and keeps them interested •  Teaches and educates in a fun, non-preachy way •  Inspires customers to spread the word about you •  Builds fans and advocates •  Maybe even goes vir… (the marketing tactic that must not be

named!)

This is the next wave

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What is social storytelling? And who is doing it well?

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Case Study: Old Spice with special guest Dean McBeth

(video interview; Carri will post online later) Formerly senior digital strategist at Wieden+Kennedy

Currently SVP of digital strategy and content at Ketchum Digital

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Old Spice guy introduced in a “super bowl” commercial, but was initially just on the Web

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Twitter served as primary storytelling platform Old Spice guy interacted with fans & celebrities

Uploaded 187 YouTube videos in three days, directed to fans, celebrities or communities

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Old Spice guy posted clever comments on Facebook in character

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Old Spice Website connected people to social storytelling

Top 10 tips for social storytelling

1.  Customer comments/actions will guide good story ideas •  What are customers doing and saying now? Expand on that. •  Even negative comments can inspire ideas.

2.  Social stories are often non-linear •  You may have to work hard to maintain a consistent thread and

story arc; people in social spaces are ADD. •  People will pop in and out; look for ways to pull them back in.

3.  Stories should be both structured and improvisational •  Create a plan, but know some of it will change.

•  Pay attention to what people like and do more of it. •  Respond in the moment to create surprise and delight.

•  Set up parameters for spontaneity (particularly if you have a big team or inexperienced team members).

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4.  Use each social media platform to its best advantage •  Create stand-alone platform experiences that are enhanced by

cross-platform participation.

•  You need team members who really know the platforms you’re using—technical expertise and community connections.

5.  Give people something to do—and reward them •  Build in incremental payoffs along the way.

•  People want to know how hard they’re going to work and what they’ll get for their time.

6.  Highly visual •  Tell your story in pictures as well as words.

•  You can even tell a story with just pictures or video.

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7.  Focus on share-ability •  Create moments that’ll make people want to spread your content. •  Incorporate the right tools/apps for this (obvious and easy to use).

8.  Use data to personalize the experience •  Track what people like and what they say.

•  Gather social data via authentication and social sharing tools.

9.  Track your biggest fans—pay it forward & give back •  They’ll help seed your content and be your champions. •  They might also be your test group.

10.  No storytelling talent on your team? Get outside help—and develop internal team (may take awhile) •  Hire experienced writers and storytellers for project work.

•  Enlist help of visual storytellers: filmmakers, photographers, graphic designers, etc.

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Fans started social storytelling by impersonating characters on Twitter

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Other fans thought it was a “real” campaign

“…now it looks like the show's marketing team has stepped up the game again by really jumping into the social media space.”

MadMenYourself.com capitalized on Twitter characters by helping anyone to become a character

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Brand-enabled UCG (on domain) encouraged & rewarded what people were already doing via Mad Men costume parties, YouTube videos, photos, etc.

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Brand helps people live the Mad Men lifestyle (In response to user-initiated events)

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Mad Men partners with Banana Republic Fashion as transmedia—fans become the brand

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The next step? Join @PeggyOlson’s creative team! Sign up here: Bit.ly/TeamPeggyList

Storytelling building blocks What do you need to tell a story?

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Elements of a story

Characters | POV | Objectives

Initiating Action | Obstacles

Time Limits | Rising Action

Resolution &

Denouement

(check out pages 4-8 in the handout)

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Three ridiculously easy ways to improve your brand story now

•  Change your perspective: it’s about customers, not you.

•  Weave a theme into your messages to create an arc.

•  Incorporate fan responses to advance the story.

Five elements to telling any story

1. A character we identify with

2. Context for the story •  Place – literal, channel/medium (text, images, video) •  Time •  Relationship with another character

3. A challenge to overcome 4. A story arc with an ending

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•  To express themselves

•  To connect with or make friends

•  To gain attention

•  To gain status

Why do people participate in social networks?

Let’s break it down

1. Who is the character we identify with?

2. What is the context for the story? •  Place •  Time •  Relationship with another character

3. What challenge to overcome? 4. Is there a story arc with an ending? 5. Is it a social story?

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Social platform strengths and opportunities

1.  Facebook A.  Big audience potential

B.  Multimedia—video, photos, interactive apps

C.  Offline component—events, check-ins, deals

D.  Threaded conversations

E.  Robust advertising platform

F.  Real people with mostly symmetrical relationships

2.  Twitter A.  Discovery—people can find like-minded people and topics of interest

B.  Tagged conversations—hashtags make it easy to track & find like minds

C.  Trends—organic and paid

D.  Brevity

E.  Becoming more multimedia (nascent with video, aka Vine)

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3.  Pinterest A.  Visual

B.  Heavily skewed female (fashion, beauty, weddings, gifts)

C.  Focused on aspirations, interests and hobbies

D.  Topic-based

E.  Self-branded identities

4.  Location-based apps (FourSquare, etc.) A.  Geo-targeted campaigns/activities

B.  Easy sharing/distribution to other social channels

C.  Mapping

D.  Augmented reality (with third-party add-ons)

E.  Tips and reviews

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5.  Instagram

A.  Creative and playful

B.  Highly mobile

C.  Focused on time and place (and that’s easy to track)

6.  LinkedIn A.  B2B focus

7.  YouTube (and other video sites) A.  Branded channels

B.  Entertainment focused

C.  Heavy UCG participation (and built-in affinities for that)

D.  Second biggest search engine in the world

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5.  Blogs (on domain) A.  You own the experience

B.  Longer, more in-depth content

C.  Makes stories more findable (SEO)

D.  Build strong connections w/ influencers (bit.ly/influence_blogs)

6.  Owned communities A.  Create your own storyworld (definition: bit.ly/storyworlddef)

B.  More immersive experience

C.  Craft and own all (or most) aspects of the narrative experience

7.  Branded mobile apps and mobile websites A.  People can participate the way they prefer to use the Web

B.  Especially important for younger audiences

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Case Study: Freightliner with special guest Tom Bennett

(video interview; Carri will online post later) Formerly sr. strategist at The New Group

Currently strategy consultant with XPLANE

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Cultivated prominent truck drivers as social media correspondents (bloggers)

Case Studies

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Fans followed truckers & truck stats

Bloggers were on a literal and figurative journey

Case Studies

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Bloggers recognized IRL by their trucks

MINI USA: identity converges

•  “Not normal” •  Brand built

around shared customer stories

•  Wedding photos •  Car as profile •  FB timeline app

http://www.minispace.com/en_us/ #storytell #sxsw

Case Study: Norton Cybergeddon with special guest Aaron Williams

CEO and founder of SocialSamba

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Social Storytelling we turn characters into social “friends” that fans love to engage with

Norton’s Cybergeddon Saga: http://bit.ly/NortonCyber

Fans join fictional FBI agents to help solve cyber- crimes.

Story teaches people about importance of cyber-security in an entertaining, memorable way.

Story got 40% referral rate (fans telling other fans about it).

SocialSamba = Deep Engagement: •  9.98 min / visit •  2.82 visits / unique

• 32% referral traffic

• 7,171,626 in-story comments

Productive Customers 2012 Emmy Nominee Interactive Television Programming

SocialSamba Inc. The Leader in Social Storytelling www.socialsamba.com

Aaron Williams Co-Founder, CEO p: 408-337-2622 e: [email protected]

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Three things to remember

1.  It’s an EVOLUTION, not a revolution

2.  Give people something to do and reward them.

3.  Plan to adapt: listen, respond and react.

story telling workshop_sxsw_2013

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