I think it is pretty clear if you have been following along with me that I believe “storytelling” to be one of the most powerful and compelling ways to connect with your audience. It is where you establish the seeds of trust in a way that you are viewed as a go-to authority, the number one stop on the way to whatever journey the client is ready to embark on.
So when I was cruising through my daily learnings today, I came across this blip of information that deserves to be FAR more than a blip.
Your content is 22 times more likely to be remembered If you incorporate storytelling.
Can we just have a moment of “WOW” here? Think about that. It isn’t just a pie in the sky theory, it is an approach that works. And I say “approach” and not “tactic” because if you are going to utilize storytelling in your marketing, it MUST truly be something you are on board with. It involves sharing yourself, your hero journeys (you and your clients), your stumbles, your wins, your whys, the transparency of what has brought you to where you are and how that can serve your clients. Audiences want to connect in a human to human way, and storytelling allows that.
Our brains are literally WIRED to remember the stories we are told.
Where does "storytelling" fit in your marketing?
Stories have the power to slow the speed of your reader and soak in what you are sharing.
They shape the way an audience sees you, and can encourage trust and commonality with your niche market.
Stories move people into taking action as your walk with them by engaging them in your own journey.
It is at this point, you may be wondering how do we begin? Where do we begin? Telling stories sounds simple, but there is still a structure in making it successful, useful and grounded in your truth.
There are 4 elements to consider:
The goal of the story (why are you telling it?)
Get readers attention (develop a “hook” to your story to pull them in)
Engage (why should they care?)
Enable (is it a memorable story that others would want to share?)
Keeping these four elements in mind are a perfect framework for each every story share you create for your audience. As an example, let's look at my sharing of my rebrand story from May. How does it fit in the 4 element framework?
GOAL: The goal of the story is to share my struggle of finding myself in my brand. It is an empathy driven story that I believe others can relate to and find clarity through.
HOOK: The hook is that despite my own experience in marketing and branding, it took a PANDEMIC to shake me awake to see I wasn't being true to my brand.
ENGAGE: My audience cares (hopefully!) because I'm a human that struggled with momentary depression and experienced a loss of business due to Covid, but I rose like a phoenix from the fire and emerged stronger and braver in my brand despite economic loss and emotional impacts.
ENABLE: This story is one that is memorable simply because of 1-3 above. An experienced brander and marketer who set out to launch their own business and as a result of a pandemic had to regroup and come to terms with everything I DID NOT know about branding MYSELF as a solopreneur versus a "big box brand".
And this is just the tip of the story iceberg, but it is the perfect beginning. So dive in, the water is just fine!
The journey continues...
