StoryTeller Media & Communications
StoryTeller is a public relations agency specializing in media relations, social media and video production and web video
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When Talking is Better Than Texting
One of the longest running and biggest challenges of emails and text messages is inflection and expression. Sure, you can write in ALL CAPS IF YOU REALLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE A POINT and you can smile 
or wink;), but so much is still lost in translation. Then there are those who hide behind e-mail in communication. You know the people who do it, in fact, maybe you even do it. But why?
Brian Solis on Video StoryTelling
Most mornings, I wake up and have my coffee and scour through the myriad of social media articles to find out what new and relevant content that might benefit our clients. It also serves as my daily dose of social media inspiration. Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to hear some first hand inspiration when I attended Jennifer Kane’s ( Kane Consulting) “An Evening with Brian Solis” event. Brian is on the PR circuit of promoting his most recent book, “Engage,” which I can’t wait to read!
Brian spoke so eloquently on topics ranging from community, engagement and trust to understanding the importance of being curators of content with context. He went on to say that all companies are media companies because every company publishes to its customers, its staff, its neighbors, its communities and they need to know how to use all media technologies at its disposal, especially video.
With YouTube positioned as the second most popular Search Engine, second to Google, and over 24 hours of video uploaded every minute, brands have a unique opportunity to put video storytelling into work. Ideally, video is part of your overall content strategy and used when you want to build a connection that may not be made through other mediums.
Brian was gracious enough to share his insights on the importance of having a video strategy. Here is part one of our conversation with Brian Solis.
Catalogers Getting Social
I recently had the opportunity to step back in time to my “old life” for a brief moment while connecting with a group of Direct Marketers. The group was interested in our perspective of social media and how it can benefit the traditional cataloger.
What seems apparent after our meeting, is this is an industry that I would categorize as somewhat “late adopters” in the social media frontier. Understandably, they have spent years refining the art of direct mail and have it down to a pretty concise science but they are having a difficult time connecting the dots to know how social media can really impact their business.
How Does Social Media Effect Traditional Media?
Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo recently proclaimed his “lifer” status with the Spartans after considering a job opportunity with the Cleveland Cavaliers. As Izzo deliberated this life changing decision, the rumor mill was cranking away with reporters tapping sources, staking out near the basketball complex in East Lansing and outside Izzo’s offices. There were even some reporters contacting Izzo’s mother to see if she had any insight into what was going on inside her son’s mind.
Why Social Media?
As a technologically capable high school senior, I have been in contact with social media for years, and I lived through the social media revolution firsthand. I created my first Facebook account and watched my first YouTube video almost five years ago, and since then, both of these have been integral parts of my life. Because of this experience and my naivety, I thought that during my week with StoryTeller I would have little to learn. What was I thinking?!
For many of the younger generation, businesses are intruding into their domain by joining these networks, but with membership on Facebook exceeding 400 million and YouTube being home to a greater viewership than that of network television, it is no surprise that more and more businesses are striving to join and increase their presence in social media.
In my daily use of these networks I have come across business-related pages, but I, like many of my contemporaries, overlooked the effect that social media plays in marketing. Before starting my work with StoryTeller, I saw social media as simply another means of communication, where people who are already plugged-in at every hour of the day can share tidbits of information about what comes to mind or what is on their personal agenda for the day. With this opinion, I was surprised to hear my dad tell me that social media is one of the industries experiencing the most rapid growth in the world!
After the initial discussions of StoryTeller’s role in marketing, I must admit I was skeptical about the actual effect their strategies could have on a business. After all, I incorrectly saw it as simply a means of personal expression. Within minutes of seeing their ideas and strategies applied to real clients and the active participation they receive from followers my opinion changed and every ounce of doubt was cast aside.
The business application is much more formally constructed than that of the daily user. I was fascinated by the time it took to plan the strategies for each client, because in my experience every post was simply created off of a passing fancy. The large question that permeates every aspect of the business applications, and that I failed to realize before, is, “How can we create discussion with our followers, and eventually sell products without force-feeding our customers contrived ad campaigns?” By incorporating this question behind every post, StoryTeller has successfully developed followings for each of their clients.
Social media is all about what you want to get out of it. The average social media user can connect to friends, but so many of its applications are ignored. Although it is still a blossoming industry, it has already attracted the attention of many large companies who are spending millions of dollars with ad campaigns. While many people seek to update their friends on their daily activities, companies are trying to lead discussions, inspire thought, and most importantly sell their product. With time, strategy, and creativity, the social media resources that exist and those that are in production will only increase social media’s grip on the entire population, and its effects will undoubtedly be studied for years to come.
Removing Barriers for a Better You
We all have them. They keep us from doing what we need to do, from becoming a better business person, employee, father, mother, daughter, son, etc. They are often irrational, aggravating and in some cases draining. I’m talking about barriers in your life. If you’ve been meaning to do something, but just haven’t done it because “something” always gets in your way, you probably know what I’m referring to - it’s that “something.”
Social Media Backlash? Or are we just Getting Smarter?
Remember when you first started tweeting? And how much fun it was talking with other like-minded social media users about the “power of social media?” There was this sense that a new communication technique was here to change the world for the better and that we were all so smart to be a part of it. You know, those of us who “got it” with regards to using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, etc?
Now we’re starting to hear a different story. It’s a story of a social media backlash where users are beginning to drop off the radar. (For more on this perceived backlash, check out this post from AgencyBabylon) So that begs the question, is this the beginning of social media’s end?
That’s hard to imagine, considering that in many ways, social media has already changed the world. From the elections in Iran to Ashton Kutcher battling CNN for followers to the first thing you do in the office every morning, the world is probably a different place thanks to the new world of communication ideology (that being a world where you talk with the people who matter to you, not at them). But let’s face it, the social media love fest is over. Everyone knows about social media, nearly everyone has a profile on at least one of the platforms, plenty of people have made mistakes, others have had success …so the novelty is over. We don’t need to spend our time evangelizing about the benefits of social media anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still love using Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, YouTube and others …I’m just a little tired of talking about how much I love it (which I think is the backlash Mr. AgencyBabylon is referring to in his post).
So now comes social media 2.0; using the new interactive communication ideology affectively to achieve whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. Which means integrating that ideology into all your communication plans. In the past, it was enough to simply be on Twitter or to post something to YouTube …just make sure you’re out there, because “it’s better than not being out there” was the driving force behind a lot of social and interactive media plans.
We’re past that now. Now is the time to start putting specific plans in place with clear objectives and desired results. Then executing those plans to increase sales, raise awareness, build networks or what ever else it is you’ve been trying to achieve since you started trying to achieve things (long before social media came around). That, in my opinion, is far more exciting than sitting around and tweeting about how much we all love social media.
So is there a social media backlash? I don’t think so. We’re all just getting a little wiser about how to make the most out of something we love so much.
Use Television News Principles in Producing Online Video
As we do more and more work for our clients in online video as part of a social media public relations platform we find ourselves relying on some old skills - telling great stories in a short time period. See, when you work in television news you become a smidge knowledgeable about a wide array of topics. As ungratifying as that may seem to some, it has it’s advantages.
Who’s Your Conversation Manager?
Quick, name your organization’s conversation manager.
So, who is it? How long did it take you to name that person? Do you have such a person employed with your group? Do you know what a “conversation manager” is?
If you’re a communications professional with a knack for interactive (social) media then …rejoice! My guess is there will soon be plenty of conversation manager job openings available to you in the near future, because every organization needs someone who spends a good deal of time managing the social media conversations taking place about their organization.
On Twitter, Facebook, via blogs, in videos on YouTube, message boards (and the list goes on) …there are a lot of places available for members of the public to praise and criticize your organization. The good news is, all of that information is out there, free of charge for you to peruse and respond to, which you should almost always do. The only problem is this takes time. Either you have a number of people with not enough to do or you need help. And that help is out there in the form of what some are starting to call conversationalists, individuals who:
A) Have a passion for multiple platforms of social media
Pretty simple. They use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, have a blog, etc.
B) Have a high degree of real-world communication sophistication
We’re looking for emotionally intelligent people here. If their Facebook page is plastered with derogatory language and pictures of the user shotgunning beers, you might want to look to the next applicant.
C) Understand the personality of the organization
If you’re working with a conversation manager who’s not a full-time employee of your organization (a PR firm, for example), you want to make sure that person has taken the time to understand how your organization thinks, a.k.a. what your organization’s personality is. This goes beyond what you sell or provide your members or customers …it’s more about what someone from your organization would be expected to talk about should they run into someone at a coffee shop. In other words, what matters to you personally, beyond your business goals.
So, I’ll ask again, who is your conversation manager?
Video Can Be Much More Than Just a DVD
I am learning very quickly about all of the different mediums we can use to share stories. It used to be pretty straightforward – if you had a video, you put it on a DVD, end of story. But now, it can be posted to a company or personal website, to a Facebook or MySpace page, or to YouTube. Each of these platforms has slightly different requirements for the video format, and what will look best.
For most websites, converting the video to a flash file is your best bet, because the file is small in size and will load quickly for viewers. YouTube is great, because it can take almost any kind of file, although they do provide suggestions for which types of files look the best on their site. If you’re posting to a website, you not only need to figure out what format to use, but also what size you would like the video to be.
Thankfully, both Facebook and YouTube have made it possible to upload high definition videos to their sites, which makes for larger, fantastic quality videos, even on the web.
It’s a lot of information to process, but the work is easily overshadowed by the benefit of being able to get your story out there to so many different places.
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