It’s common for people to remember a great story, but a great ad? Not so much.

That reality shaped Russmedia’s decision to develop a new product, Story Premium, and during a recent Webinar presented by INMA’s Advertising Initiative, INMA members heard how it has helped increase interest and revenue.

“Eighty percent of people ignore ads, but they spend three minutes reading a story,” said Sara Stiegelmair, head of digital ad sales at Russmedia. That, she said, is “because people don’t remember facts; they remember the stories that touched them.”

Armed with that information, Russmedia brought a new approach to the Austrian market when it introduced the story-driven format at VOL.AT. Blending visuals, vidoes, and text, Story Premium provides a more captivating and engaging way to share advertisers’ messages.

Finding the human element

The process begins with the same approach editorial departments have relied upon since the beginning of time: Find the human angle that connects with audiences.

“We believe that storytelling is the most effective form of marketing. It builds trust, creates closeness and ensures your message stays in people’s mind,” Stiegelmair explained before sharing examples of how these stories have been implemented into advertising.

One such example came from Gleichweit Heilbehelfe, a company that provides solutions such as wheelchairs, beds, and lifts for the mobility-challenged. Instead of a traditional ad, VOL.AT worked with the company to develop a story centred around a young man who had been paralysed.

“He had a ski accident, and he told us how he faced his new reality and fought his way back into life,” Stiegelmair said. “This story touched over 17,000 readers and reached one and a half hours of total attention. That’s about 80 times more than what traditional articles achieve.”

However, it doesn’t necessarily take a powerful, emotional story like that to engage readers, she said, sharing an example of a local food retailer that opened a new location. The retailer wanted to explain the connection between the two locations, and their story also performed well.

“It’s not about the products and the market. It’s about the people behind the business,” she said.

The strength of storytelling

The first Story Premium article went live in October 2023, and in 2024, it published more than 160 stories for 62 clients. The analytics showed just how powerful the approach is.

“On average, our stories reach over 32,000 minutes of attention on one day. That’s like three months of someone working full-time just reading one story,” she said. “Compared to classic articles, that means 43 times more attention, 15 times more readers, and a 16 times higher click-through rate than the normal articles on our platform.”

Story Premium works, Stiegelmair said, because it creates an emotional connection with audiences: “It’s all about the human touch. Real people are real emotional. That’s really what connects with the readers.”

But that’s not the only secret in the sauce; she said local stories fare well because they make audiences feel more connected to their communities and also drive trust.

The way the story is presented makes a big difference, too: “We focus on quotes and strong statements. They make the story more personal, more believable, and more powerful.”

Finally, she said, each story is told in a way that conveys clear value.

“Readers want to know what’s in it for me, so stories that solve everyday problems or offer useful tips really stand out.”

Tested for success

One key to the programme’s success is the constant testing VOL.AT does. Every Story Premium feature is published with at least 10 different teaser versions.

“It’s not just a different headline,” Stiegelmair said. “We test different perspectives because each story has more than one hook and we highlight them.”

Although VOL.AT knows its readers well, the company still doesn’t know what will perform best until it is tested, she said.

Beyond the analytics and test results, one more element stands out for VOL.AT: client feedback. One client expressed surprise at how easy the process was. Another was initially sceptical, but once the story went live, “the phone kept ringing and within two weeks, his calendar was fully booked.”

This is the kind of feedback becoming commonplace for VOL.AT, with many customers appreciating the ease and simplicity of the process. That builds trust, and the end results are hard to argue with.

“In the end, every brand has something unique to say: a purpose, a journey, a face behind the name. As publishers, it’s our role to bring that to life and to turn information into meaning and products into people,” Stiegelmair said.

“Because people don’t connect with ads; they connect with stories.”

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