Using Storytelling to Increase Business

Do you love to tell stories? Are you usually the life of the party with your exciting tales of adventures and success?

Have you ever thought about going into marketing…?

I recently had an ex-colleague/good friend of mine reach out to me because they were unsure of where their future would/could take them and were looking for some advice.

First of all, I was VERY honored that this person thought of me.

Second of all, this person is an incredible storyteller who has made a successful career out of telling great stories to people on broadcast television for about 5 years.

This wasn’t enough though. This person has so much more potential than what was being used and they were ready to make a change.

With such a strong background in telling compelling stories, finding that next chapter in this persons life would be easier than they originally thought.

So they are good at telling stories, who cares…?

I will tell you who cares, marketing companies, ad agencies, and large corporations that want to get their name out there!

Traditional marketing has taken a back seat to this new and exciting world of content marketing that we live in today.

Today’s marketing professionals primarily focus on putting out “content” that will get results and engage viewers. A majority of this content is written, whether it be by social media posts, blogging, email blasts, or even script writing for web videos.

Writing is a very powerful tool, but even more powerful, the art of storytelling!

Think about it, when we are listening to someone spout off facts about something we could care less about, it becomes VERY easy to shut our brains off and completely tune them out.

BUT if that same person with that same piece of info turns their lecture into a series of stories that link back to the topic at hand, we are much more apt to listen and follow along. A great story will grab someones attention from the beginning and keep people engaged. You would be surprised how many every day “life lessons” can be relate-able to just about any topic to make a point.

Here’s a quick example to give you an idea of what I mean.

"I was heading into work the other morning when I came upon a large snapping turtle right in the middle of the road. This little fella was about to be turtle soup if I didn’t do something! I got out of my vehicle, grabbed a long stick, a really long stick, and poked at the turtle until he was safely at the other side of the road. I hopped back in my vehicle and continued to work. I later found myself thinking about my new little "friend" from the morning. That turtle was determined. That turtle was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him. This creature was willing to take the biggest risk of all, it’s own life, in order to attain it’s goal and get to the other side of the road. So whats stopping us from reaching "the other side of the road"? What roadblocks are in our way? Just remember, that little turtle risked it’s life. Is there really anything riskier than that? We all have goals and dreams, but sometimes it means taking a few risks to reach the other side."

I leave you with these few questions to ask yourself when creating stories in the content marketing world.

1. What is the story and narrative behind everything you do as a brand, ranging from what you stand for to the reason why you developed solution X or decided to support ‘good cause Y’?
2. How do you actually connect with people in the language they understand best: the language they can “visualize” in a story-like context?
3. What types of stories appeal to your content marketing “personas” or target audience?