The power of a story – it can be easy to forget because it seems so simple. But the next time you’re listening to someone speak, watch how the audience reacts when the speaker tells a story. They look up and lean in, and that’s exactly what your audience will do when you start telling stories in your marketing. When you find ways to make the customer the hero of the story, they will jump into the story with you.
Storytelling in marketing is on fire right now, but you may not understand what that means for you. We’ve broken it down into three simple elements that all work together to tell the story of your brand.
Brand Storytelling…
Begins with understanding your story – In order to invite the customer into your story, you have to understand the story of your business: your purpose and your values. Riley & You can help you clearly identify your brand and then use that identity to guide all your communications and social media in order to show who is behind your brand and what you stand for. As William Craig with Forbes states, “Your brand lives and influences customers as a part of an intrinsic relationship that shapes the social story of the world. That’s why powerful storytelling matters to the success of a brand in a highly competitive market.” The brands that tell stories are the brands that grow.
Makes the client the hero – In marketing, you must always know your target audience. When you build the character in your story off of what you know about your target market, your story will attract the people who will most likely buy into your brand and your product. When the client remains at the center of the story, you will understand where they are in their journey and the various settings where you can meet them.
Creates conversations – Dialogue is an important part of any story. It tells you more about all the characters involved and moves the story forward. The same is true for your company. When you generate dialogues and respond to customers online, you learn more about them, and they learn more about you. Riley & You can help you create the kind of content that your audience will want to interact with to keep the story moving forward.
All of these elements work together to create the larger story of your company. At Riley & You, we see more to your story than just communication, PR, and branding. We understand that your marketing must be integrated with your sales process in order to complete the story of your company. We track the data to know what your audience needs, and then we adjust accordingly. After all, we are working together to tell the same story, the story of your brand.
