5 Elements of Custom Storytelling
A guide to creating experiences that reach—and stay—with your audience.
Illustrated by sarah sampson
Crafting stories that both reach and resonate with your audience requires more than interviewing sources and writing a draft. It requires deep knowledge of who you want to reach, how to best draw them in, and where to reach them.
Here are five proven ways to create stories that last in a way that only your institution can tell them.
1.
Know Your Audience
It all begins with knowing who you are trying to engage. What is their connection with the institution? Obviously, communicating with an 18-year-old prospective student is going to be different than with a 78-year-old alum. But even within those segments, there is a broad range of diversity. Conducting research to drill down and define what makes them unique will guide decisions on how to engage with them, and nurture the throughline of prospective student to alumni.
2.
Create a Content Strategy
How do you decide where the content lives? There are so many ways that people are connecting with an institution: social media, email, website, and print. A comprehensive plan takes all of these channels and their inherent strengths into consideration.
3.
Build on a Brand Identity
Because we are living in a media-saturated world, a strong brand brings cohesiveness across channels. Implementing university guidelines for logo use is just one aspect. Typography, color, audio, motion, and format all convey voice and tone and showcase what makes your community distinct.
4.
Direct Your Vision
Why this story for this audience, and why now? What do we want to convey with this story? Answers to these questions help to define the visual direction. Will it be an illustration, and what style? Or photography? Who is the best person to bring the story to life?
5.
Choose the Best Delivery
The final medium should be part of the equation from the start. Is this story best told through video? A long-form digital experience? A series of posts on social? Or a tactile printed piece? Each of these experiences has its own strengths—motion, audio, and speed of consumption. Creating for the medium enhances the custom experience.
Share this article
Sarah Sampson loves to draw. As a designer by day, she has always used drawing as a low-pressure and accessible creative outlet. She enjoys integrating minimal illustrations with hand-lettering, and she previously held a stint as a signage artist at a local wine and spirits shop. Her quirky linework and lack of care for perfection (a deviation from her design perspective) bring a loose, carefree vibe to her illustrative work.
5 Elements of Custom Storytelling
A guide to creating experiences that reach—and stay—with your audience.
Illustrated by sarah sampson
Crafting stories that both reach and resonate with your audience requires more than interviewing sources and writing a draft. It requires deep knowledge of who you want to reach, how to best draw them in, and where to reach them.
Here are five proven ways to create stories that last in a way that only your institution can tell them.
1.
Include visual direction in your identity and brand guide.
It all begins with knowing who you are trying to engage. What is their connection with the institution? Obviously, communicating with an 18-year-old prospective student is going to be different than with a 78-year-old alum. But even within those segments, there is a broad range of diversity. Conducting research to drill down and define what makes them unique will guide decisions on how to engage with them, and nurture the throughline of prospective student to alumni.
2.
Create a Content Strategy
How do you decide where the content lives? There are so many ways that people are connecting with an institution: social media, email, website, and print. A comprehensive plan takes all of these channels and their inherent strengths into consideration.
3.
Build on a Brand Identity
Because we are living in a media-saturated world, a strong brand brings cohesiveness across channels. Implementing university guidelines for logo use is just one aspect. Typography, color, audio, motion, and format all convey voice and tone and showcase what makes your community distinct.
4.
Direct Your Vision
Why this story for this audience, and why now? What do we want to convey with this story? Answers to these questions help to define the visual direction. Will it be an illustration, and what style? Or photography? Who is the best person to bring the story to life?
5.
Choose the Best Delivery
The final medium should be part of the equation from the start. Is this story best told through video? A long-form digital experience? A series of posts on social? Or a tactile printed piece? Each of these experiences has its own strengths—motion, audio, and speed of consumption. Creating for the medium enhances the custom experience.
Share this article
Sarah Sampson loves to draw. As a designer by day, she has always used drawing as a low-pressure and accessible creative outlet. She enjoys integrating minimal illustrations with hand-lettering, and she previously held a stint as a signage artist at a local wine and spirits shop. Her quirky linework and lack of care for perfection (a deviation from her design perspective) bring a loose, carefree vibe to her illustrative work.