bringing your destination stories to life across platforms ...storyworld examples from childhood. in...
TRANSCRIPT
Bringing Your Destination’s Stories to Life Across Platforms of Media
Chatting Stories, Storytelling and Digital Media with Erica Hargreave @EricaHargreave / [email protected]
Storyworlds= the world in which your story - character, setting …etc. exist
Storyworld Example : Spiderman
Storyworld Examples from Childhood
In Approaching Your Destination Storyworlds …
try to find the kind of joy and excitement that you recollect from your childhood storyworlds
if you and your team are having fun crafting and sharing the story, then that enthusiasm will shine through
genuine enthusiasm and passion will attract people to your story / feeds and get them wanting to come an experience your destination first hand
Storyworld Example : Stepping Out Shoes &
Steveston, BC
Applying to Your Destination or Experience …
Create story threads that share not only your own organization, but overlap with stories of your neighbours.
By helping promote your community, you are inviting people to make a more involved adventure out of visiting.
Ultimately this creates overlapping storyworlds in which everyone’s storytelling reaches further, building new interest and community to your feeds.
Stories only get richer when you involve others.
Let go of the reigns, and allow others to feel a part of your story, to feel ownership over it.
Make it a community story.
Invite external storytellers to partake.
Simple Ways to Extend the Reach of Your Storytelling Online
Mention members of your community in a complimentary way. This will inspire the resharing of your content.
Reshare the content of others that are mentioning your community in a complimentary way.
Reshare the content of those mentioning you in a positive way.
Invite collaborators into your story.
Come up with a shared hashtag with other members of your community, to use to invite your audience into the stories of your community.
Extending Your Story with Character Storytelling
Advantages of Character Storytelling
They are fun!
You can be quirky, ridiculous, salacious, whimsical … etc in your storytelling from a character.
They allow you to share in a freer manner, without the constraints of a professional account.
Extending Your Storytelling with Web Series
With the decline of audiences to mainstream television, web series are something to keep an eye on.
They are responsive to changes in audience consumption behaviour - both in the ways audiences watch and in the viewing length of an episode.
While paid streaming sites, like Netflix, are popular, there are advantages to free release series to platforms like YouTube for Destinations.
No constrictive broadcast schedules. No geoblocking of content (unless desired). The ability to post directly to your site. Longer runs of the series.
Pondering a Web Series Around Your Destination?
There are numerous possibilities for developing web series around your destination. Some elements to take into consideration, include:
budget goals in creating desired audience
In the web series world, there is value to both higher quality productions and those with a realer / rawer uncut vibe, dependent on the story you are telling and who you are trying to reach.
Web Series, like television and film, can also share stories in many different genres, including:
historic drama current day fiction documentary reality magazine style shows
A few recent web series which tell tales around destinations & culture.
A Swiss Idea: A music variety show from Hotel Innere Enge in Bern, featuring the different musicians visiting Marian’s Jazzroom.
A Swiss Idea: a historic drama at Grand Hotel du Lac, based on the novel of the same name by Anita Brookner.
Extending Your Storytelling with Gaming Adventures
A fun and engaging way to get both children and adults interested in your destination and discovering more of the culture there.
Two great examples of this targeted to family audiences are:
Carmen Sandiego
The 39 Clues
Contemplating a Gaming Adventure?
Such a game could involve:
geo caching
scavenger hunts
online clues
alternate & / or augmented reality …
This is a great way to bring a variety of destinations together, connecting them through the game and perking audience interest in the broader scope of destinations.
A Swiss Idea: a scifi style adventure in Geneva, somehow tied to CERN, clockmakers, UN connections … etc.
Extending Your Storytelling with a Destination Storytelling Campaign
Can (but don’t have to) use many of the elements that we have discussed thus far, including:
hashtags
gaming elements
community story contributions
short form video storytelling
a call to action
What Worked With This Campaign
For People Interested in Whistler:
the weekly multiple choice answers to ‘Would You Do It?’ contained humour
it shared funny and interesting stories about Whistler that many locals and travellers were unaware of
it didn’t take advantage of participants
it had an outstandingly awesome prize
For Whistler Itself:
it allowed them to open people’s minds up to different experiences in Whistler - beyond skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and aprés ski beverages
it kept Whistler top of mind heading into the new ski season
it got people talking about Whistler online in a positive way
it reengaged people around Whistler during their off season of April
the videos themselves are evergreen, and are still available as storytelling pieces on their YouTube Channel
Best Job(s) in the WorldTourism Australia
Do’s and Don’ts with Contests
Do have fun using the contest to tell your story in different and unique ways.
Don’t simply blast out there to “share this contest and win.”
Do offer a real reward in winning.
Don’t use the contest to obtain free or poorly reimbursed storytelling labour.
Remember Each Platform is Different
Don’t forget that each platform of social media for sharing these stories is different and have slightly different audiences, so you want to cater differently to how you tell your story on each.
While typically there is a younger audience on Instagram to Twitter, there is no magic guide for all to who you are targeting on each platform. You need to spend the time both building and engaging your desired audience on each platform, and studying your audience’s behaviours on each platform - seeing what they react to.
Creating an Illusion of Diversity Between the Platforms
We all get busy, and sometimes we just don’t have the time to tailor unique posts to each platform of social media. That’s okay.
To create an illusion of diversity between your social platforms so that people following all of your feeds see diversity between them, when you are busy, simply pre-write the content and schedule it to be shared at different times.
Recapping Some of the Storytelling Ideas Shared Today
Approach Your Social Media with the Idea That You Are Building a Storyworld
Have FUN with Your Storytelling - this will help to attract people to you
Invite Others Into Your Storyworld by Overlapping Your Storyworld with Those of Your Colleagues and Neighbours (ie. include them in your story in a positive way)
Create a Mutually Beneficial Hashtag for Sharing Destination Stories Collaboratively with Colleagues and Neighbours
Consider Creating a Character to Share Stories from Your Destination
Tell Deeper Stories with a Web Series
Engage Your Audience with a Digital Storytelling Campaign
Diversify Your Story / Tailor it for Different Platforms
Danke / Merci / Grazie / Thank You!I am always happy to chat more on ideas, questions, and strategic storytelling approaches!
[email protected] / @EricaHargreave / roamancing.com