Stories are important to PR success.
Stories are what help to drive word-of-mouth PR and build brand. They also help consumers attach meaning and memory to your business.
When you start telling your own story with powerful, authentic and consistent messaging; it helps to direct communication traffic. It helps to create roving ambassadors for your brand.
When the stories around your business are good, memorable, consistent and repeatable; you no longer have to do as much of the heavy lifting PR hustle yourself; it starts to become organic. This is one of the ways we approach our sustainable PR ethos. Get that messaging clear and consistent and you’re on you way.
If your messaging and stories aren’t clear, consistent or repeatable; your leaving opportunity on the table.
You don’t have to wait for media to start telling your story you can start telling your story on your ‘owned’ and ‘shared’ platforms.
Owned being your blog, newsletter, website, reviews and opinion pieces. Shared platforms being all social media outlets; or collaborative partner platforms.
Once you’ve got story happening around your business, it starts to build credibility, community and social proof – positioning you better than before to pitch to media.
While publicity is not the whole PR picture generating publicity is still a powerful and important part of the PR mix.
And if you’re not quite ready to outsource your PR to an agency or consultant who does it all for you (*errrm us!), and you’re on the DIY PR path for a while then this is absolutely one way you can better position and move your business up the PR ladder.
It’s no accident that PR professionals are skilled at identifying where the story is and knowing how to tell it. This is an innate trait of a natural born PR pro. But there are methods you can learn to channel your inner public relations consultant.
If you tell the right kind of story it will be remembered.
Here are my tips on how to create and build a story worth re-telling:
- Combine passion and expert experience with data and you have a story.
- Be selective with where you tell your story, you need the right people to get a hold of it first so that it will be re-told the right way from the start. This is all about brand positioning. Making sure you share it with people who genuinely care about what you’ve got to say.
- You can’t force people to pay attention to your story. Make sure it’s quality. Make sure it matters.
- Ensure your story is easily repeatable. Short, sharp messaging is the go. Even if the angles are slightly different. The core meaning should be the same.
- Make sure your story is value-based and not sales or commercially driven. Ask yourself; why should this person care?
There’s a lot of work that goes into creating stories around a business. They need to be authentic, truthful, of value, consistent and meaningful if it’s going to be worth spreading.
When it comes to the story strategy; always start with telling your stories on your owned and shared platforms first. This helps you to refine and re-angle before reaching out to media.
