How do you make your stories work on all platforms?

Choose one platform and get really good at sharing a story on that one first. Really understand where your clients are, and how they will be viewing/listening to your content. Invite the audience to use their imagination. Be clear on your purpose.

Understanding who you are telling your story to is vital, and this will vary dependant on the channel. While it is common practice to segment the People in your storytelling, it is super important to remember that they are all individuals ... we are all unique. So try not to over segment them.... not everyone is going to engage with all of your storytelling, and that's OK.

Making my stories work across all platforms has been a strategic endeavor. I begin by tailoring each story to fit the unique characteristics of the platform while keeping a consistent core message. For LinkedIn, I focus on leadership insights and professional growth, presenting stories that resonate with career-driven audiences. On social media, I distill the essence into engaging, bite-sized content with eye-catching visuals. For longer formats, like blogs, I dive deeper into the narrative, offering richer details and reflections. This approach ensures my stories not only reach but also impact diverse audiences effectively. Looking ahead, this adaptability will continue to enhance my storytelling’s reach & influence across all platforms.

I also try to always think about what the audience *needs* on that specific platform. That may mean that I change the lede or the key message slightly to ensure they get the message.

Coming from the games industry, I've contributed to stories on mobile, PC, console, web, podcast — each with its unique audience and unique needs. On mobile, you're competing for attention. You keep things short, sweet, and breadcrumbed so as to draw the player back for the next session. On PC/console, you've got time to let the story breathe. You're entering into a fairly safe assumption that the player is sitting down for an extended period of time, and so you can allow the story to unfold at a slower pace. On web, players come for more — longer form stories, videos, extended universe content. You can break form from the common formats of video game storytelling. Audio relies on descriptive texture, theatre of the mind, rich detail.

You do not need to be active on every social media platform and medium, especially if you're a lean team or a team of one. Select where to share your stories based on your audience, your message, and how YOU feel most comfortable showing up. If you're a writer at heart and you feel uncomfortable on video, lean into blogs, newsletters, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other text-focused platforms to share your stories.

Again, it ties back to the intended audience. You will want to choose a platform where at least one segment of your intended audience is active.

The same content can be reused as well on various platforms. For example a blog can be converted into a podcast, a long video and even carousels. The content needs to be curated as per the platform. On one platform visuals work better while at another place text only content could work better.

Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts offer possibilities for short-form storytelling that is appropriate for quick attention and reaching a broad audience. Conversely, audio storytelling is ideal for entertaining audiences on the go. Podcasts or audio actings allow for a more personal experience, leveraging voice, sound effects, and music to sweeten the narrative. It's perfect for creating an emotive bond with listeners. Also, another way is traditional print books or digital e-books offer a traditional and universal platform for storytelling. So, choose what works for you and you are comfortable with.

Games that try to be available on every platform face some competing interests — if you're trying to bring the high-fidelty, long-form storytelling of PC/console to mobile, you're going to face challenges. Screen size, session length, input and dexterity, to name a few. Those environmental storytelling details that were huge and obvious on the big screen of PC/console might be minuscule and missable on mobile. That quick-time story event that a button press could tackle on PC/console might pose challenges on a small touchscreen. If you're endeavouring to be cross-platform, you'll need to build your game from the ground up with these variations between form factors in mind.

Fazer uma história funcionar em diferentes plataformas exige adaptação. Recentemente, ao lidar com a comunicação de um projeto, ficou claro que cada canal demanda um formato único. No blog, foi essencial usar títulos e subtítulos claros, enquanto em vídeos, as transições e a música trouxeram dinamismo. A chave é respeitar o estilo e o tom de cada plataforma, sempre mantendo a essência da história, sem perder o foco no público. Assim, ela permanece eficaz, seja onde for contada.

Understand your audience on each platform. Who are you trying to target? What kind of language resonates with them? If you’re telling a story, figure out how you’re going to reach your audience. Is it a video, caption, carousel? Figure out how your voice will translate on each platform.

This also means you may want to "serialize" your story for some shorter-form platforms, whereas on a blog, you can publish quite lengthy pieces all in one go.

Adapt your stories to fit each platform's language and features, making sure they sparkle wherever they go. Making your stories shine on all platforms is like being a chameleon of content. Mold your content to match what people like on each spot. Quick and snappy for social media, more chit-chat for blogs, and flashy visuals for Instagram. Adjust your style like you're changing outfits. Stay flexible with your format; it's like rocking different hairstyles for different moods. Basically, you're the storyteller who slays on every digital stage!

Be format flexible. Adapt your story to fit the format of each platform. A blog post might become a series of tweets on X or an infographic on Instagram. The essence of your story remains the same, but the format changes to suit the platform.

However, be careful not to expect your audience to always change platforms to 'follow' your story. Give them the "payoff" on the platform where they are, and also offer additional context.

A.Leverage cross-platform strategies to optimize your stories across channels. Employ teasers, trailers, summaries, or snippets to promote your content on one platform and guide users to another for the complete story. Utilize hashtags, keywords, or calls to action to prompt audience interaction, encouraging sharing and comments on various platforms. This approach enhances reach, engagement, and loyalty by seamlessly connecting your audience with your stories across different channels, creating a cohesive and impactful storytelling experience.Z

Without experimenting and testing different things, it’s impossible to find which type of content is resonating with the audience. There’s no one size that fits all. Understanding the data and analytics can help in building further content strategy accordingly.

A.Testing and optimizing your content is crucial for ensuring the effectiveness of your stories across platforms. Different metrics on various platforms provide insights into performance and impact. For social media, evaluate views, likes, comments, and shares, while podcasts may benefit from assessing downloads, ratings, reviews, or subscriptions. Qualitative feedback through surveys, polls, or interviews further refines your understanding. Utilize the collected data to enhance and tailor your stories, making them more appealing and effective across all platforms based on audience preferences and engagement.Z

Adding to the 'test and optimize' recommendation, I will add "don't be afraid to try new things". You never know what might happen if you take a bit of a risk to try something new. In all cases, you will learn something from it.

You can follow these easy steps that have worked for me and the brands I have worked with. 1. Consistent messaging- Now make sure your message stays consistent. Don't contradict yourself to please people, (especially if they aren't your target audience) 2. Adaptation for each platform- Tailor your brand story to fit the specific format and audience. ex- Yout might have a slow start in a blog, but you would start with a hook in Twitter/X. 3. Visual Cohesion- You can use the same colour, fonts and imagery. 4. Interaction- Encourage interaction in every platform. Comment! Subscribe? Upvote, or whatever it is. 5. Analytics and feedback- In the end, you would only know your customers when you listen to them so stay ready to iterate.

Motives of people active on a variety of platforms might be different, but they all are same. They are human. Write stories for humans, that's all you'll require.

Leverage Platform Strengths. Different platforms have different strengths—visual, textual, or interactive. Use these to your advantage. E.g. Use Instagram Stories or Reels for quick, engaging video snippets, LinkedIn for in-depth articles or professional updates, and Twitter for real-time updates and conversations.

To make stories work on all platforms, we must first understand that each platform caters to different kind of audience. Therefore it is necessary to alter our stories according to the tastes of the audience depending on the platform where we present the story. We must let go of the one-size-fit-all approach and be ready to adapt.