Now is the time to start telling your good news story

The story of COVID-19 has dominated our lives for some time now.

That’s totally understandable. It’s difficult to imagine another event that might present such a challenge for our health and economic systems and, indeed, the way we live.

But as states and territories across Australia (and countries around the world) cautiously start to move out of lockdown, it’s time to think about some more optimistic stories.

Audiences, it’s fair to suggest, have lost some of the initial curiosity that saw them consume all things COVID-19 after the onset of the pandemic. Sure, they still need to get important updates for health and business reasons, but they are also starting to look beyond coronavirus content.

Which makes it a perfect time for businesses to again start thinking about telling their good news stories!

Engaging ways to share your good news

• Those stories might be about long-term projects or goals that were put on hold during the pandemic but which you can again start planning for and working towards (even with a postponed completion date).
• It could be a profile of a staff member who has a unique or inspiring story to tell – either in words or on video – or an outline of a charitable or community-related initiative that your company or a team member has undertaken.
• Don’t underestimate the historical story of your company itself. You might not think the origins and milestones of your business are particularly noteworthy but, trust me, everyone has a story of their own and now, more than ever, there are really interesting and interactive ways of telling it.
• An engaging and visually rich storytelling mode we’re using increasingly with clients is the interactive timeline.

The timeline above demonstrates the impact of COVID-19 around the world but with a little bit of imagination it’s easy to see how the same basic concept could be applied to narratives that are far more “feelgood” in nature.

Really, imagination is all that might be stopping you telling a cracker of a story about your business at a time when audiences are crying out for it.

Provided you’ve got somewhere to publish it (your website or a blog) and a way to promote it (ideally social media or a newsletter), the potential reach is pretty much limitless.

More Cannings Purple news:

• The 268 wins major international communications award
• The 268 Podcast: why do I really need a website?
• How data visualisation has helped us understand the pandemic