There are so many stories to tell. Every day is a story! But much like talking to someone for the first time, you want to pick the best stories to share. Just pondering on what message you want to send to the viewer means you’re on the right track for telling a story in the right way.
So which story do you want to tell to your customer? There are so many to choose from!
It can be the story about your business’s beginnings! Build customer loyalty and establish a stronger bond by sharing how your business came to be. It can be a story built around a sensation, purpose, or goal you want for your consumer to achieve. Of course, stories don’t always have to be deep and inspiring. They can be simply focused on selling a product and educating the prospect about its use. So let’s begin at the beginning and find the main ingredient to your story.
Give something exciting!
Think back to high school. Education is a collection of stories. The story in each class was informative, yes, but some were more fun and engaging than others. You learned quickly that some teachers were better at telling a story than others and that just “telling a story” isn’t enough. You have to tell a good one and in a memorable way. It’s the same with outdoor advertising. People are gradually getting used to ignoring the noises of the world. Only when those noises are worthy of their focus will they actually register them.
Create an exciting visual or an ad that makes people stop dead in their tracks. This requires some brainstorming because to shock or excite a person, you must know what makes them tick. Storytelling is best served with a thrill! This is your task as we talk more about the elements that make up your message below. Keep that in mind as we go over further blueprints for telling your story and start thinking about ways to showcase your story in an exciting way.
The goals of your business are your guideline
You’ve surely seen an ad somewhere that made you puff a small amount of air through your nostrils and think “ha, nice one.” This only happens with ads that have an original message not seen before. Most importantly, it only happens with ads that are clever! This is the thought you want to evoke with storytelling. To achieve it, let’s start at the very core of your business.
What’s your goal? What’s the one element of your business that sets you apart from your competitors? 10 years from now, what will you provide that no one else can provide better? If your business prides itself with speedy service—a bank, or a fast food restaurant—create an ad with speedy visuals that burst around the screen, referencing how fast your service is. Find a way to say “we offer fast service” without saying “we offer fast service”. That’s basically the challenge when it comes to a clever message. You don’t need a lengthy ad for this! Play with words. Brainstorm. Once the idea is there, create it yourself, or hire someone to create the visuals.
Use local references
To showcase your goal and the element of your business you take pride in, try using local elements in your story. Relatable elements make an impact in the story. If quality is your primary quality, think of what it is a local consumer thinks of when they hear that word. Then broadcast that thought onto your screens. You can make a positive reference to something durable or well-made that a local would recognize. Perhaps a local celebrity, business or even images and colors that are tied to something like it. Then follow it up with your business slogan and offer. The viewer might like it. Some might think it’s silly. But they won’t forget it!
For a business that aims to pamper and relax the consumer, try the same method. COVID-19 has become a local topic everywhere, preventing most people from traveling for vacation. You can use that as a reference to emulate a vacation sensation in your message. Show people how to “go on vacation” despite the pandemic. In essence, look at your business from the consumer’s perspective and try to bring a story from their minds into the real world. No matter how small or distant, seeing a fraction of their ideas and thoughts brought into reality makes a world of a difference!
Arrange your stories with care
As you create digital signage campaigns and you establish several good, solid, and impactful stories to tell, you’ll be faced with a new challenge. How do you arrange them? When do you share them? Well, suffice to say, telling your story should not hinder other types of content you display to your audience.
Balancing out your content is very important. To ensure you have each type of content present in perfect doses, observe the primary versus secondary division. Your primary content acts as a sidekick to your business’s products and services. It advertises what you offer and essentially aims to make you more money. Secondary content, on the other hand, doesn’t directly care how much money you make. Instead, it aims to entertain and engage the consumer and is rarely connected to products or services. This includes interactive games, fun visuals, cartoons, ambiance, wayfinding, and fun facts, to name a few. Aim to balance these two categories evenly throughout your campaigns.
Your story can fall into either the primary or secondary category, depending on its purpose. When telling a story that highlights your prowess and offers a service or a product, then it’s a primary content element. If the story informs the viewer on your business identity, your employees, your connection to the community, or the true meaning of your logo, then it falls into the secondary category.
Read more on these two main divisions to have a better overview of your content!
