Storytelling Through Social Media

Storytelling through social media is arguably the most effective way to market yourself without actually “marketing” yourself.  Say what?  Yep, it’s true.  Who wants to read about a product or service you might be offering?  Maybe someone currently in the market but my guess is, it’s a pretty small market.  Or you could just be starting out and you don’t have the visibility out there to access that market.  So how do you expand your potential market?  One way can be by creating content that’s interesting, something that makes people want to come back for “more of that”, whatever that is.  It doesn’t even have to be about what you’re trying to market – in fact, it’s probably better you don’t do that just yet.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.  I’m reading a terrific book called The New Rules of Marketing & PR, by David Meerman Scott.  It’s all about using social media for business applications.  Sounds boring, right?  Well, it’s not.  (What was boring was my one line description of it!).  It’s full of great information that’s relevant to today’s world and it’s an easy read.  I rather like the guy.  He writes like I image he talks, so I don’t feel like I’m reading a textbook.  Yes, I know I’m in school and I don’t need to be reminded of that, thank you very much, but I really hate textbooks.  They’re so boring!  His book worth the read, so check out this link to see what I’m talking about.  Here’s a link to his blog about Super Bowl Ads https://www.webinknow.com/marketing-instead-of-super-bowl-ad.  The point is, he tells stories and that’s what got my attention.

For instance, he mentions this company called The Longhairs.  Ever heard of it?  Me neither, but you can bet I checked it out after reading that chapter in his book.  I have no interest in their products – hair ties for men with long hair.  What I was interested in was the way they were marketing their products, including the videos about different ways to wear their hats when you have long hair.  Yes, I actually looked it up and watched the video.  Nothing fancy at all but it was fascinating to watch the process.  And seriously, who knew there were ten ways to wear a hat when you have long hair.  Check out this link so you can maybe adopt some of the styling going on https://blog.thelonghairs.us/how-to-wear-a-hat-long-hair/.  Have some fun with it.

Here’s another aspect of storytelling.  I used to work for Boeing, so I have a pretty good idea of what they sell.  But I hadn’t been out and looked at their website lately, so after reading Scott’s book, I decided to take another look.  The front “page” of the website features stories!  Go figure.  So I decided to check out the first one https://randy.newairplane.com/2018/02/06/max-momentum/ and it was really cool to read about people I actually know that are talking about what’s going on.  This blog was about the 737 Max airplane in Renton, WA.  The guy writing this particular blog is someone I used to work with.  How about that?  It was kind of cool to see that and fun to reminisce.  Am I in the market for an airplane?  No.  But, and this is important, someone who is might appreciate the human interest stories in the blogs.  It really does make companies seem more approachable and that might turn into a sale.

For myself, I’m into much smaller markets now.  Not Boeing, not Longhairs.  I just want to tell stories from a human interest perspective.  So I put together a story about my husband and his brother reminiscing about an old red car that no one’s seen in years and years.  https://donnageerblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/overcoming-adversity-or-what-really-happened-to-that-red-triumph-2/  Is it a way to market my storytelling business?  Could be, but I’m more interested in getting your attention so you’ll come back for another story.  Is it working?