(Repost from 2014)
This is one of my big points in content strategy. Sometimes people think it’s a conflict with creativity.
Great data is as human as you are. It’s an intimate knowledge of your audience that allows you to tell a better story. Tell me you’re not funnier when you tell a joke to a friend – because you know what that person likes and dislikes.
Photo by Quinn Dombrowski.
You are media.
Everyone is media, because everyone is a storyteller.
The photo you shared, the joke you told, the meme you sent on its merry way – all stories from the network of you.
We are all telling stories, every day, and if you come at your brand understanding that, it can help you tell its story.
Yesterday I was puzzling out a tough problem and I called two close friends to help me work it through – which they did.
It was a really nice feeling to know I could call on these resources and that I could trust in what I would receive, and feeling that emotion yet again when the problem was lessened reinforced my trust.
Later that night, one of my friends called me for help on a knotty professional problem of her own. Being able to help, and being trusted in my ability to contribute, meant so much more to me than any help I had gotten earlier.
This applies to brands, products, and services as well as to people and resources. We place a lot of value in having systems around us that we can trust. But we must place an even great value on being trustworthy, and valuable, in the minds and hearts of others.
Conversation around brands isn’t any different than conversation at a cocktail party. The most interesting one will have the most conversation and leave the greatest impression. (The trainwreck will leave an impression, too, but it’s not the one you’re looking for.) Would you talk to your mom with that mouth?
Photo by Mo Riza. Creative Commons.