Telling Stories at Scale
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Everyone’s got a story, and your organization may have thousands. But too often, we scramble to find good content to fill our social, web, and media channels. In that scramble, we may end up publishing content that doesn’t engage our audiences—or help our organization’s brand—the way we need it to. In support of a rebranding effort, we set out to solve this challenge. By creating a "story pipeline," we've captured more story leads and better shaped our story output to represent our organization. The lessons we've learned will help anyone seeking to expand storytelling for their own organization. What you’ll learn: • What stories are and aren’t and ways to get your team to come together around a definition that works for them. • Assessing your current story output to make the case for change. • Introducing your creatives to the ideas of workflow and content ops. • Creating formulas that make storytelling easier. • Bringing story content into non-story formats.
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Telling Stories at Scale
- 3. ‣ Ensure a steady pipeline of stories for use across all our channels ‣ Find and choose stories ‣ Shape stories ‣ Promote stories
- 4. WHY STORIES? TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 5. EVERY SCHOOL HAS THOUSANDS OF STORIES
- 6. AND ONE BIG ONE EVERY SCHOOL HAS THOUSANDS OF STORIES
- 7. WHY STORIES? THOUSANDS OF STORIES ALL AROUND YOU ▸Successful students ▸Athletic stories ▸Research projects, publications, and grants ▸Lives and communities changed ▸Alumni giving back
- 8. WHY STORIES? THE ONE BIG ONE ▸ This is what everyone “already knows” about your school ▸ Great academics ▸ Individual attention to students ▸ Great values/principles ▸ Creates leaders ▸ A great value ▸ Makes the community better ▸ Lots of research, distant professors ▸ Party school ▸ Really hard to get into ▸ Not diverse ▸ Mostly about sports ▸ Super expensive
- 9. WHY STORIES? THE ONE BIG ONE ▸ This is what everyone “already knows” about your school ▸ Great academics ▸ Individual attention to students ▸ Great values/principles ▸ Creates leaders ▸ A great value ▸ Makes the community better ▸ Lots of research, distant professors ▸ Party school ▸ Really hard to get into ▸ Not diverse ▸ Mostly about sports ▸ Super expensive
- 10. Your school’s big story is your brand. Not your logo. Not your messaging pillars. It’s this story.
- 11. HOW DO YOU CHANGE THAT BIG STORY?
- 12. HOW DO YOU CHANGE THAT BIG STORY? VERY SLOWLY
- 13. HOW DO YOU CHANGE THAT BIG STORY? VERY SLOWLY WITH LOTS OF LITTLE STORIES
- 14. WHAT’S A STORY, ANYWAY? TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 15. WHAT’S A STORY, ANYWAY? LOTS OF THINGS ARE CALLED STORIES Items in a newspaper or news program The facts of a situation Fictional stories Alibis
- 17. COLLEGE USED TO BE AFFORDABLE
- 18. COLLEGE USED TO BE AFFORDABLE BUT STATE FUNDING HAS DROPPED
- 19. COLLEGE USED TO BE AFFORDABLE BUT STATE FUNDING HAS DROPPED NOW COLLEGE GRADS ARE SADDLED WITH TOO MUCH DEBT
- 20. COLLEGE USED TO BE AFFORDABLE BUT STATE FUNDING HAS DROPPED NOW COLLEGE GRADS ARE SADDLED WITH TOO MUCH DEBT BUT COLLEGES ARE POORLY MANAGED
- 22. SHELBY’S LIFE HAS BEEN A MESS
- 23. SHELBY’S LIFE HAS BEEN A MESS BUT SHE’S HAD SOME NEW INSIGHTS
- 24. SHELBY’S LIFE HAS BEEN A MESS BUT SHE’S HAD SOME NEW INSIGHTS AND NOW EVERYTHING’S GOING TO BE OK FOR HER
- 25. SHELBY’S LIFE HAS BEEN A MESS BUT SHE’S HAD SOME NEW INSIGHTS AND NOW EVERYTHING’S GOING TO BE OK FOR HER AND NOW SHE’S FOOLING HERSELF ABOUT IT
- 26. SHELBY’S LIFE HAS BEEN A MESS BUT SHE’S HAD SOME NEW INSIGHTS AND NOW SHE’S FOOLING HERSELF ABOUT IT AND NOTHING WILL CHANGE
- 27. The stories we tell that make us who we are, are usually narratives.
- 28. A narrative has a beginning, middle and end. Rising action, a con fl ict, and a resolution. The con fl ict makes the narrative.
- 29. For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
- 30. brand story = narrative story designed to bolster the university’s brand
- 31. WHAT’S A STORY, ANYWAY? STORIES AREN’T JUST TEXT! ▸Yes, text, but also ▸Videos ▸Photos ▸Social posts ▸Multimedia
- 37. Narratives are the stories that have a chance of sticking.
- 38. ASSESSING YOUR CURRENT STORIES TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 39. You’re probably already putting out lots of stories. Or, at least, lots of information.
- 40. UNIVERSITIES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CONTENT FACTORIES
- 41. But what’s the e ff ect of all that content?
- 42. THE EFFECT WE’RE REALLY LOOKING FOR HAPPENS INSIDE THE AUDIENCES’ HEADS.
- 43. THE EFFECT OF ONE STORY CAN BE LIKE THE EFFECT OF ONE DROP IN A RAINSTORM.
- 44. ASSESSING YOUR CURRENT STORIES PROXIES FOR STORY SUCCESS Quantitative ▸ Views of stories ▸ Percent of story watched or read ▸ Engagement on social: likes, comments, shares ▸ Sentiment tracking ▸ Readability levels Qualitative ▸ Does the story show o ff brand characteristics? ▸ Strong narrative present? ▸ Nature of comments on the story ▸ Other factors
- 46. ASSESSING YOUR CURRENT STORIES WHAT WORKS? Videos tend to get the most (page)views Star power can matter Fewer words means more of a story gets read The topic of a story may matter the most.
- 47. You’ll use the same measures to assess future stories.
- 48. CHOOSING STORIES TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 49. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF STORIES AT YOUR SCHOOL. WHICH DO YOU TELL?
- 50. CONSIDER BOTH RESOURCES AND TOPICS
- 51. We decided to do one brand story per week. That leaves a lot of untold stories.
- 52. CHOOSING STORIES NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE A STORY You’re still going to have lots of announcements to make. Just don’t mistake them for (brand) stories.
- 53. CHOOSING STORIES WHAT WILL SHAPE THE BIG STORY? What stories do you need to shape the big story?
- 54. CHOOSING STORIES WHAT FITS YOUR BRAND? What stories do you have that speak to your brand?KEY MESSAGING PILLARS When thinking about our audiences, we always ask, “Why should they believe us?” The answer lies in these four key statements that begin to break down who we are as a university and what makes us tick. Look to these statements to help guide and bolster your messaging. Who we are: Self-actualization providers What we do: The hard work of transformation How we do it: Personalized belonging Why we do it: Diversifying opportunity Equipping students with a level of support that produces critically thinking, confident individuals. We expand the realm of attainability by taking our sense of belonging and growing it in academic rigor. We serve students who desire rigor but need direction by pairing intimate experiences with robust academic opportunities. An IUP education ensures your adaptability in ever-changing times.
- 55. CHOOSING STORIES QUARTERLY THEMES PROVIDE FOCUS Choosing narrower brand themes each quarter helps stories work together
- 56. CHOOSING STORIES WHAT RESONATES WITH YOUR AUDIENCES? Stories no one reads don’t help. But not everything that’s popular will help change your big story.
- 57. SHAPING STORIES TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 58. You’ve got a lead. But what’s the story?
- 59. SHAPING STORIES VERSION ONE A donor just gave us a lot of money.
- 60. SHAPING STORIES VERSION TWO A student who started in the steel mills… Had his life transformed at our school. Now he’s giving back.
- 61. SHAPING STORIES FOCUS MATTERS We’re not disinterested storytellers. Even when the story is about somebody else, it’s also about us.
- 65. WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 66. You need a process
- 67. WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS
- 68. FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS
- 69. LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS
- 70. LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS Not a story yet
- 71. DISCOVERY LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS
- 72. DISCOVERY LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS Is there a story there?
- 73. STORY ANGLE DISCOVERY LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS
- 74. STORY ANGLE DISCOVERY LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS What’s our focus?
- 75. CREATING/ WRITING STORY ANGLE DISCOVERY LEADS FINDING STORIES WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS CREATIVE PROCESS
- 76. WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS TECHNICAL PROCESS We use Asana to track the story’s development Then GatherContent to collect all the things we need
- 77. WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS ASANA SETUP
- 78. WORKFLOW AND CONTENT OPERATIONS GATHERCONTENT SETUP
- 82. FORMULAS FOR STORYTELLING TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 83. Why have formulas for creative products?
- 84. FORMULAS FOR STORYTELLING FORMULAS MAKE PRODUCTION EASIER
- 85. Formulas can also provide useful constraints
- 86. According to the studies we reviewed, when there are no constraints on the creative process, complacency sets in, and people follow what psychologists call the path-of-least- resistance—they go for the most intuitive idea that comes to mind rather than investing in the development of better ideas. “Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation” Oguz A. Acar, Murat Tarakci, and Daan van Knippenberg, Harvard Business Review FORMULAS FOR STORYTELLING
- 90. Video series: The Innovators
- 91. PHOTO ESSAY
- 92. PHOTO ESSAY
- 93. Of course, formulas don’t always work!
- 94. CONCLUSION TELLING STORIES AT SCALE
- 95. TELLING STORIES AT SCALE A WORK IN PROGRESS ▸New email newsletter ▸New website
- 96. TELLING STORIES AT SCALE WHAT WE COVERED ▸ Why stories? ▸ What’s a story, anyway? ▸ Assessing your current stories ▸ Choosing stories ▸ Shaping stories ▸ Formulas for stories