Stories have been told for centuries, with many childhood tales passed down across each generation. But what makes a good story in the 21st century and how can we as Digital PRs and marketers produce a story that is worthy of being covered by the media? During this talk I will discuss what makes a good story, uncover my own interpretation and tactics of storytelling, which I have developed through my love of studying History at university, and apply this to creating content and enticing journalists across all industries, to ultimately secure those all important links. Presented by Marina Plummer, Digital PR Manager, Kaizen Agency.

1. The Art of
Storytelling in a
Digital World
Marina Plummer

2. Hello J
• Kaizen
• Digital PR Manager
• Lover of Thai food
• Three Blue Peter badges
• Greek & Yugoslavian
• History lover
• Content lover
• I have medium at Nandos
• Learning how to do Olympic
weight lighting
• I know how to tap dance and
play the piano
• I’ve camped on the Great Wall
of China

3. Agenda
Section One
• What is a story?
• What makes a good story?
• How do we tell stories?
• How do we tell stories to the media?
Section Two
• Storytelling formula
• How to apply it when outreaching to
journalists?
• Can you bend the rules?
• Tips and tricks

4. What is a
story?
A story is an account
of imaginary or real
people and events
told for entertainment

5. What makes a
good story?

8. How has storytelling
changed in the 21st
century?

9. The birth of
the internet...

10. Ways we tell
stories online...
• Social media - live videos,
image postings,
boomerangs, gifs
• Blogging
• Vlogging
• Digital PR
• Podcasts
• Content campaigns
• Data visualisations
• Imagery
• Email

12. How do we tell stories to
the media through Digital
PR & Online Content?

14. And ultimately, it leads us to
securing coverage on these
kind of sites…

15. My storytelling
theory in the world
of Digital PR
Section Two

16. In 2017 I graduated with a
degree in History from the
University of Kent

17. Now you’re probably thinking
why are you talking about your
degree, no one cares...

18. In my degree I learnt that history
isn’t about the facts, it’s about
the STORY

19. And when I learnt this,
my brain imploded

20. I also realised that this is
very familiar to the way we
tell stories to the media

21. The Historian
Storytelling
Formula
1. Reading/research
2. Come up with my
angle/argument/STORY
3. More research
4. Pulling my sources together to
support my story and angle
5. Writing out my angle/
argument/story as BEST I can

22. How to apply this to come up with
a story for your business/client and
pitch it to the media….

23. HISTORIAN
FORMULA
Stage One
Research and read
about the topic
DIGITAL PR
IDEATION: Research your
client, the themes they talk
about, what the news is
talking about around that
topic, what are their
competitors doing etc.

24. HISTORIAN
FORMULA
Stage Two
Come up with my
angle / story
DIGITAL PR
IDEA BUILDING: What angle
can I create from this
research/data?
OUTREACH: What is my
main headline?

25. HISTORIAN
FORMULA
Stage Three
More research needed
DIGITAL PR
IDEA BUILDING &
OUTREACH: What will
support my angle? Can I add
something extra to make my
idea stand out? Alternatively,
do I need to simplify it?

26. HISTORIAN
FORMULA
Stage Four
Getting the data
together to support
my angle / story
DIGITAL PR
IDEA BUILDING: Collecting
extra data to support my
story, angle and argument
OUTREACH: What
data/information will
journalists want to support
this story?

27. HISTORIAN
FORMULA
Stage Five
Write my angle
DIGITAL PR
IDEA BUILDING: Create my
campaign and know my story
inside out
OUTREACH: Write my pitch
email

28. Things that are important
in a history story are also
important in a Digital
PR story

29. Your argument/angle is clear throughout
(aka your story)
Evidence to support you angle
What have other people said/done similar
to your angle
Strong story throughout the pitch making
the message of the piece clear
Press releases and images to support your
angle, as well as case studies and comments

30. The process is exactly the same, whether you are
ideating, developing an idea, outreaching a
campaign to a journalist or pitching to a new
client.

31. History strikes the perfect
balance between
storytelling and evidence,
which is exactly what we
should be doing in our
campaigns.

32. Whilst we are are
storytellers, we are
also informers of
NEWS, and getting
the balance between
the two is critical.

33. Are we allowed to
bend the rules?

34. The simple answer
is…yes J

35. Design Led
Campaigns

36. Design led
campaigns
• Not every campaign has to be data
driven
• If you are looking to do a design led
campaign, you still need to make it
NEWSWORTHY. Think about the
following things:
1. Does it work for the time you are
launching it?
2. Have you visualised something
nobody has seen before?
3. Does it make you go WOW
• Are journalists talking about that
topic?
• Is it shareable on social?

37. COVID-19 has seen us bend the
rules and be flexible as an agency
in terms of the content we
produce.
REACTIVE PR

38. Reactive PR
This is FANTASTIC for small
businesses or companies with a
low budget, particularly over the
last few months when the
economy has been strained.
But by being reactive to the
news every day and thinking
about what people want to read
at the moment, you can get
some brilliant coverage without
spending anything.

39. Reactive PR Tips
• Read key publications each day to find
out the main stories people are
reading about
• Follow Government updates
• Expert Comments:
Can your business comment on
something in the news?
• #journorequest – can you get some
expert comments to create a short
and sweet article
• Offer journalists exclusive comments
from your business, it gets them
hooked J
• Keep an eye on awareness days and
have them in the calendar
• Be quick to reply to journalists,
particularly nationals as reactive
campaigns are reactive for a reason

40. Some extra
top tips for a
tip top story
• Cut the waffle
• Strong and authoritative tone - are
we a legitimate person to produce a
campaign about this and make a
comment on this topic?
• Evoking the senses and emotions
• Shock and awe - we are creating
NEWSWORTHY content. It has to be
DIFFERENT.
• It’s ok to retell stories. We just need
to add something NEW
• Be reactive and flexible to journalists

41. Key
Takeaways

42. Storytelling is
critical in our job
when pitching to
the media

43. A good story requires research,
evidence, a NEW angle and a
good pitch

44. Timing is
everything…

45. You don’t need to
break the budget
to get coverage
or links

46. Historians use similar evidence,
however come up with a unique angle,
and that is what we need
to be doing as well

47. And whilst
we can’t all
be JK
Rowling....

48. We can be Digital PR
storytelling wizards

49. Thank you!
Any questions?