How to Utilize Digital Storytelling in Public Relations

By Olivia Cammarata


In order to be effective public relations practitioners, it is important that we develop human connections through storytelling. Stories allow us to convey our message while building a strong relationship with our audience. Good stories make us emotional, show us reality and give us hope for the future.

During this digital era, storytelling has never been more impactful. By creating digital stories, companies can engage their customers, share the story behind their brand and show the world why they matter.

What is digital storytelling?
Digital storytelling is the practice of using multimedia on digital platforms to tell stories. Examples of multimedia include graphics, audio and video. Digital storytelling can be done on a variety of platforms such as through social media, websites and advertisements.

Why is visual content effective?
With the rise of technology and social media, there has been a large shift to visual content. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visual content is proven to be processed by our brains 60,000 times faster than text. By telling visual stories, we can grab and maintain the attention of our publics.

Elements of digital storytelling
By utilizing the following elements in our stories, we can evoke a response from our audience, keep their attention and create content that tells our brand’s unique narrative.

1.) Point of View
According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 92% of people admit to trusting their peers over a traditional advert. By practicing customer-led storytelling and using perspectives from outside of our organization, we can increase our engagement with consumers. People want to choose your brand based on the opinions and stories of their peers.

2.) Use of Voice
With the use of different people’s voices, we can create dimension in our storytelling. Telling a story this way allows us to align voices with our own brand. It’s important that your brand gives a voice to people of diverse backgrounds and cultures.

3.) Dramatic Question
Posing a “dramatic question” in digital storytelling allows communicators to express an issue or conflict and hold the audience’s attention. The dramatic question should be answered, or the audience should be able to answer it themselves based on the information presented. The answer to your dramatic question should be a call to action for your audience.

4.) Emotional Content
We can all recall a brand’s digital story that brought us to tears. It’s essential that your digital story connects to the audience on an emotional level. Digital storytelling can bring serious issues to life and evoke emotional responses. Emotions can include humor, empathy, fear, anxiety and others.

Now more than ever, people want brands to be as transparent as possible. To be successful in public relations, we need to tell our brand story authentically. By integrating these components into our digital storytelling, we can give our customers a voice and develop long-lasting relationships with our publics.


Sources:
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/6-ways-brands-can-boost-their-storytelling https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/350326/studies-confirm-the-power-of-visuals-in-elearning