Last week, I talked about why I left the world of old-hat marketing, and embraced the magic of interactive storytelling. I adore stories, and there’s few things in life I like more than writing and reading a good novel. BUT, Brand/Business Storytelling can manifest into something books cannot, and this is why interactive storytelling is the future of marketing.
Rather than tell your story, you can show it – literally through video, images, immersive websites, etc…
Instead of focussing everything on you, interactive storytelling places your customer front and centre.
For example:
- JARED EASLEY – and how he involves his listeners and invites them to be co-hosts
- OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING – and how they encourage customers to send images of them wearing their shirts
- FOUR CORNERS CAFE – and their awesome ‘Your Story’ initiative
I like how this post from David Berkowitz talks about Story-Making, rather than Story-Telling. As consumers, we expect more these days, and seek brands different to everyone else. Sure, price and quality and the other usual suspects matter, but if a business truly connects with us, we’re going to look for reasons to say YES.
Interactive storytelling improves these chances, because you involve them. You invite them in. You say, “Hello, let’s do this together.”
So, here are 23 reasons why I think interactive storytelling is the future of marketing. Do you agree with them?
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23 REASONS INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING IS THE FUTURE OF MARKETING:
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1: IT ENCOURAGES A ‘ME TOO’ ATTITUDE = The biggest danger telling your story is to make it 100% about you. Think about the presentations and TED Talks you love, and how the best-of-the-best involve others and make you feel part of the tale. People want to hear your story, but it isn’t all about YOU. Interactive Storytelling encourages you to involve other folk – be it your staff, suppliers, customers, the audience…
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2: IT’S ALIVE & EVER EVOLVING = Because you involve other people, Interactive Storytelling grows and evolves and never stops moving. Think about COCA COLA’S Share a Coke Campaign, and how they encourage their customers to create their own stories through their bottles. It’s the customers who come up with the quirky ideas and creative thinking. Coke simply provides a platform. Once you embrace interactive storytelling, and pass the baton to other people, your story evolves beyond YOU and your wildest dreams.
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3: IT MAKES YOU THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX = It’s no longer about you and only you, so relax at your own peril. It’s one thing to create your story in-house, ensuring every aspect is exactly how you want it, but another when you involve people, as interactive storytelling opens up a huge can of worms (which is both wonderful and terrifying). If you want to capture people’s imagination and encourage them to act, you HAVE to think outside of the box and come up with something unique and compelling. There’s no room for average. People don’t flock towards mediocrity and everyday.
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4: FOCUS MOVES AWAY FROM YOU = Again, it takes the focus away from you, and places it in the hands of those you wish to nurture and immerse. As soon as TOMS SHOES created their one-for-one model, they took attention away from the company, and placed it solely on the people they help, the communities they improve, and the users who wear their shoes. They place you, the customer, front and centre. All of a sudden, you can make a difference via the shoes you wear. It’s never been about footwear, but the grander story behind it.
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5: IT INVOLVES YOUR CUSTOMERS = When XERO share case studies, they don’t produce a few facts and figures about how they help their customers, oh no. They involve their stories and interweave them into their own, and as such, you’re compelled to join a thriving community. You know Xero will look after you, and showcase you and your brand in the future. Through the eyes of others, you learn everything you need to know about Xero.
6: IT INVOLVES YOUR SUPPLIERS = I don’t know much about cheese, but when CABOT CHEESE introduced their farmers through an awesome Youtube channel, they opened up their entire process. This kind of interactive storytelling closes the gap between their suppliers and their customers, ensuring you, the consumer, know exactly where Cabot Cheese comes from, and who the people behind it are. There’s always more depth to a story than what’s on the surface. Interactive storytelling delves deep and reveals all, peeling away each layer one-by-one.
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7: IT INVOLVES YOUR STAFF = My buddy Tom is damn proud of his staff at REVOLUTION VIEWING. I know how much he values them, but ensuring everyone else does isn’t easy. Through his Staff Page, he introduces his entire team to the world. By spending a few minutes on their site, you don’t feel like you’re dealing with a brand or business – rather a group of individuals working in unity to ensure you’re happy and looked after.
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8: OVERALL, IT INVOLVES PEOPLE = Interactive storytelling involves people (your staff, suppliers, customers, community, readers, users, whatever…). As people, we relate to other people, and stories about those we can sympathise with and understand. A story about only you is okay, but one that embraces others, and encourages you to get involved and join the journey… damn, that kind of story takes things to a new level.
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9: YOU CAN LITERALLY SHOW = As a writer, one of the first things drummed into me was to SHOW, not tell. You need to place the reader in the moment, which isn’t always easy through words alone. Lucky for you, Interactive Storytelling doesn’t rely on words. You can use video and real world interactions, and anything whatsoever. There are no rules, so long as you’re embracing other people, and encouraging them to get involved. Done properly, you’ll never tell your story again, because you show it every single day.
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10: IT BREEDS CULTURE & MEANING = One of the greatest traits of interactive storytelling is the community and culture it breeds. Think about APPLE, and the religion-like culture it’s built. Because you open up your story to others, and allow them to add their own essence to it, that feeling of belonging and affinity occurs. A great example of this is BUFFER, and the loyal following they’ve built in a short two year period. Users love it, but what really stands out to me is, The Staff. They’ve nurtured a virtual culture, and boy does it set them apart from their competitors. These days, the culture you build truly is one of the most important things you’ll ever do.
11: IT FOCUSES ON YOUR BRAND = We all have products and services to sell, but your customers don’t come to you for your products alone. Christ, competition is everywhere, so the chances you provide something unique is slim to say the least. People buy based on their emotions, and the connections they build. Interactive storytelling places focus on your brand… the bigger picture… and away from a single product or service. Why does this matter? Because when you build new products or updates, you already have an audience on board; one willing to buy and share and help. Short term thinking rarely works, and interactive storytelling looks at the bigger picture, baby.
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12: IT’S INCLUSIVE BY DESIGN = People like to feel included and loved. We all feel safe around family and friends, and I’d dare say most of us fear big networking events where we don’t know anyone. We flock towards places we feel belonging, and it’s no different with the brands we use. Interactive storytelling includes people, and invites them to be part of the journey. HIUT JEANS don’t sell jeans. Not really. They invite you to be part of a town rebuilding from the bottom-up. No matter where you are in the world, you’re part of their family… their community.
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13: YOU BECOME AN ‘US’ = Following on from this, you become an US. As soon as you decide to involve other people, it no longer becomes yours, or theirs. It’s OURS. JOHN LEE DUMAS has created a thriving community at Entrepreneur on Fire. He happens to be the host, but it’s not about him. It’s about everyone involved. He treasures them and continues to provide value, serving them the best he can. Just because you’re the leader of a tribe doesn’t make it yours. A thriving tribe thrives in the first place, because a bunch of people come together and share and grow and learn. It’s never about one person.
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14: IT’S ABOUT THE JOURNEY & ADVENTURE = COLIN WRIGHT asks people to decide where he next travels in the world. By including other people in his decision, those that follow him feel part of the journey. They visit the places he goes to, all from the comfort of their laptop. Interactive Storytelling at its best, if you ask me. He opens himself up and asks for help and guidance. His life is one big adventure, and by following him, thousands of other people expereince it with him.
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15: IT’S UNCONTROLLABLE = Once you involve other people, you cannot control the outcome. You can try, but it’s rather futile. Scary as hell, and to an extent, dangerous. This is why many old-school brands will never embrace interactive storytelling, because they like to have control. All they know is power, but today’s thriving brands give up this stronghold, and allow things to take on a life of their own. Can the FOUR CORNER CAFE control where and when people tag them in pictures? Heck no. It’s what makes their story so compelling in the first place, and why people love to spread the word.
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16: IT’S ORGANIC = Another reason many old-school brands will never embrace interactive storytelling, is it’s difficult to predict. It grows organically, and those who love and value control, hate this. I happen to like organic growth, and many startups and forward-thinkers do, too. An inclusive and transparent brand like LITOGRAPHS (who embrace crowdfunding, a very interactive storytelling centric approach) have grown organically over the last few years, listening to their audience at all times. It’s these wonderful individuals that help guide new product lines and ideas. Validating ideas like this is absolute gold (more on this soon).
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17: IT MAKES YOU VULNERABLE & REAL = Interactive Storytelling invites people to join the fun. Well, part of this includes introducing the less glamorous sides of your story. Take my own MONTHLY INCOME for instance, an interactive approach that encourages you to peek inside my entire life. I’m a real person with real-person problems, and this kind of interactive storytelling showcases them in all their (un)glory. PAT FLYNN does this too, and BUFFER. Rather than hide and show nothing but strength, they invite people to understand the true situation.
18: IT KEEPS YOU HUMBLE & OPEN-MINDED = It’s easy to lose yourself in egotistical thoughts when you only share the good side of your life. This is what brands did for a long time, sharing only the best-of-the-best, and as such, they lost touch with who they are, and who they serve. Whereas someone like JASON SURFRFAPP turns to his crowd every opportunity he gets, and asks them for their input and involvement. I mean, he changes his name based on what people vote on, and which companies wish to be associated with him. It’s hard to lose yourself in vanity when you’re as open as he is.
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19: IT’S CROWD SOURCED = Oh yes, that wonderful word, CROWDFUNDING. A site like Kickstarter builds its entire model on interactive storytelling, because it involves individuals and businesses asking everyday folk like you and me to be part of their journey – more often that not, from the very beginning. Focus on the funding if you like, but I always consider the CROWD. Once you open your story to others, and ask them to get involved in the deeper process, everything you do becomes a crowd-sourced effort. Personally, I think this is wonderful and totally badass.
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20: IT GROWS WITH YOU = One of the problems I come across the most in THE SUCCESSFUL MISTAKE, is the difficulties of scaling and growing your business/idea. As I said earlier, interactive storytelling breeds a more organic approach, so your communications and ideas and message grow with you, rather than despite you, or at a rate you cannot keep up with. It doesn’t solve all your problems, but because you interact with others, and involve them in the journey, the all important feedback and answers you desire are there – at all times.
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21: IT’S COLLABORATIVE = My mantra is this: on my own, I’m capable of good. If I want to be great, I need to involve others. I don’t care what the project or circumstance, I’m only capable of so much. Interactive Storytelling allows you bounce ideas off of people, and validate everything you do. CLAY COLLINS is a master of validation, as is TOM MORKES, DANNY INY, and just about every other successful person I come across these days.
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22: IT BREEDS CREATIVITY = Do you know what’s dangerous? Feeling conformable. This is another caveat I’ve learned through THE SUCCESSFUL MISTAKE, and if there’s one thing interactive strolling doesn’t allow, it’s comfort. It keeps you on your toes and asks you to build and grow and push. It forces you to be creative and always consider how you can provide more value to those involved in your story… your journey… your world. Simply put, other people make you accountable, and this is an important item every entrepreneur needs in their tool box.
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23: IT’S FUN, DAMN IT = I don’t know about you, but I hate tedium and numbers and analytics. They have their place in the world, don’t get me wrong. Interactive storytelling has them, too. But for the most part, embracing your story, and involving other people in it, and asking them to take part and share in the good times and bad, is fun; scary, hard, and terrifying… but overall, FUN FUN FUN. I enjoy having fun, and I enjoy sharing my story. When I comes across another brand who embraces interactive storytelling, I see a business that’s fun… and cool… and having a damn good time.
INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING – THE FUTURE?
Who knows what the future holds, but storytelling, in my opinion, provides much opportunity and potential.
The startups making the most noise at the moment, utilise their story to great affect. They don’t just make it about THEM. They want to include YOU, and to share a bigger picture. Whether it’s Tom Shoes and their one-for-one culture, or Buffer and their transparent staff culture, or Coca Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ Campaign, businesses of all types and sizes are embracing their story and ensuring their most valued folk can interact with it.
They’re story-making, and using interactive storytelling to involve other people, people like you, and craft a journey that evolves in an organic, relatable, and honest manner. Is it perfect? No! Can they always control their story? Nope!
This is what makes it wonderful, and why people flock towards them. We don’t trust perfection, or people and brands that try convince us they are. Interactive storytelling creates an honest, transparent, and unknown adventure that people adore. In my opinion, it’s the future of marketing, because it’s the only way brands can create something unique and their own.
Everything’s been done. We live in such a quick and fast-forward society, that unless you stand out, and provide something that stops people in their tracks, what hope do you have? Your story offers hope. Interactive storytelling offers a great deal, because it’s inclusive and awesome.
I’ve offered 23 reasons, but now it’s your turn. Message me on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and continue the conversation. This is where I share my thoughts, but what’s the point if we don’t converse? There is none, so don’t let me down 😉 Get in touch, kid…
TURNDOG
