Can Story Marketing Help Your Small Business?

‘Great brands tell great stories’

We have heard this many times. In today’s world, the customer is smart. He does not want to hear your sales pitch; he wants to hear stories: simple, memorable and powerful!

Have you ever walked into a conference room where the speaker reads out his notes, looks at the slides on the PowerPoint deck and speaks what is written out there? If you have ever been in this situation, you would know how you stopped yourself from yawning. And then the sad part – you did not remember anything when you left the room!

Now, compare it to a speaker who barely looks at his notes, understands his product well and narrates an enthralling story about his experience. Does it get you thinking? Does it inspire action?

Story marketing is an impactful tool – and to be successful in your business, the power to narrate compelling stories is a necessity if you wish to attract your audience and grow your brand.

You want to tell your clients about new offerings. What do you do? Create great content for advertising, right? The truth here is that content without a story does not seem that great. Remember your school days. Think about the classes you enjoyed the most.  Do you remember those teachers that told wonderful stories or narrated great personal experiences?

Why should you use story marketing in your content strategy?

You are a business owner with an online presence, thanks to the power of social media and online content marketing. You would definitely like your content to grab the attention of each potential customer; however, did you know that to be truly effective, your content should be able to move people? This is accomplished through story marketing. A compelling story can inform, entertain and offer value to the customer. This will increase the likelihood of the customer engaging with your brand.

Story marketing provides your brand with a human face.

That’s true, but when you use story telling simply as a selling tool, it loses it’s charm. Use it as a medium to enhance your relationship with your prospective clients and see the magic happen! Stories that your customers can relate with will help them connect with you in a powerful way. It may even convert them into strong brand advocates!

Have you heard of the Essentia mattress? What makes them stand out?  Essentia’s founder, Jack Dell’Accio has a heart wrenching story to tell. One of his family members was a victim of cancer and his doctors said that it could be due to the everyday toxins found in food, couches, carpets, mattresses etc. He therefore tried to create an organic mattress. Instead of positioning themselves as the first company to create a natural memory foam mattress, they made a conscious choice of including this story in their brand. The inclusion of the story made people relate to their brand and transformed Essentia!

Stories simplify things!

Some ideas and services that may be difficult to comprehend otherwise become fairly simple when explained through stories.

Stories establish your brand value

When you narrate a compelling story about your business success, you establish yourself as an authority in that business. This becomes different from the usual bullet list of services that you offer. It becomes a testimonial to your success.

Can you use story marketing in a small business strategy?

Absolutely! How about starting your next blog post with a story? Or posting your short success story as your next Facebook update? When you narrate your personal and professional life experiences, you provide your readers the opportunity to connect with your brand in a better, more personal manner. They feel connected to you as a person and eventually treat your business as their own business. They, then become brand ambassadors for your business.

You have heard it a thousand times – ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Does this explain why Instagram is a huge hit?  Can you create an infographic to share data or significant milestones? When you use social media to post links to your site, could you possibly use some images to create a better, bigger, bolder impact?

Have you contemplated the idea of a video message on the ‘About us’ page on your website? Are you leveraging Snapchat efficiently? Another great option could be to invite your customers via a contest – they could send over videos about their experiences with your business and you could simply post these on your site! What a great way to leverage some great feedback and testimonials! You could even do a video interview with your customers or clients talking about how they have built a successful relationship with your company.

In a nutshell, story marketing is here to stay. Stories work because humans are wired for narratives and leveraging this tool in an impactful manner can create a great competitive advantage for your small business. As a small business owner, you should implement impactful ways to share powerful content. Are you ready to incorporate your story into your marketing strategy today?