“They are talking! If you are not out there telling your story, they will make one up for you. And that will inevitably become reality.”
Isn’t this thought moving enough to take control of our stories before someone else does and be the talk of the town in the way we aspire to be?
You might be craving to know why stories are gaining a lot of recognition these days notably in marketing. The answer is- Stories make messages pass more naturally and easily. If you are crafting your brand story, explicate what your voice is, what your values are, why you do what you do, what you stand for, how much you and your dear audience mean to each other, and witness the response in no time. That is how the charm of stories works.
When you tell a story, one of the major objectives is increasing sales but it is not done directly, the approach needs to be creative and subtle. Things that should get reflected on the surface are- (i) your willingness to fulfill the needs of your audience (ii) your attempt to address and respond to their queries. This way engaging on an emotional level becomes easy and the underlying objective i.e. marketing gets accomplished.
Storytelling is also a means of writing and creating content, by uniting personal and real narratives to the brand narrative. Good storytelling is making use of these most important elements-
- Customer: The main character in your brand story is not you, is never you, it’s your customer! Your ideal customer is the reason behind the success of your brand, appreciate this preciousness in your stories.
- What you stand for: Your very core beliefs. The essence of your brand. It’s what drives your business, and it differentiates you from your competitors.
- Values: The quality attributes of your company that motivates your audience to be loyal.
And once you are done with the story creation, do not take the importance of “tapping the most effective medium” for granted. Though any medium can be used to tell a story, it’s important to understand that each medium has different types of audiences. The extraction of reaction from people is different in the case of different mediums. The realization that where your ideal customer is present, is vital. Also, your story must be tailored to suit the medium in which you are going to publish it. A tailor-made story is something that is genuine and addresses the concerns of the masses. It’s not about sharing stories; it is much about caring and manifesting an honest caring nature in your stories.
The ABCDE of storytelling is- Applying authenticity, Being bold, Creating connections, Driving-to-action, Encouraging Emotions. This is what storytelling is all about.
Final words-
There is an art to storytelling.
The exceptional gift to our generation i.e., Technology has enabled us to understand our customers in a better way, their buying patterns, and the human emotions that trigger these buying patterns. Stories are emerging as a way to influence the mindset and creating much better tactics for selling a product or service. You can weave a story as per your understanding of customer’s behavior.
Remember, storytelling is here to stay and it is stretching its potential to prove its worth in helping companies in nurturing their customer relationships and growing their business relationships.
