It is a magical time for storytelling. New technologies are helping us push the boundaries of what is possible. And while many of those looking to the future see even more opportunity ahead, others are feeling overwhelmed—or even fearful that storytelling will be yet another task outsourced to the bots.
In my role as a content strategist, I’ve seen people on both sides of this. Sometimes I find myself on both sides of it. Which is why, when we put out a call to SoDA members for articles on the role of storytelling in creating modern web experiences, I wasn’t sure what we would get back. But when the ideas started coming in, I was amazed by the quality and clarity of thinking from the SoDA community.
Nikita D’souza from Kulfi Collective summed it up perfectly in his article: “storytelling is what ties the increasingly complex elements of the modern web experience together.”
In this report we’ll explore those complex elements, what factors need to be considered when telling stories today, and how our storytelling is impacted by both evolving technology and customer expectations.
Whether it’s about using immersive storytelling to deepen a customer’s connection with a single brand, or—as Cole Sullivan from Array of Stars writes—using the web as a connective layer that gives people access to an “ecosystem of experiences across physical, digital, and spatial dimensions,” the possibilities are endless.
Of course, in a world of endless possibilities, sometimes we also need to get back to basics and ask ourselves, what does a good story do?
Holding on to the core elements of storytelling while trying to account for consistency across all possible customer touchpoints is a real challenge. And with customer expectations evolving to include authentic, personalized experiences at every step of their journey, agencies are being asked to map entry points to stories at a scale previously unseen.
Ultimately, as Douglas Ross & Elliott Grigg from August write, effective modern storytelling “is about successfully identifying and catering for the many narratives people may expect or want when interacting with a brand."
What does that look like in practice? I hope you’ll read on to find out.
Josh Brentan
Content Strategist, Wix Studio
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Josh Brentan is a content strategist for Wix Studio, and served as guest editor for this edition of SoDA Report On. He has led the creation of positioning and messaging for several new business verticals at Wix, and is part of the leadership group spearheading the AI transformation effort within Wix’s marketing team.