photo: www.lainspiration.com
Happy 2011! I hope you all had a beautiful holiday season and rest, and feel ready for this new year ahead.
I am so stoked I read this article a few days ago: Social Media Breeds Edvertorial, because it is exactly the notion that’s been burgeoning in my brain since last year.
People are drawn to story. Sure you can hit ’em over the head with pretty pictures, witty one-liners, and clever jingles, but if you really want somebody invested in your brand, get them invested in a storyline that will make them relate, empathize, cheer, jeer, and clamor for more like a really good soap opera.
“It’s taking an editorial approach to telling your brand story, and the social-media space just lends itself so beautifully to that combination”, says Miki Berardelli, chief marketing officer at Tory Burch, in this article, which is exactly the other point I was thinking about last year. If you’re going to be on Facebook or Twitter, or any other social media space, you can’t just post about what sale you’re having or where someone can buy your product(s), you need to find ways to engage your audience; your brand has to be about a broader lifestyle.When I think about why I read a blog, or “like” something on FB, or follow someone on Twitter, it’s that someone’s story behind it that makes me want to.
“You’re telling a story, making it more emotional and getting the consumer to be more interested in that story. You’re entertaining her, and that’s how you’re getting her attention, which is more effective than saying, ‘Go buy this shoe now,’” says James Gardner in this article (founder and chief executive officer of the digital agency Createthe Group), and I couldn’t agree with him more.
If you need help writing and telling that story, contact me; story-telling is my expertise.
A.O.H. 
This is all great insight. I feel this way about social media too. The story is everything! It is the vehicle that reveals character. Again, great article.