St. Louis, MO – November 14, 2022 – You have to know your target audience before undertaking any storytelling because it informs everything you will do. It will dictate the story you will tell and how you will tell it.

You might be asking, “ Why is that? “

Because communicating with your audience is why you undertake the storytelling. There is no point in telling a story unless you have an audience. And just like with any other form of communication, the audience determines the meaning of the communication.

Sure, what you intended to communicate is relevant, but it isn’t controlling. If you intended to pay someone a compliment, but they were insulted by the communication then you communication was not successful. You failed.

Your audience will dictate whether your video storytelling is successful. Does your video storytelling resonate with your target audiences? Does your message get through to who you want?

When we do our work for clients, we go through a proprietary story intake planning process that begins with defining the audience and the purpose of the storytelling. We help our clients identify who they are trying to reach and what they want that audience to know before we do anything else.

So what happens when you have multiple targets in your audience? Good question.

The answer depends on a variety of factors.

· How diverse is the audience?

· What does each audience cohort care about?

· How complicated is your message or your story?

· Is the message the same for all targets?

· What is the base of knowledge with each target cohort or what is their implicit bias?

It may not be politically correct to talk about implicit bias, but it is a real thing that good storytellers recognize. Writers write to your bias. A good novelist will give you just enough information for your imagination to paint the rest of the picture. The paint you use to finish the picture is your implicit bias. The same process is at work with video storytelling.

We map new information onto old information within our brain. So when we are watching a scary movie and the scary music starts, the tension builds within in us. We anticipate something scary happening.

Why is that?

What makes scary music scary?

We have been conditioned to respond in a certain way haven’t we?

The video storyteller or filmmaker is intentional in trying to elicit that emotion.

So if we were crafting a video story for a group of Republicans, it might look different than a video story for a group of Democrats. I don’t have to tell you they view the world differently, do I?

So when it comes to crafting your video story, you need to determine whether you can tell a single story that reaches multiple targets or if you would be better investing in sub targeted stories.

You could craft a story to reach both Democrats and Republicans, but you will need to be intentional about your approach and use universal themes that connect with both targeted cohorts.

In most poorly executed video stories, the biggest mistake is the video storyteller trying to cram in too much and they lose their audience. PR people like myself make that mistake by sharing too much information. Humans can only process a limited amount of information.

The reason great filmmakers use camera focus to keep a subject in focus, but the background out of focus is they are intentionally drawing your attention. They are telling you what is important to the story.

That little cinematic technique underscores my point with this blog.

The best stories are simple stories with a simple message that connects at an emotional level with the target audience.

For me, using corporate speak or industry jargon is a red flag that we might be off track with our video storytelling. If the client tells me they are trying to reach the general public, then the language that comes out in our interviews should be appropriate to the audience.

There is a whole industry built around SEO – search engine optimization. Well, what is that?

The internet is driven by search. What are the keywords the public uses to look things up? What actual words are people putting into the search bar to look things up?

That language is a strong indicator of what speaks to either a large audience or a niche audience. There is some commonsense science to SEO. It is like polling in a political campaign.

Maybe your video storytelling goal is to reach a small niche audience that uses highly technical language a niche technical topic. In that case, it makes sense to use that in framing your story.

But if you are trying to educate the uninformed, you might be better off using more common, universally used language.

You get the point; it really depends on your target audience. Only you can answer whether it is possible to reach multiple targets in a single story with your video storytelling.

About STORYSMART

You have a story to tell, but don't have the time or resources to do it yourself. Telling your story well with video can be hard. And let’s be brutally honest. No app will turn you into a great filmmaker. Few are capable of producing a do-it-yourself (DIY) video or film we actually want to watch, much less remember.

To do justice to your story on screen, you need the right skills and equipment, not to mention time, money and talent.

That is why STORYSMART developed our premium video storytelling as a service. We help clients tell their story in the amazing way they deserve with a proprietary done-for-you video storytelling service unlike any other.

STORYSMART provides a nationwide premium video storytelling service that empowers individuals, families, celebrities, small businesses and other organizations to have their stories told professionally while still retaining their intellectual property rights.

STORYSMART provides clients an experienced television reporter or journalist filmmaker to help them tell their story following our proprietary high-integrity brand journalism system. Our transparently priced premium services for businesses and families ensures that each client gets an authentic, high-quality story they own the intellectual property rights on forever.

About Ron Watermon

Ron Watermon is the founder and CEO of STORYSMART, a premium video storytelling technology startup that empowers anyone to have their stories told professionally while ensuring they retain the intellectual property rights on their productions.

A creative and innovative communications leader with nearly three decades of experience, prior to founding STORYSMART to provide Storytelling for all, Ron Watermon was responsible for modernizing the St. Louis Cardinals communications by leading the team’s investment in video storytelling, brand journalism, fan engagement and social media.