How do you gauge the success of your stories?

Are you selling? Most storytellers are, aren't they? At the end of the day, whether you're writing a book, a post, or a landing page copy, you're probably looking to sell something. Even if it's just your brand's awareness. If your purpose and goal aren't clear on what that is, you'll probably not be able to gauge how well your story performed. Start from the reader - they're the one that matters here, at the end of the day.

A story without purpose is like a road trip without directions. Hard to navigate, and no one really knows what the hell is going on 🫤 So if you create a story without purpose, you may as well prepare for failure. Your "why" is key. It gives you clear direction, goalposts and objectives. That "why" also allows you to formulate a story that flows, and grabs the emotion of your audience in a way that works towards those goals.

When you're aiming to measure the success of a story, it's essential to define what success means. What are your targets for the story? Specificity is key here. "I want it to resonate" is vague, for example - unless you put in place a strategy for measuring audience resonance. A more helpful approach is to link the story to KPIs (key performance indicators) that are numeric. How many in your target audience engaged with the story? How many leads did the story garner? How many clients did you ultimately sign who measured the story? Stating clear objectives is essential for storytelling success measurability.

Setting the right intention is the key to ensure the right tone and structure can be adopted to craft the story. Why is this story important, how will it help, does it offer new insights or creates a new narrative are some key questions to ponder over while defining the purpose.

Don't tell a story because you have to tell a story. A story serves as a tool to communicate your value and message across. Think of it this way- your purpose is your destination and your mode of transportation is your story. The purpose of the story defines the length and suitability of content.

Selecting metrics to gauge the success of your stories involves aligning objectives with measurable indicators. Choose KPIs such as reach, engagement, and conversion rates based on your goals. Utilize website analytics, social media insights, and sales metrics. Gather qualitative data through surveys and feedback. Consider brand sentiment analysis and monitor long-term impact. Compare metrics with benchmarks and adjust your storytelling strategy iteratively based on insights gained.

There are multiple metrics that can be selected to measure the success of storytelling. My advice here is not to fill an excel file full of them. Choose the top 3 which will give you a measure that is fully aligned to your desired impact.

One of the metrics that has helped understand the impact of the story is when feedback mechanisms are in built in the way the story is structured. One way to do this is to seek feedback and gain information on how the story has helped.

Choosing your metrics early on ensures that you have a defined way of gauging the success of your stories. Doing this early on also can help prevent biases that would choose metrics where you know your story has proven to perform well later on. Ultimately, setting these expectations early allows for more subjective measurements based on what metrics are important for your needs.

Tough but necessary to gauge efficacy of programs and campaigns. Besides surveys, I've found that focussed group discussions and one on one meetings throw up insights and candid feedback. Polls are an easy quick way to measure outcomes. The data points need to be used to chart the way ahead; they're not an end in itself.

Another way I like to see how well my stories are doing is by using AI. It's like having a helper that sifts through all the feedback and numbers for me. I've found that it picks up on how people react to my stories – what parts they like or don't like. It's pretty straightforward; I look at the data the AI gathers, and it shows me if my story is hitting the mark or if there's something I could do better. It's like getting a direct line to my readers' thoughts, which is super handy for tweaking my stories to make sure they really connect.

While storytellers most certainly can be data analysts, consider asking yourself whether the help of a professional (program or person) might be a better idea. If you select this route, collaboration between yourself and the data analyst is essential because of your different perspectives and areas of expertise. Storytelling success is always easiest to measure if you make sure to set your targets in measurable parameters. Then you can quickly identify the components that worked, the components that didn't, and iterate accordingly.

It can be difficult to separate data "from story" from the data you are collecting on other efforts. So how will you know if it's your story that's changing the metrics or something else? In real life, it's difficult to create clean control groups so there's going to be an element of guess work. The best you can do is identify all the obstacles to knowing "the truth" and then try to break them down. When it's not possible, then you can ring fence these as being doubtful. It will depend how important the metrics are to you as to how deep you will investigate. If you are able to create control groups and experiment in separated environments, this can help you establish whether or not it's worth investing in story for your specific objective.

Define Data Collection Methods: Choose appropriate methods based on your selected metrics and objectives. This might include surveys, interviews, focus groups, social media analytics, website analytics, or A/B testing. Determine the frequency, timing, and duration of data collection to ensure consistency. Develop Clear Measurement Parameters: Establish clear criteria for data collection. Define what constitutes success or achievement in each metric. Create benchmarks or baseline data to compare against future results. Use Tools and Technologies: Utilize tools and technologies specific to your chosen data collection methods. For instance, Google Analytics for website traffic

Look at audience engagement beyond the numbers. Engagement metrics like likes, shares, and comments are a great starting point. But I also look deeper into the quality of interactions. Are people asking questions? Are they sharing their own experiences in response? These qualitative insights often tell me more about the story's impact than raw numbers. I also pay attention to the emotional reactions your stories evoke. Comments that indicate a strong emotional response, such as 'This moved me' or 'I needed to hear this today', say more than numbers. Emotional resonance is a key indicator that your story is connecting on a deeper level.

We are essentially in the end all about stories, however we need to be open to improvement as well! It would be immensely helpful it would be if we could have the patience to be open to tweaking the tone, structure and style to ensure great impact of our stories!

Analysing the data from past stories and reflecting on the comments and engagement from the audience, can give valuable insights. Based on this data and feedback you can work on your future storytelling strategies accordingly. You also need to adjust the story as per your audiences interests and needs to ensure it resonates with them.

Based on the data you collect about the performance of your stories, you can always make adjustments and improvements. You can also make notes of what works well and what doesn't with your audience. This can help act as a reference when you're sharing future stories.

I call this the dance, being able to respond, real time, to the audience when in your storytelling moments. This will allow you to take corrective actions and respond accordingly to help shape the progress of your storytelling. Always be open to feedback and data - it will tell its own story - listen to it and respond.

When we shared associate stories on learning, achievements, innovation, work life balance and org culture, we realised some stories resonate with an audience deeper than others. These were stories that were honest, vulnerable, off the beaten track and therefore more relatable. We built on this learning and extended these conversations to leaders as well. And we found that it was rewarding for everyone in org.

Amplify your successes. Share your achievements with your team and stakeholders to celebrate milestones together. Recognition not only boosts morale but also encourages ongoing creativity and innovation in your storytelling efforts.

Everyone wants to be 'seen' -- to be acknowledged, recognised, appreciated. It doesn't always need to be grand gestures (though bonus awards are always welcome) but even simply calling out people in newsletters, audio visual assets, posters, emails, at meetings and personal interactions go a long way in reaffirming their stories. People need to realise that this is a win win situation...inspires team mates, builds a high performer's personal brand, and underline org culture

Share the success of your stories with your team, stakeholders, or audience. Celebrate milestones, achievements, and positive outcomes to foster morale and motivation. Recognize and reward individuals or teams involved in creating and executing successful stories.

While celebrating the wins is important, it is equally helpful if one can debrief on what worked and what could have been done better and also understand which mediums, channels aligned with the key messages.

Stories are all about the number of times they are told and retold.. we all have enjoyed stories told to us by our grandparents. They never learnt the art and finesse of storytelling however we were always intrigued and mesmerised by them.. and each time you hear someone else sharing the same story.. it's a moment of celebration!

My favourite metric is silence. If your audience falls silent after your story and you can make out that they are thinking about what you've just told them, then you can be reasonably certain that your story resonated with them.

"Ukrainian Red Cross implements Salesforce technology in 4 weeks, but scales their fundraising by $188m, resulting in 4 million people receiving aid" ^^ True story Using metrics, ROI, actual data which shows the before and after, or the size of the problem/solution is always going to make your story stand out, be counted as 'THE' story to think of, and also push all the other stories down the 'memorable' list. When you marry data and storytelling together, that's when the magic happens.... "Ukrainian Red Cross implements Salesforce technology in 4 weeks, but scales their fundraising by $188m, resulting in 4 million people receiving aid" Sticks in your mind doesn't it?

El éxito de las historias de mide en el número de latidos. Para mí la emoción que despierte un relato es lo más importante. Que quieran más y que sientan que de alguna forma tu narrativa también les pertenece.

To gauge success it is important to go back to the impact that you have laid out in your storytelling process. If your outcome was to persuade ... then make sure you measure the success against this. If it was to educate, then don't evaluate success based on sales conversion.

How do you gauge the success of your stories? By looking at whether they achieve what you set out for them to do. Every story's got a goal, see if it does the job and how well it does it.