Improve the storytelling structure of digital content: Content professionals create many types of content. Many, such as thought leadership ebooks, entertaining videos, and customer stories, seem to be filled with storytelling opportunities.
There are also process-oriented pieces, such as guidelines, standards, and how-to directions, which provide valuable information. These “constructed” pieces can be helpful, but they are not a place where you can stretch your creative muscles.
I have discussed the differences among these content sets prior to using my favorite quote of G.K. Chesterton’s critique of Charles Dickens’s novel The Pickwick Papers.
There is a big difference between creation and construction. A thing that is built can only be loved once it has been constructed, but something that is created can be loved before it exists.
This distinction speaks directly about the joy of creating fascinating pieces vs. satisfaction after building something useful.
The majority of content creators prefer the latter. In my original post, I suggested that leaders ensure talented creators have the opportunity to do both. Not all writing is writing. I have never met a content creator who was content-only.
However, I did not realize that there was an additional nuance to the story. It is possible to approach construction projects with love and care during the process of creation. The article should have ended this way: “All writers are writers – but not all writing is writing.” It can.
It’s not all content writing can be considered writing, according to @Robert_Rose via #CMIContent CLICK TO TWEET
Improve the storytelling structure of digital content: The story is in the constructed content.
Recently, I worked with a professional service firm to improve their storytelling structure digital content. We worked with teams from various disciplines and went through a variety of content formats including web pages, social posts, whitepaper, press releases and even recruitment campaigns. Our goal was to examine the story structure of each piece and determine how we can improve them.
One of the content professionals submitted a draft document outlining the process for deleting any content from the company’s intranet.
It was my favorite asset to work with.
The initial draft was, as you might imagine, quite dry. The guide to the contents was included in the opening. It then gave a guide to the contents.
Exciting stuff. No, really.
We all came to understand the real reason for the guide’s existence as we discussed it. The intranet is less valuable if it has outdated content.
We began to discuss how emotions and points of view could be added to the piece. We could market this process as well as the best way to manage content on the intranet. We discussed adding ingredients that would encourage more people to read this document. We could increase the stakes, create tension, and make it an adventure to keep the intranet valuable.
The story framework was used. It separates elements from the story structure using layers that correspond to the overall goal. Here’s an example:
The image below shows the objectives and ingredients of each category.
- Poet The goal is to create or change a belief using ingredients like a human/hero/constrictions, desire, relationships and challenges.
- Professor The objective is to teach someone about your point-of-view using a thesis and opposition, why-this explanations. Implications.
- Promoter The objective is to get someone to commit or agree to an action using old, trigger and new-world descriptions
- Performer The goal is to make people feel.
img alt=”Story framework framework.” src=”https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/story-package-framework-1-600×429.png”/>
This framework is not a template. Each layer is a set of ingredients that will give you the best chance at telling a satisfying story. The creativity and quantity of those ingredients are up to you.
A #storytelling framework provides the necessary ingredients to tell a satisfying story. You choose the quantity, according to @Robert_Rose via@CMIContent. CLICK TO TWEET
The Professor approach was chosen for the intranet policy manual because it is about teaching a concept. We then asked questions and completed the story.
- Thesis: In order to make an intranet more usable, the content it contains is proportional to its useability. Every piece of content should have an expiration date. It should also be removed as soon as it becomes available.
- Opposition/challenge:My content won’t have much of an impact; however, I don’t need to worry about it because everyone else will follow the rules.
- Justification (Why this approach solves the problem and why it benefits the audience). One piece of outdated content could cause distrust in an intranet. The automated approach allows you to prevent deletion while keeping you engaged in ensuring that your content remains alive.
- Implications (the consequences of committing to this approach): Outline the time commitments proposed and the benefits for content creators.
- O.V. O.V. Your contribution is crucial to the health and well-being of enterprise knowledge.
These ingredients are starting points that allow the team to focus on creating something more than a list of rules and processes. These ingredients became blocks that could be used to inject humor (their chosen emotion), and create a more engaging story about how people care for the intranet.
Only time and execution can tell if the intended audience will consume this piece more easily. Let me clarify: The content will be no less engaging after this effort.
The popularity of the piece was not the main focus of the exercise. My main goal was to revive the creativity and energy of content creators who were working on this piece. The content was not a document that had to be created.
It was a piece of creative thought leadership that the creators approached. They were excited by the possibilities even before they started to edit.
This is a win.
@Robert_Rose says that helping creators feel excited about approaching a #Content piece can be a win via @CMIContent CLICK TO TWEET
This is not the case for every piece of content. However, I believe that there are more worthy pieces of content than we allow. It’s a great way for you to stand out from the crowd by taking a little time to look at the elements of a great tale, even if it seems boring.
A saying that goes along with the old saying, “Whether or not you believe you can, you are right.”
Here’s the version for content professionals: “Whether or not you choose to create content, you will.”
This is your story. It’s your story.
