Storyteller: Add Stories to Your App or Website - Stories as a Service

The Rise of "Stories as a Service" with Storyteller

The “Stories” format, initially popularized by Snapchat and subsequently adopted by Instagram, has become a ubiquitous feature within contemporary mobile applications. Its integration extends beyond social media, appearing in platforms like Google Search, Pinterest, and various streaming services. Despite LinkedIn and Twitter discontinuing their Stories features, significant market demand persists.

Recognizing this demand, a company named Storyteller has established a successful business model centered around providing “stories as a service.” This allows app developers and website owners to easily incorporate the Stories functionality without extensive coding or complex setup procedures.

From Twibbon to Storyteller: The Origins

Storyteller’s origins trace back to Storm Ideas, a specialist entertainment agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 2009 by Bob Thomson, the agency initially gained traction with Twibbon, an early tool for customizing online profile images.

Over the past decade, Storm Ideas has evolved into a 70-person organization, offering comprehensive strategy, design, development, and content creation services to clients within the sports and entertainment sectors.

The agency’s growth was further fueled by platforms like HailTo, designed for distributing social assets to talent, expanding their customer base and identifying further opportunities.

Storyteller emerged from a recurring client need: the desire to implement a Stories feature but facing significant technical hurdles.

Addressing Implementation Challenges

Thomson explains that companies, particularly those in the U.S. media landscape, often struggled with the practical aspects of Stories integration. They faced the need to develop user interfaces for multiple platforms – Android, iOS, and web – and construct a robust backend infrastructure.

Crucially, they often overlooked the necessity of content management tools to effectively manage and track the performance of their Stories content.

Storyteller aims to replicate the success of companies like Braze in the realm of push notifications. Instead of building a Stories solution from scratch, businesses can integrate Storyteller’s SDK into their existing applications.

Early Adoption and Growth

Hallmark was Storyteller’s first client, leveraging the service within its Hallmark Movie Checklist app to deliver updates on new releases and featured content to its substantial user base.

Following a successful launch in 2019, Storyteller expanded its offerings to other agency clients, steadily increasing its reach and impact.

Now operating as a distinct entity, Storyteller serves millions of users across numerous apps in the sports and entertainment industries, though specific client names remain confidential.

Expanding Client Base and Future Plans

“We’re into the double figures in terms of those big enterprise-type implementations,” Thomson states, highlighting the company’s progress.

Storyteller is now focused on broadening its appeal to medium-sized businesses, offering more self-service options and a streamlined approach to implementation.

Currently, the company primarily serves clients in the sports and media sectors, excluding those seeking user-generated content features.

Content Creation and Analytics

Storyteller provides clients with a backend system for creating Stories, enabling them to upload and preview images, videos, and polls. Content can be categorized, scheduled for publication, and tracked through comprehensive analytics.

A new studio component is under development, designed to simplify content creation for smaller companies lacking dedicated design teams and professional tools like Photoshop or Adobe After Effects.

This feature will offer customizable templates, enhancing Storyteller’s appeal to a wider range of clients.

Pricing and Funding

Storyteller offers a tiered pricing structure, ranging from free plans for apps with up to 25,000 monthly active users to $849-per-month plans for apps reaching up to one million users. Enterprise pricing is available for larger organizations.

The company has been self-funded through agency profits, Thomson’s personal investment, and early client revenue.

A core team of 30 individuals from Storm Ideas has been dedicated to the project, and Storyteller continues to expand its team independently. Clients requiring content production assistance are referred back to the parent agency.

Beyond Stories: A Platform for Storytelling

While not actively seeking funding, Storyteller remains open to potential investment opportunities, given its long-term vision extends beyond the “Stories” format itself.

“We’ve built a platform with key components – SDKs for major platforms, APIs for backend communication, and a CMS for authoring and scheduling,” explains Thomson.

Having overcome the initial technical challenges – security, privacy, and analytics – Storyteller is poised to support additional formats, such as vertical video.

The increasing adoption of vertical video by platforms like Netflix and within the sports and media landscape presents a significant opportunity for expansion.

A Team Built for Success

“Storyteller may be a new product, but the leadership team behind it is anything but,” Thomson emphasizes. “We have gathered together an exceptional team of experienced and driven people to make this product the best that it can be.”

With a strong track record in serving the sports and entertainment industries, the Storyteller team is well-positioned to deliver “Stories as a service” to businesses of all sizes.