Last updated on October 3rd, 2016 at 02:36 pm
Yesterday B2BNN hosted a live Twitter Chat discussion with Derek Chezzi, Editorial Director, Collaborative Journalism of Edelman Toronto. There were some fantastic questions, so we thought we’d share them with everyone.
Q1: You focus on business storytelling. How do you identify a good story to be told?
A1: Stories – editorial or brand stories for a B2C or B2B audience – can follow the same rules: is it timely? Is it relevant? Answer the big question: will the audience care? To be effective, brand communication should be audience-centric.
A2 Make it engaging. The language of the web is visual. Data shows strongly illustrated content drives higher engagement. #b2bpov 5/5 pic.twitter.com/1Iwr1Fx8MB
— Derek Chezzi (@DerekChezzi) September 28, 2016
Q2: Are there different considerations for what makes a story effective in digital?
A2: Attention is becoming a scarce commodity. It needs to be earned. There is more content than anyone can consume. You have less time to attract the reader. Can you create a thumbstopper moment? Can you grab the audience’s attention? You need to hook them with something they’ll care about. Also use visuals.
Q3: Great advice. Attention matters. Does a good story online follow a usual narrative arc or does it have to give good gif? Or both?
A3: Tricky question. As a general rule “stories” should be informative and entertaining. If you’re really successful you make the audience feel something. The platform often dictates how in-depth you can go when telling the story. Sometimes it will be about sharing an idea as succinctly and effectively as possible if, for instance, you’re communicating on Instagram or Twitter like we are today.
Q4: Interesting. Do platforms help with those challenges? What’s your favourite digital channel for storytelling? Why?
A4: New platforms have forced us to think differently about narrative. In some instances, it’s atomized stories into bite-sizes. Audiences consume differently as a result. As for favourite channel, it depends on the story. Lately I’ve seen people share interesting ideas effective ways on Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter using similar storytelling techniques as comic artists who are skilled at juxtaposing images and text.
Q5: At Learning From Dim Sum we’ll be talking about the concept of dim sum marketing. How does that apply to what you do?
A5: Storytelling is not one size fits all. Sometimes you’re simply sharing an idea, other times we’re sharing a story with more depth. The platform or channel where it’s being consumed is a huge influence on the final shape. As storytellers, we need to select from the cart what will appeal most to the audience.
Q6: Nice. On that theme, any good #dimsum stories to share?
A6. My five-year-old son eats dim sum like a champ. When the cart pulls up to the table, he’ll say “I want all of it.” #b2bpov pic.twitter.com/fmrgdMEGSA
— Derek Chezzi (@DerekChezzi) September 28, 2016
Q7: Love it. Last 2 from the audience. AR/VR impact?
A7: I’ll be very interested to see its application once the tech moves past the gimmick stage (in the short term).
A7 But I really do think it has a huge potential for B2B application, probably more so than B2C. #b2bpov 2/2 pic.twitter.com/Np9Z7ecavY
— Derek Chezzi (@DerekChezzi) September 28, 2016
Q8: Twitter announced it’s opening #Moments to all. Good potential platform?
A8: Potentially. Everyone I speak with finds Twitter unwieldy. I’ll be watching to see if and how users adopt the feature.
Don’t miss out! Register now to talk to Derek in person at #B2BPOV!
