Storytelling as a Content Strategy

The Inspiration

The art and allure of storytelling is one our team has talked about lately, and as I begin organizing some thoughts in order to plan a Webinar segment on the topic, it struck me as a timely post, too.

Last week, our company held its’ annual client retreat. It’s at this event where our leaders talk about the direction of the product, some key organizational pieces. We had some brief sessions on tactical site improvements and “how-to’s” and we offered some longer sessions focusing on site strategy topics.

The Need

One such session, where a talented content strategist spoke on the importance of tone and voice when crafting and maintaining site content, was particularly stellar. Many sites, particularly those with a large number of pages or owned by a departmentalized or geographically dispersed organization, can fall victim to a number of content traps, including:

• multiple content owners, of varying skills, interests, and availability
• lack of understanding how pages “read” to external visitors
• poor access to resources, resulting in “copy/paste” syndrome from print promotional literature
• unfamiliarity with proper content writing and formatting techniques to encourage readability

Our clients work closely with us to mitigate or lessen any impact these issues might have for them.  But there’s always something new to learn, and we like sharing our expertise – we feel it adds value to the relationship and allows them to focus on other core issues.  And a good message – like the value of tone and voice – bears repeating, no matter what the topic.

The Experience

Part of the enjoyment of this session stemmed from the speaker and her impassioned delivery.  The slight tick towards “somewhat rushed” (due to a strict 20 minute window) was completely overshadowed by the energy and vibe she cast out over the room.  Even Day Three of PowerPoint presentations (that slightly glazed-over look in an audience’s eyes) melted away, and a connection between speaker and audience was forged.  The slides featured key imagery that was sometimes humorous, sometimes demonstrative, and always insightful.  The verbal content shored up the PowerPoint, expanding on points and weaving the tale in entirety.

In the end, I felt like I’d been given a gift.  The gift was a lesson wrapped up in an enjoyable journey and tied with the bow of (professional) entertainment.  A smidge jealous (alas, I was a presenter too), my pride at being part of this skillful woman’s team swept me away.

The Lessons

Heartfelt but nonetheless flowery language aside (it was a must, though), I share this experience because of the wonderful irony I think it projects: the lessons/points identified in the presentation were so wholly demonstrated by the presenter that I doubt anyone else sees the beauty of the opportunity:

• Know your audience
• Speak (write) in a conversational manner [increases comprehension and projects friendliness]
• Demonstrate a single point of view/tone for all content targeting a single user group/persona [aids in the continuity of experience]
  
• Understand what they are there (on your site) to do or learn
• Deliver what they seek/need
• Lead them where you want/need them to go

This content strategist did the above in spades.  Here’s to wishing all site owners the same skill and good fortune of quality storytelling.