10 spellbinding examples of social media storytelling

This article originally ran in 2019 and is part of our annual countdown of the most-viewed stories from PR Daily.

Telling vivid, compelling stories on social media is a great way to increase engagement, brand affinity and sales.

When social media first hit the scene, many companies viewed it as just another advertising outlet. As a result, posts were almost always blatantly promotional:

Here’s a blurry photo of my product along with all the reasons you should buy it right now.

Now, it’s less about pushy promotions and slick sales messages and more about establishing relationships, telling great stories and eliciting emotional responses from your followers.

How do the best companies do that? Here are 10 fine examples:

1. Dove’s DermaSeries

Anyone who struggles with eczema, psoriasis or dry skin knows how troublesome and sensitive those conditions can be. Dove markets its DermaSeries line in a low-key fashion, offering online snapshots and stories of real customers who’ve benefited from its products.

Dove shares stories that are uplifting, encouraging and empathetic—and never salesy.