1. Storytelling for Small Business
PR, Social Media and Video Creation
Tactics to Engage Media & Consumers

4. Your Brand
1. What is it?
2. What do others think it is?
3. Do those match up?

5. PR =
Public Relations

6. PR =
Perception &
Reality

7. Reaching Your Desired Audience
• Traditional PR – news, trends, experts
• Advertising & Marketing – traditional and
grassroots
• Social Media – various platforms; complete
strategies

8. Your Story
• What’s your story?
• What makes your brand appealing?
• What differentiates you from the
competition?
• What’s the news hook?
• What is the most (or some of the most)
important thing for you to get across to your
target markets?

9. Ways to Tell Your Story
• Traditional PR
– Goes back to news, trends, experts
– Relationships
– Media placements
• Extend the life of media placements
– Use media to garner additional press
opportunities
– Extend the shelf life of a media hit via social media
• CONTENT CREATION…

10. Goals

11. Lead Generation
• Utilize content creation to spark new
conversations with your consumers
• Disseminate content to media to spark interest/
open a dialogue
– Supplement pitching
– Share via social media with interested parties
• Offer content to media for its platforms
– Social Media News Release

12. Get Your Targets Involved

13. Share with Media On Social Media

14. Offer Content:
Social Media News Release

15. Statistics:
Video Used as Social Media Content
• Adobe's 2013 Video Benchmark Report found that
social media users are more than 2x as likely to
engage in video content than non-video content.
• Those videos will get more likes, comments and
shares than photos, links and text.
• Video viral reach (the number of people who see a
post in their feeds through friends or a brand page)
accounts for 77% of all reach on social media
platforms.

16. Statistics:
Video Used for SEO
• You are 53 times more likely to appear on Google Page 1 if
you have a video on your website. (Forrester Research)
• YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world.
Obviously, you have to have video to be there. (ReelSEO.com)
• Video used in email marketing increases click-through rates by
over 96% (Implix 2010 Email Marketing Trends Survey)
• Website visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely
to buy (Internet Retailer)

18. THE BRAND
• Small Austin based brand of men’s golf shirts
• “Country club tested, farmer’s market approved”
• Look is traditional, positioning is playful and the product has
sellable attributes
THE PLAN
• Ecommerce
• Marketing – Tidbits deal, newsletter, online promotions
• PR – local & national
– Thrillist, Tribeza, Daily Candy
– Details, Playboy, WSJ
• Content creation

19. Traditional Media Meets Creative
Content

20. What happened next?
• WSJ story
• Interested readers to site
• Video lived on top of home page
• 1000 video views in 2 days
• Last month, Criquet had an overall 3.5% conversion rate on their site.
• Over the same period, had a 9.63% conversion rate for people who've
watched any video. That’s 175% better than overall conversion rate!
• They had an 11% conversion rate for people who watched product videos.
• Folks who watched videos accounted for 12% of revenue for this period.
• This campaign was a smart way to further engage consumer; buy-in to
brand
What does that all mean?
Simply put…sometimes stories can help move product.

21. Elicit Emotion to Drive Action

22. How the content was used
• Meals on Wheels and More Newsletter
• Sent out to press during pitching
• Posted on Austin Restaurant Week website
• Used to attractive event sponsors

23. Narrative to Increase Awareness and
Shape Perception

24. What the story supports
• Narrative provides background
• Helps to elevate a brand by focusing on one of
its niches
• Plugs for non-profits groups fit story but
further positive perception

25. What it takes to make a good video
• Solid plan (aka pre-production)
• A prepared spokesperson who can effectively
tell your brand’s story (ie:owner, expert, actor)
• Appropriate location
• Clear audible sound
• A knowledgeable editor
• Creative flexibility
• The art of brevity

26. Variables of Video Production
• Time, Quality and Cost
The old Producer’s adage is, “Good, Cheap, or
Fast? You can’t have all three.”
• Quality Video takes time and care in post
production
• Teams of specialists can quickly turn out high
quality videos for top dollar
• DIY may even work with enough time and
preparation

27. Realities of Video
• Things you may not expect
– Creative visions vary
– Happy accidents

28. Contact
Amanda Sprague
amanda@cultivatepr.com
Stephen Sprague
stephenbsprague@gmail.com