Media Mavens: In conversation with Chantaie
By bringing storytelling into all of her work with creators and entrepreneurs, Chantaie Allick is able to extract the unique attributes of brands so they can grow and be shared with others.
This passion goes beyond the workday for Chantaie - it has become a mission to share this love of storytelling, and the skills of how to share it, with others. She uses her newsletter, Adventures in Storytelling, as well as her social media channels, to connect with her audience on both a deep level and with lightness, depending on the day’s story. What does all of Chantaie’s content have in common? That content in and of itself is at its core.
We chatted with Chantaie about how she weaves storytelling into her work, what made her decide to share her knowledge, and how she plans (or sometimes doesn’t) for her content.
Cleo: You describe yourself as a storyteller. How does telling stories fit in with your work preparing brands to take their place in the world?
Chantaie: The best marketing is storytelling and brands are the foundations for some of the best storytelling in marketing. More often than not, my work is about helping my clients uncover their unique stories and how best to share them with the world. Defining their brands is an essential element of that process. Specifically, I help clients understand and share their brand stories, which is all about knowing what they stand for, who they help and identifying the core elements of building the stories, associations, and experiences that define a strong brand and engage loyal audiences (aka customers).
Cleo: Why did you decide to start your newsletter, Adventures in Storytelling? How has your adventure been since starting it and what has the reception been?
Chantaie: I truly believe in the power of stories to connect people and create shared experiences between them. The newsletter started after I read back on emails I sent to friends and family while travelling and missing that light voice and easy way of sharing my passion with people. Adventures in Storytelling started out as me wanting to share what I’ve learned about storytelling through my career as a journalist turned brand strategist and business owner in a similar fashion. It has continued to be a resource for my readers to learn the skills they need to be storytellers in their lives, careers, and businesses but has also become an opportunity for me to further explore the power and impact of stories of all kinds. It has in the process become a magical way for me to connect with people I might never have met and share ideas with and learn from them even as I’m focused on teaching.
Cleo: As marketers, we know how important building an audience is - and that includes for ourselves! Your focus on Twitter is a perfect platform for storytelling - what kind of community have you been able to build through your newsletter and social media channels?
Chantaie: This is strangely a topic I’m especially passionate about because I believe there’s nothing more important to the growth and success of a small or medium sized business (which are the clients I choose to work with most) than a robust and engaged audience. And the most valuable audience they have is on their email list because that is a direct and owned channel for engagement and communication. I think of social channels as supplements to that, only because you don’t own your followers in the same way you own your email list. Over the years I’ve come to think of my social community as an extension of my list, folks who engage with my work in a different way than those who choose to have a weekly conversation with me via my newsletter. This is an equally important way of connecting and engaging with other storytellers and business owners. My newsletter readers want to dive in and spend time with ideas and tips around storytelling and my followers on social media (I think) are more interested in the shorter sharing that happens on Twitter (and Instagram though I’m less active/invested there professionally). The best though is when I encounter someone across any of these channels who didn’t know me, but engaged with me and learned something that helped shift their perspective or approach to their work, life, or business and invite more storytelling into it.
Cleo: How do you plan your newsletter and social media content? What do you use as inspiration to come up with ideas?
Chantaie: I wish I could say it was more planned than it is. I generally have a content calendar for my newsletter that has topics listed for the next three months. More often than not though, something else is tickling my brain that I want to share right away so I push the planned topic out and focus on the thing that I think readers will find most interesting or feels most relevant. For example, if it’s a heavy week in the news, I may try to counterbalance with something lighter than what I may have had planned. And I’m constantly looking for examples or ways of helping people understand storytelling in their lives whether in books or articles I read or shows I watch. Storytelling is a HUGE topic that has so many interesting tangents and I’m constantly exploring them in my work and free time and picking up the things I think are most interesting, then trying to simplify them in a way that makes them shareable. As soon as an idea or the inkling of an idea comes to me I add it to my plan - though I may not turn back to it for weeks or months when something else re-sparks the idea. I use my calendar more as a backup than as a strict plan, which I know is almost blasphemous in the world of social. My Twitter is almost always things I come across in the moment that I want to share with folks who I think may be interested. For me, Instagram is about sharing newsletter content and anything I deem uplifting or inspiring.
Cleo: What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to social media?
Chantaie: Being consistent with posting. I tell all my clients and readers that consistency is essential if you want to build a brand, but I’m better at helping others than helping myself. I spend more of my time writing and working with clients than on my own channels. I’d rather be helping someone than agonizing over the exact right content for my social channels. I’d probably feel differently about it if more of my business relied on my social presence. Right now if my social media feels like me enough that a stranger gets a good sense of who this woman/marketer/writer who’s obsessed with storytelling is all about (and it drives you to sign up for my newsletter) then I’m happy with it.
Cleo: What advice would you give to a marketing professional about growing their audience?
Chantaie: Two things. First, be helpful. Your job as a marketer is to engage folks with content or information or stories that add value (and, if you’re lucky, meaning) to their lives. Stories and experiences that help them in some way. The second is consistency. Not just in posting, but in tone and timing and the value you add. I don’t miss a week with my newsletter and when I’m going to, it’s planned in advance and communicated to my readers. I also remind myself of the intent of my newsletter before I write a new one each week so that I deliver on the promise I make to folks who sign up for the newsletter (tips, tools, and resources from one writer’s adventures in storytelling). Both of those things demand that you clearly define and then articulate your brand and its purpose in the world.
Cleo: And a fun one to finish off, what’s your favourite way to take a break from work!?
Chantaie: I play. This is something I’ve struggled with in the past and that led to burnout. So I make play a priority now. Play feeds my creativity, curiosity, passion, and makes me a better writer, storyteller, and brand builder. I take most Fridays off and dedicate those days to creative exploration in some way. It can be reading, watching movies or tv, doing a puzzle, colouring, baking, or going for a wander around the city. It is decidedly not productive and work is not allowed in for the day. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of kids books and highly recommend adults dive into them again if you just need an easy way to take your head out of the everyday. They’re almost always wonderful, fun stories.