Infographic: Social Media for Brands is All About the Story

Yahoo!/BBDO study illustrates the importance of storytelling in social media

At Social Media Week 2012 in New York City last week, Yahoo! Director of Market Research Edwin Wong presented findings from the Yahoo!/BBDO study, "What's Your Story." This elegantly illustrated study showcases how today's media landscape requires brands to engage consumers on a level far deeper than the traditional "price, product attributes and proof points" model, which dominated when brand communication was only a one-way street.

In today's ultra-connected world, brands need to develop relationships with their consumers, and, as the study suggests, one of the best ways to do that is through storytelling. Brands that take advantage of their paid, owned and earned media to engage consumers with a consistent story can successfully convert everyday customers into loyal advocates.

The graphic above shows the discrepancy between how consumers and marketers value storytelling. Price, product and attributes are merely the cost-of-entry nowadays. The research shows that consumers want to experience brands more fully—knowing a brand's history and details, plus its interesting stories, with an eye toward creating shared brand experiences with their friends and fellow consumers.

Learn more about how to tell your story across paid, earned and owned media here. To find out how you can better tell your story and woo consumers, contact a Yahoo! representative.

More lessons from Social Media Week 2012:

• "Top Three Trends in Social Media for 2012"

• "Sharing the Oscars"

• "Social Media, Super Bowl XLVI and Yahoo!'s Social Bar"

• "5 Tips for Marketers from Social Media Week 2012"

• "Social Media Tips from the Obama Campaign"

• "Yahoo! and ABC News Partnership is "Transformative""

• "Social Bar and the Future of Social on Yahoo!"

— Michael Mattis