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2014’s Most Popular Social Media ReInvention Blog Posts
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Your Turn
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A second straight quarter of increased user growth: 16 million new users
Revenue doubled to $312 million (driven by mobile use and mobile ad consumption)
Mobile advertising accounts for 81% of total ad revenues
The stock price spiked 29% in after hours trading
271 million monthly active users
How Twitter’s Investor Relations Team (@TwitterIR) framed these positive results is worth studying. Their critical and judgmental audience includes (but is not limited to):
Wall Street Analysts
Technology Journalists / Bloggers
Mutual Funds Managers
Silicon Valley Competitors
Individual Investors
Writing and storytelling skills are important in the financial and investment community. Investor Relations Teams are tasked with building credibility, trust, and transparency. The ability to convey confidence with a compelling and memorable story (particularly when financial performance suffers) makes or breaks organizations.
Real-time, Internet speed and scope, play a crucial role in addressing public scrutiny. Here are three (3) writing and storytelling tips I learned from the Twitter Investor Relations Team.
And, it maximized this competitive advantage during the July 29th earnings call. Topsy analysis shows @TwitterIR‘s (Twitter’s Investor Relations Team) published 23 real-time tweets supporting the earnings presentation.
Topsy Query for @TwitterIR July 29 Tweets
Tip 2. Be Simple and Concise
Communicating financial analyses (or other complex information) into simple, bite-size messages isn’t easy. Twitter’s Investor Relations Team addresses this challenge head-on knowing they have to frame a memorable, compelling story in “pulses” of 140 characters or less. I’m sure their rehearsals resulted in multiple iterations of tweets to constantly refine and simplify the gameday message.
According to Topsy, here’s the top tweet during the July 29th call …
Topsy Twitter IR Top Tweet
Topsy Top Twitter IR Tweet
… and it clocks in at 136 characters (with spaces).
Tip 3. Draw Pictures for Key Messages
Twitter’s Steady, Consistent Positive Revenue Growth. Note: I drew the red arrow.
As an individual Twitter investor, I appreciate and respect the Investor Relations Team sharing key metrics like quarterly revenue, EBITDA, and net income. But, the tweet has too much math for my simple brain.
The hyperlink and chart are vital. They impart two (2) positive impressions:
“We know you want more details. Here’s where you can find/analyze the details.”
I made a 2014 resolution to publish an eBook / presentation.
This presentation / eBook describes three (3) career management lessons I've learned from my Dad and applied to my own career:
1) Learn From the Best
2) Get Published
3) Get Back Up — Fast!
My Dad inspired me to apply each of these lessons in a digital marketing and social media context (e.g., blogging, participating in Twitter, reading books of marketing strategy thought leaders, connecting directly with marketing strategy thought leaders, etc.).
These lessons describe the opportunity for online self-publishing, personal brand / personal reputation management, and the teachings of different marketing strategy authors. The marketing strategy authors (and their books and blogs) that have inspired me include Seth Godin, Ann Handley, Mitch Joel, Tom Peters, and David Meerman Scott.
It's my way of showing my Dad how much I admire and respect his individual achievements (and the obstacles he overcame).
Thank you and I hope you enjoy and benefit from reading it. If you find the content helpful, please feel free to share this presentation with others.
The Social Media ReInvention Community knows how much my family loves dogs. My family is blessed with two loving German Shepherds utterly devoted to our young daughters. And, one German Shepherd is a rescue.
If the Following Video Is Not Remarkable and Compelling Storytelling, I Don't Know What Is
Note: My apologizes for the brief commercial in the video's introduction. I couldn't locate the commercial-free version. But, I promise it is a moving and soulful content marketing example.
Rule 16 is Highlighted Differently for Obvious Reasons. When the video ended, a lump entered my throat and tears filled my eyes. I don't know what else to say …
The Content We Should Create / The Stories We Should Tell. I'm currently reading / studying Mitch Joel's wonderful book, Ctrl Alt Delete. Mitch makes a valuable and insightful point about committing the common mistake of "creating content just for the sake of creating content or telling stories just for the sake of telling stories … "
Direct quotes from page 196 of Ctrl Alt Delete:
"Marketers often will often say that the best ads are the ones that tell stories. While you can easily shoot back with a 'Duh, tell me something I don't know,' take a cold hard look at all of your marketing collateral and ask yourself if you're telling a story worthy of being told—-or are you just telling a story to get something sold?"
It's not all about content. It's all about stories. It's not all about stories.It's all about GREAT stories.
Your Turn. How did this video / art affect you? Which 22 Pixar Rules of Storytelling do you recognize? How about comparing notes? Please let me know in the comments.
It’s A Necessary Business Skill. Do it well and you’ll surpass your competition. Tom Peters makes a memorable point about storytelling’s importance especially during senior executive presentations:
Analytical Smarts Aren’t Enough. The authors cite storytelling as a necessary skill today’s MBAs lack. Several executives (aka newly-minted MBAs’ future employers) in the book say MBA presentation skills are a special weakness:
Students need to master the art of storytelling. They must learn to sell their ideas in a powerful, succinct way.
Students fail to deliver the important message up front. I’m often asked to review their five-minute pitch for a business plan, but after the first minute they still haven’t given me a reason to listen for the next four. I’m looking for clarity with accuracy, precision, and conciseness.
She stood next to the podium and started reading from Gustav and the Goldfish, a book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss in 1950 as part of his long-running series of children stories for redbook. We all sat there in rapt attention — the bigger the fish got, the more we leaned forward in anticipation.
Ann Handley is more than a writer and Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs: She’s a storyteller.
Doesn’t that:
Grab your attention from the start
Drive you to read more
Make the reading experience memorable
Stories Makes Your Message Stick The SUCCESs Model.Chip Heath and Dan Heath introduced this framework in their classic book, Made to Stick. Buy it. Study it. Your must-have, business library has a place for it.
Here are their six principles of successful ideas:
S = Simplicity. Strip an idea down to its core. Relentlessly prioritize.
U = Unexpectedness. Be counter-intuitive, use surprise, and generate interest and curiosity.
C = Concrete. Paint a mental picture using human actions or sensory information.
C = Credible. Cite outside authorities using vivid details (i.e., “Where’s the Beef?”)
E = Emotional. Make people feel something. People care about people, not numbers.
S = Stories. Stories drive action through stimulation and inspiration.
Chip Heath explains the principle of simplicity in the following video. Note: There’s a short advertisement at the start.
Notice how he uses the SUCCESs principles especially storytelling:
Here’s Guber’s view on how storytelling impacted the successes and failures in his life:
I realized that the secret sauce to success is the ability to take facts, bullet points, and data and orchestrate them into an emotional offering so that your audience metabolizes them and then the information becomes resonant, memorable, and actionable.
The Best Story Wins. That’s timeless Tom Peters’ wisdom. Telling a simple story when describing a complex solution is challenging. It’s a highly sought after skill.
I work in a professional services firm that addresses complicated problems. And, the solutions are never easy to execute. Plus, the solutions contain multiple components that can be difficult to explain.
A Differentiating Opportunity. Untangling the complexity and simplifying the message are the differentiating opportunity. That’s how storytelling differentiates your organization. If you’re the storyteller (or the person charged with creating the story), take advantage of the opportunity to differentiate your personal brand.
What’s YOUR story?
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