The importance of Storytelling in PR
Here at Neo PR, we love a good story. Without realising, we all tell stories every single day; from within our PR campaigns, to when we tell people what we’ve done with our day. As humans, we respond to stories, so it’s no surprise that the foundations of PR lay in storytelling!
Why does storytelling work?
Our brains immediately become more active when we tell a story, so by getting clever with your words and making your content a little more exciting, you can really get under the skin of your target audience. The likes of John Lewis and M&S used their core messages to emotionally connect with their target audience. Whilst we don’t expect you to tear up at a thought leadership article about attitudes towards cybersecurity or retail trends, writing content that grabs the attention of your reader and shows them how passionate you are about industry issues is absolutely crucial.
How do I create an effective story?
Whether your story is going to span one piece of content or a whole PR campaign, it’s important that it has a plot! Sounds a little ridiculous, but every effective story follows a story arc that looks a little like the image below….
Having a clear beginning, middle and end is key. Otherwise, your audience has no idea where the story is going. Leaving your story on a cliffhanger is okay in crime fiction, but it’s not ideal for your thought leadership piece! Introduce a conflict or crisis; then provide a solution or effort to solve the problem and finish on a conclusion. The story needs to have an end whether it’s good or bad.
The final most important thing is to know your audience. If you know your audience, you will be able to shape your story in a way that helps them. Remember to highlight what you do as a company, don’t just tell – use examples, talk about the journey and emphasise the results. Every company has stories and every newspaper, journal, magazine needs stories. Utilise the messages that are integrated in the very core of the company and use these as the foundation for a great story.
Keep searching for stories
Stories are everywhere. And as part of PR, being a good brand storyteller is key! Keep digging for material within the business that could make great stories. Customers, employees and products can all make a great starting point, especially if there is a human element in there that will grab someone’s attention. It’s important to present these stories in different ways and consider how they can be the most interesting to your audience. Press releases are great, but are they interesting? Thought leadership pieces or case studies might interest your audience more.
The End!
Could we help your business tell a story? Get in touch: prworks@neopr.co.uk
