How to make ‘serious’ stories shareableNovember 2013

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Can “serious” stories do well on social media?

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We reviewed 809 stories from the Local Stories Project.

One-by-one, we examined all 809 stories and labeled them either fun or serious.

What do we mean by “fun” and “serious”?

What we did

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Fun and serious, defined

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Highlight something unusual, quirky, or funny.

Offer people a break in the day to laugh or to have a discussion about their city.

Fun stories

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Have real-life implications.

Help people stay aware of the news that matters to them.

Serious stories

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How we measure success:

Of the unique people who see each post, what percentage like it, share

it, or comment on it?

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Stations are creating as many fun stories as serious stories

Of the 809 stories, 53 percent were serious and 47 percent were

fun.

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Serious stories were just as successful as fun stories

The percentage of people who liked, shared, or commented was the same for both serious and fun stories – about 1 percent of those

who saw the posts interacted with them.

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Top serious stories were shared just as much as top fun stories

When looking at the top 50 stories, the percentage of people who liked, shared, or commented

was 3 percent — the same for both serious and fun stories.

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Case studies

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Case studies

Find it here:

bit.ly/1e1xxQT

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Case studies

“Craft a top-notch headline that plays up the controversy or tension in the story.”

-Emilie Ritter Saunders, Boise State Public Radio

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Case studies

Find it here:

bit.ly/1apqy2v

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Case studies

“Ultimately, I think the key to making people share is if they see the story affecting them personally. Facebook is a personal network, after all.”

-Katrina Schwartz, KQED

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Case studies

Find it here:

bit.ly/1co7u4c

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Case studies

“There's always more people to reach, and not everyone is going to absorb our longer form stories, but many people will - as you know - gravitate toward something that provides the "take home" messages quickly.”

-Mark Brush, Michigan Radio

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Case studies

Find it here:

bit.ly/1i9Hv5m

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Case studies

“Why would I (or a person in a group I want to reach) click on this story or share it? Answer that question and use your results to guide what you use”

-Kelsey Proud, St. Louis Public Radio

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Case studies

Find it here:

bit.ly/1bDzb98

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More

Find these stories here:bit.ly/serious-case-studies

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More

Advice from stations: n.pr/station-serious-advice

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5 questions for making serious-but-shareable content

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What’s the headline?

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What’s the headline?

• Write a headline first — before you begin crafting your story.

• The headline should be a simple, straightforward, specific promise about what the story’s about.

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What is your approach to telling the story?

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What is your approach to telling the story?

• What’s the best way to convey the story? Whatever you decide, get to the point right away and make the piece easy to understand.

• Charts, images, videos or other visuals can be helpful, but only incorporate them if it’s useful to the audience.

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How will this be different?

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How will this be different?

• Cut through the noise. A lot of media might be covering the story, but how can you differentiate yourself?

• What can you add to the story?

• Advance the story: What are the next questions people will ask?

• Create an explainer.

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Why will people share it?

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Why will people share it?

• Imagine someone coming across your story online — what will make them take the next step to share it?

• Will it make them happy, sad, curious, enraged, informed or intrigued?

• If it leaves your audience with no reason to interact, you’ve missed something.

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What’s next?

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What’s next?

• Don’t ignore the story after it’s published.

• Compile the metrics.

• Take a look at the comments and shares to learn how people felt about the story. This should inform future coverage.

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Print the 5 questions: http://bit.ly/serious-

checklist

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This webinar and more info: n.pr/shareable-serious

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Questions?eathas@npr.org | @ericathastgorman@npr.org | @gteresa

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This webinar and more info: n.pr/shareable-serious

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This webinar and more info: n.pr/shareable-serious