Storytelling and Social Media with Ryan Johnston

Creatives Meet Business

Hi there folks!

Creatives Meet Business is an event and podcast series based out of Austin, Texas for creatives of ALL disciplines to get from zero to one in thinking of themselves as business owners (in the creative sector). We recorded the content for this podcast at our live event in June.

This episode features Ryan Johnston, Director of Content at Social Distillery. His episode on "Storytelling for the Nimble Marketer" goes into the "why" of social media and how social media platforms exist as places to tell our stories. With the human attention span dropping from 12 to 8 seconds, using story in your social media posts to captivate your audience is more vital than ever. Oh, and he's hilarious.

• 0:00 to 2:47 - Introduction
  • Ryan's Bio from his website - it's hilarious!
  • Spoilers! Star Wars: A New Hope & Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
• 2:47 - What's Storytelling
  • Social media created to tell personal stories
• 3:22 - Personal Storytelling on Facebook
  • Selective life story - baby photos, political beliefs, vacations
• 4:11 - Micro story of your vacation
  • Check-in at the airport, panoramic selfie, foodstagram
• 5:02 - Why do brands tell a story?
  • Because the alternative is direct product and service sales
  • Stories touch people in a direct way
• 5:25 - Science! (And Why Brands Tell Stories)
  • When people hear facts the language part of their brain lights up.
  • When people hear or read stories - parts of their brain fire like they were actually there. They're more likely to remember what you're saying, be brand loyal, etc.
• 6:02 - Brands on Social & Putting the Customer in the Hero's Spot
  • Gain awareness, sales
  • "Star Wars" Analogy by Ben Cecil with UPG Video
  • Customer journey - You can't put the product in the pilot's seat of the Millennium Falcon, that's where the customer goes!
  • Building brand ambassadors through storytelling
• 8:24 - Human attention span
  • Dropped from 12 to 8 seconds - eek! Less than a goldfish.
  • Think about how fast you scroll through social media feeds and how hard it is for something to stand out...
• 9:20 - Story needs to be relevant and make sense (even if it's seen in the middle of the story)
  • Break it into bite sized pieces
  • Fill in the gaps with micro sites or landing sites that provide the bigger story
• 10:00 - Paid Owned and Earned
  • Owned - social media channels, website, micro sites that you own as a brand
  • Paid - ads on social media. Paid element needed for content to be seen
  • Earned - Word of mouth marketing.
• 11:25 - How do you get people to tell the story of your brand for you?
  • Spike Jones (Austin marketer) says people share content for three reasons: Ego, Info & Emo
  • Ego - Posts that feed your ego (when you post the sandwich you made that morning)
  • Info - Sharing the latest information with your friends
  • Emo (Emotions) - People share emotionally out of delight or disgust
• 12:50 - Continue the learning journey on Lynda.com
  • C.C. Chapman: Content Marketing and the Art of Storytelling
    • Marketing campaigns for True Blood & Shark Week
• 13:36 - Next event in Austin
  • Taxes & Accounting Edition - registration required

If you like what you hear, share the podcast with your friends, like and comment. To stay in the loop - follow us on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to the newsletter.

Stay tuned for next week, we'll be posting another episode featuring one of the pros from the Social Media edition.

Thanks!

Ashland, Creatives Meet Business