Ep. 89: The Best Platforms for Your Story

Heya, storytellers! Have you ever wondered what the best platform is for your story? With so many new and trending platforms out there, it can be difficult to determine which one is best suited for you. On this episode of The Storytelling Lab, wonder no more! Rain goes over all the newest (and oldest) platforms and shares his experience with each of them.

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If you tell a great story and no one is around to hear it, does it still make an impact?

No. Of course not.

Storytelling is a two-way street. A “pas de deux” (dance for two) between the storyteller and the story-listener. It is a collaboration and doesn’t work if there is no audience.

This is what you need to be thinking about before you even start your story because it’s just as important as the story itself. Content creation is nothing without execution and distribution.

But the problem (or at least ONE of the problems) is: there seem to be a million platforms and a new one pops up every day that’s the “best new thing!”

How are you supposed to know where to be and on how many platforms should you be posting on overall?

Well for that, I have three simple rules for you to consider:

1. Go where your audience is.

Become part of the community you seek to serve. The key word in social media is “social”! Engage and build real relationships. Listen to them. Learn what they are struggling with and what you could offer them to solve those problems. Then spend your time on the platforms that yield the best results.

2. Each of your platforms should have its own theme.

People use different social media for different things and expect different content. And certain content works well on some platforms but not others. You have to find the right recipe for you. For example, my TikTok is “Quick storytelling tips to apply to your strategy immediately.” and it’s about 90% storytelling tips with 5% motivation and 5% personal life.

My Instagram is about “Lessons learned from life’s experiences.” and it’s about 40% personal life, 20% work, 20% storytelling tips and 20% motivation. But remember, just because a piece of content works well on one platform doesn’t mean it will on another platform

3. Post native content on each platform.

Don’t post something with the intention of taking someone off a platform (eg. a Youtube video on Facebook or a link to your blog on Twitter). The platforms hate that (obviously they want you to stay there) and they will not promote your content. Instead, find creative ways to post your message natively in the format that works best on that platform.

For example, instead of posting that blog on Twitter, post the main message as a Tweet! Or better yet, since the blog was probably 300-800 words, use it to post several Tweets!

4. BONUS TIP: (I mixed up Rule 3 in the podcast haha):

Make sure all your platforms work together and circle around the core of your brand -- you! They should be slightly different, like we said in Rule 2, but not so different that they aren’t aligned with your brand. But if you’re good, you can make people go from your Tik Tok, to your website, to your newsletter, to your customer base.

Just think about how all your platforms are tied together and make sure you are driving your community somewhere.

In today’s show, I break down what platforms work best for me and which ones I think you should use and how to optimize them.

But overall please know that growth takes time and you can’t get there by trying to be everywhere at the same time. Realistically consider what you can do consistently. That’s how you get long term growth, so make your daily content goals smaller so you can hit them every single day.

Focus less on “vanity metrics” such as likes and views, and more on growing your community, creating and encouraging conversations, and (most of all) conversions.

Your ultimate goal should be to get them off the platform they’re on and into your inbox.

Make connections, build community, create new clients.

Peace and Love,

Rain

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