Does your thought leadership content
focus on hyping your organization or brand,
or are you weaving stories where your
audience can picture themselves as the hero?
Cristina Loughrey is a narrative architect and
content strategist with 15+ years of experience in marketing,
communications, and experiential marketing (events). She has
multiple degrees in rhetoric, sociolinguistics, and analyzing
societal narratives in popular American culture.
Cristina addresses audience advocacy, and why it's important that
the audience you want can see themselves in the story of your
brand. Building that connection makes your relationship with the
audience stronger. Cristina provides us with a deep understanding
about how we should think about our audience, and how to find ways
to speak to their hearts and minds.
Cristina goes on to discuss why you need to provide room for your
audience to relate and connect, and how to use storytelling to put
the audience right in the middle of your content. By telling the
story in a way that connects, the audience begins to see themselves
as the hero of the story - and that engages them in a more dynamic
way.
With social media data, we no longer need to "write into the void,"
just hoping our message hits the audience in the right way.
Cristina shares why she focuses on qualitative over quantitative
data, allowing that information to inform the construction of
stories that are deeply relevant to the audience.
If you’ve been dishing out content but don’t feel like your message
is being heard, this episode can help you fine-tune your story and
engage your audience.
Three Key Takeaways:
* When seeking to grab the attention of your audience the meaning
of your message needs to be in the first few opening sentences.
* Telling an interesting story isn’t enough. You need to present it
from the viewpoint of the audience, ensuring it gives them value
for their time.
* Don’t look for an immediate payoff using thought
leadership. It takes time and consistency to build trust.