How to Use Storytelling to Boost Your Marketing
Let's go through why storytelling is so important in marketing and how you can start telling your own stories with your online activity.
Business is about dealing with people — your company solves problems, successfully alleviates customer pain points, and aims to provide memorable customer experiences. There are a number of ways to communicate these messages to your customers, but storytelling is a powerful - and critical - technique for building relationships. It’s an age-old concept that brings people together and keeps them engaged, whilst humanising your brand.
A story can be many things, but the core purpose of a story is to:
- Entertain
- Invoke an emotion, whether it's delight or sadness
- Be universal and relatable
- Show honesty
- Stick in the memories of the audience
Let's look at an example. Your brand story could include:
- The reason why your company came to be
- What motivates your team to wake up and come to work everyday
- How your product and/or service came to be
- What types of customers find value in working with your brand and why
- A transparent view into the people behind the company
Take a look at the following two examples:
1. We are based in Plymouth and provide the following services:
- Roofing
- Maintenance
- Flooring
- Bathrooms
2. We are a family run business based in Plymouth, established in 2016. We have been best friends for many years, after meeting in the Navy, and pride ourselves on delivering high level services that our customers highly recommend:
- Roofing
- Maintenance
- Flooring
- Bathrooms
Both of the above examples are about the same company but, based on the level of information and insight given, which one would you gravitate towards and build more trust with? The majority would choose the 2nd option, as the company is openly sharing what the brand represents and breathing an element of life into their marketing. Thus forming a deeper connection with their audience. By communicating your services/products, values and customer experiences through a story, you are able to better solidify how it fits into customers’ lives.
How Can You Start Sharing More Stories in Your Marketing?
1. Know your audience
Who wants to hear your story? Finding - and really getting to know and understand - your target audience is the first step for any marketing activity.
2. What do you want to say?
Define your core marketing messages and work from there. What do you want to share with your customers? Examples include your business values, a positive customer experience, how you've overcome and adapted as a business (e.g. a Pandemic...), how you work as a team.
3. Call to Actions
What exactly do you want your audience (aka potential customers) to do after reading? Do you want them to subscribe to a newsletter, buy a product, share your page? Make sure your story lines up with the desired action.
4. How do you want to share your story?
There are many ways to share your story. Examples include:
- Visual (i.e. a series of images)
- Audio (podcasts, Clubhouse app)
- Written (blog post on your website, LinkedIn article)
- Video
When you have decided which medium works best for you and your business, you will need to share your story with the world. Whether it's on your website, facebook page, personal LinkedIn account or on TikTok.
Some of our favourite storytelling moments from brands include:
If you're wanting to boost your marketing efforts, story telling in this way is a great way to capture your audiences attention and build trust. Pretend that you’re talking to a new friend over drinks or coffee when you share posts on social media — not giving an academic presentation.
