Rory Schaff Rory Schaff
Storyshowing, first introduced in 2014, is seeing another shift: one in which social networks are embracing brand stories by offering companies more intimate and real-time ways of sharing them. This is Storyshowing 2.0.

From the birth of Instagram Stories to the death of Hangouts on Air, it’s time to look at the changing landscape of social storytelling and how brands can leverage new tools for greater reach and impact.

O'Dwyer's Nov. '16 Technology PR MagazineThis article is featured in O'Dwyer's Nov. '16 Technology PR Magazine

Looking back at storyshowing 1.0

We’re all PR professionals here. We understand the importance of storytelling. It’s essential for effective communications. But two years ago, communications began to see a transformation from storytelling to storyshowing. Brands found that it was no longer enough to simply tell their story.

Attention spans shortened as people became inundated with information. Scrolling and skimming became second nature, and brands found that it would take a lot more than words to stop their audience from moving on to the next post. Building on that, social networks began updating their algorithms to push brand content down in news feeds. Brands needed to think fast to keep up.

What did they do? They began leveraging visuals to bolster the impact of their message, from videos to branded graphics to infographics. Don’t get me wrong. Visuals have been around for a long time in communications — from printed pamphlets to picture uploads on social channels — but they were not as strategically integrated into marketing and communications. They were a “nice to have” as opposed to today’s “must-have.”

Without visuals, engagement falls by the wayside. Without engagement, a brand’s story doesn’t get the reach it needs in order to survive in today’s crowded market. It recently became apparent, however, that the approach brands took to visual content marketing needed to change in order to satisfy the masses who require more, now and in the fastest way possible.

A new wave of storyshowing

Since 2014, brands have embraced storyshowing by rolling out more visual content marketing campaigns. The stats speak for themselves. According to the CMO Council, 46 percent of marketers say photography is critical to their current marketing and storytelling strategies.

Additionally, 55 percent of content creators planned to prioritize creating visual content in 2016 (according to the Content Marketing Institute), and 65 percent of senior marketing executives believe that visual assets (photos, video, illustrations and infographics) are core to how their brand story is communicated (according to the CMO Council). Seeing a need, social networks have made changes to better enable storyshowing for brands. These changes suit both brand and user by providing quick ways to share visual content and even quicker ways of digesting said content.

We’ll start with Snapchat (now Snap Inc.). Launched in late 2013, Snapchat’s Stories feature started a snowball effect among other social networks. While Snaps, the network’s self-destructing photo feature, grew initial interest, Stories put Snapchat on the map for both users and brands. Why? Because, just as the name promises, this new feature enabled people to tell a story. Users could view and share a series of Snaps, shown in chronological order and accessible for 24 hours. In June 2014, Snap Inc. reported that one billion Stories were viewed per day, and in April 2016, Snap Inc. confirmed that user Stories fueled 10 billion daily video views. It was huge.

When other social networks saw those numbers, they began to act, working to create similar features that culminated in a number of announcements this year. Instagram introduced Stories, its own version of Snapchat’s Stories. It too allowed users to upload a series of photos and videos that tell a story and air for 24 hours. Original. I know, but just as effective. Twitter opened up its Moments feature so all users could share photos, videos and tweets that come together to tell a story. Facebook introduced Facebook Live, YouTube introduced Live Streaming and Twitter let you broadcast live via Periscope. These effectively killed off Google’s Hangouts on Air, which was before its time yet not strong enough to withstand the test of time.

While live streaming tools take a different approach to storyshowing, all of these new features cater to that short attention span I mentioned earlier. They are quick, realtime, here-in-a-minute and gone-in-a-flash glimpses into the life and times of “insert brand here.” Over time, these glimpses build upon a brand’s overall story, creating a connection among key audiences.

Brands like Amazon, IBM, Taco Bell, Warby Parker and SoulCycle took to Snapchat to tell their stories to users. The NFL partnered with Twitter to live stream games, which are also showcased via Moments. Even media firms are using these new features, as is the case with National Geographic and People on Instagram. So how can your brand get in on the action?

Embracing instantaneous need

As the King says in “Alice in Wonderland,”: “Begin at the beginning.” You must first understand where storyshowing is headed, which, if I’ve done my job correctly, you know by now. From there, you need to review your options when it comes to leveraging the right social network to reach your audience.

For instance, if you are hoping to target teenagers, Snapchat is the channel to do it. If you want to reach 25-44-year-olds, Facebook Live might be a good tool. If you’re a B2B brand, have no fear. LinkedIn is a bit behind in storyshowing, but Twitter has your back.

Once your channels are identified, it’s time to put together a visual content marketing strategy and corresponding tactics. Ask yourself: What do we want out of this? What message are we trying to convey? How does that message tie that to our brand’s story? How can we visually represent that via images and live video

streaming?

Get creative, but never forget your audience and their interests. Remember, you only have a second to grab their attention so make it count, make it quick and make it impactful.

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Rory Schaff is Online Services Supervisor at McGrath/Power Public Relations.