Have you ever been captivated by a brand’s narrative shared through social media platforms? This would be considered social media storytelling. Brand storytelling is a way to humanize an organization by telling stories via social media. Social media storytelling has many positive effects, so let us get right into it!
The objectives for running a social media storytelling campaign can vary. The few that are most prevalent today are increasing brand awareness, reaching new audiences and attracting new followers. From the EveryoneSocial article “Social media storytelling, The Complete Guide for Your Brand,” written by Laura Moss, she provided lots of insight into this profound topic. According to Moss, the primary goal of social media storytelling is not to make sales; instead, it is about connecting with audience members. To do so, Moss provides eight storytelling tips.
1. Know your brand
2. Understand your audience.
3. Use a variety of storytelling formats.
4. Share memorable moments.
5. Focus on points of change.
6. Understand the psychology of sharing.
7. Humanize your brand.
8. Feature customers and employees.
Now, imagine a brand introducing a new social media campaign that raises awareness against digital distortion while building up women in many aspects. Dove recently came out with this campaign titled, “Dove’s Self Esteem Project.”Dove’s Self Esteem campaign promotes confidence and positive body images in the eyes of children and young adults. To help implement the objective of this campaign, Dove offers Confidence kits to parents and teachers with tips, tricks, and checklists. The kits cover appreciating your body, social media, bullying, communication skills, body functionality and celebrating individuality. It also stands for reversing the negative effects of social media and how young people can build resilience to these distortions. In the teacher kit, Dove has provided information about hosting Confident Me workshops aimed at reaching 11-14- year-olds. According to Dove, these workshops have been proven to help young people in the following ways:
• Identifying personal strengths
• Improving emotional, social and physical wellbeing
• Learning about the impact of social media on body image
• Recognizing unrealistic beauty standards in the media
Dove is a fitting example of how using social media storytelling can bring emotional connections to your brand. This company has been producing brand narratives for many years, and the Self-Esteem campaign is just one of the most recent. Dove has a deeper meaning and purpose for its brand, and it is shown through these social media stories.
In the article “Social Media Storytelling: How to Do it Right?" Jade Nguyen breaks down how, through the use of emotion, action and value, storytelling has psychological superpowers that make it a powerful marketing tool.
• Emotion — when people hear stories and feel connections, it creates a deep emotional attachment better than just facts. Dove uses emotion in their campaign by adding images that depict young women comparing themselves while also using facts and statistics to capture these issues' magnitude.
• Action — once people are connected emotionally, they are more inclined to make the conversion. The action consumers make through Dove’s campaign would be downloading the confidence kits and implementing them into the lives of young women.
• Value — brands can add value to their products by using stories. The Dove campaign works to increase product value in consumers' minds. Ideally, the consumer will see Dove products and remember the impact this storytelling campaign has had on them and many others. Memory can also be a psychological factor, and these emotional and memorable stories allow consumers brains to connect with their memories.
Social media storytelling is one of many ways to build brand awareness, reach new audiences and attract new followers. By following these tips and techniques, your brand will create an emotional connection with the consumer. These connections lead to building trust, loyalty and a relationship with brands. Start your social media storytelling today with your brand! You will not regret it.
By: Sarah Patton, VP of Publications
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