Last week’s Go Green Seattle conference fired up my thinking about sustainability, climate change and making a difference. It was an energizing day of connections and conversations. Some of the questions explored during the day included “How can you create change in your company or organization?” “How can you connect health and sustainability?” and “How can you engage your community online?”
Here are a few tips to help answer the last question. A session called “Message Your Purpose,” presented by Teresa Burrelsman and Andrea Learned, talked about how to tell your story and connect with your customers and community.
- Storytelling is key to connecting people to your organization or brand. What’s your story and why should I care?
- Make sure the story has a plot rather than just anecdotes. That means your story should have a villain, obstacle or challenge.
- Show, not tell. Find ways to make it visual. Can you use video, songs, photos?
- Ask your audience what they want to know and what stories would interest them. Use their answers to create content that will matter to them.
- Your content should be Truth with a capital T–not just facts, but connections to people’s lives.
- Build relationships through social networks. Where is your audience? Go there.
- Share others’ content. A good rule of thumb is 70/30 or 60/40 of other people’s stuff as opposed to your own content. Sharing good content will build trust over time.