Startups in 2014 have a great opportunity to tell their story… not just the story of their product or service, but the story of their company. The internet has enabled easier publishing and distribution of words, images, and video, and savvy founders will use these tools to their advantage in building the reach and reputation of the company. As a professional photographer with a background in tech, I’ve helped dozens of startups and other technology companies craft their digital story; here are some suggestions for an effective way to start sharing your startup’s story.
Digital Distribution of Your Story
With a phrase like “digital distribution” folks often think big – iTunes for music or Netflix for movies. As a startup, you should also think smaller. You’re probably already doing some of this… but each of these can be a way to share your company’s story:
- YouTube
- Your blog (or third-party sites such as Medium)
What about new tools? Each week we see new publishing platforms appear in the photo, text, and video spaces… will it help your company to jump on these new platforms? I realize that in some ways this contradicts the early-adopter experimental startup mindset, but unless your company’s focus is in the storytelling space, you’ll probably see more return on your storytelling investment by sticking with platforms with some sort of established base, and importantly, where you have connections to others in your industry.
Never underestimate the value that your network brings to your company. Tell your story where it will be heard.
Why do they want to hear your story? Because you’re doing something interesting of course! And you’re probably doing it with some interesting people.
Practical Platform Prompts
So you’ve decided to tell your story, and you’re looking at doing it on platforms with some traction. But what do you say? What’s going to help tell a story that will interest potential customers, partners, employees, or others who might help spread the news of what you’re doing?
Your Blog: Your company’s blog is a great place to share the occasional article that can go more in depth or provide more context than is possible in many shorter-form social media outlets. Whether you’re explaining some of your value proposition, comparing and contrasting your product with your competitors, offering information for your industry, or providing insight on your founders or employees, a blog post gives you the freedom to craft the story as you see fit, and is a great place to send folks looking for more information about your company.
Twitter: It’s the backchannel of the internet, and if you’re not there, you’re missing out. Not only are you missing out on what’s going on, but others are going to miss out on what’s going on with you unless you’re talking about it. Your company Twitter handle is one thing for company communications, but at an early stage startup I’d argue that having founders and employees talking about the company (along with the rest of their lives) is the best plan.
Instagram: Twitter for photos (or very short video clips). Sometimes people pick on Instagram for being a bit cliché.
But you’re smarter than that. You know that people love behind the scenes photos. Show your work. Building an app? Post the occasional screenshot. Get the occasional photo of the team working together. Grab a snapshot of the team playing together.
YouTube: If a picture is worth 1,000 words, how many words would thousands of photos strung together be worth? Too many folks think “big video production” when they’re looking at getting into YouTube, but here’s a secret: the most successful stories are told in much shorter segments. How many things are competing for your attention? Folks want a quick (two minutes or less) video segment.
You’ve probably practiced an elevator pitch to sell your business quickly, or at least generate the interest to further a conversation. That’s what your digital storytelling can be… each piece of content or media (a tweet, blog post, photo, video clip) can lead to further conversation.
Your startup is growing and probably has big things ahead. Tell bits of the story to get folks interested so that they want to learn more as you move forward.
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