Storytelling Your Way into Hard ROI

For more than 20,000 years, people have used storytelling to educate, entertain and inspire. People relate to stories. Studies have showed reading and listening to stories engage more parts of our brains than simple facts and figures. According to Quantified, researchers have found that messages delivered as stories can be up to 22 times more memorable than just facts. 

Storytelling also helps you develop stronger relationships with your prospects and customers. Younger generations find traditional advertising methods to be disruptive and ingenuine. By using unique and interesting storytelling methods, you can get your key messages across to people without seeming salesy or unrelatable. Additionally, since Gen Z and millennials only have an 8- to 12–second attention span, you only get one shot to form a positive perception with these groups.  

Good storytelling isn’t easy to do, but when nailed, brands have been known to tap into people’s emotions, introduce the brand to new audiences, help audiences relate to the brand and build loyalty, unite like-minded people, increase sales and more. 

Does your company have a brand story? No? 

That’s OK. It’s never too late to share what makes your business special.  

GETTING STARTED 

If you’re just getting into storytelling, you’re probably wondering where to start. Here are some tactics brands should consider while creating content. 

Tell stories from the consumer perspective 

People want to feel like they are a part of your brand. No one wants to feel like you only care about them for a sale. By including them in your story, you present yourself as relatable, caring and genuine. Your brand also benefits from word-of-mouth advertising, which costs you absolutely nothing and results in hard ROI and new customers. Consider the following: 

• Activating the community tab on Facebook to allow people to talk about your brand. 
• Using Facebook groups. 

• Resharing customer Instagram stories and posts mentioning you. 
• Getting customer testimonials. 
• Featuring guest articles on your blog. 
• Sharing customer submitted stories, comments and videos. 

Stay positive and overcome an issue
People see a lot negative every day. Being a positive light in their day is something people will remember. This does not mean that your whole story has to be rainbows and butterflies. Think about movies or books. These stories always have some kind of conflict that the main character must overcome. Be the hero of your own story and show your audience the struggle you overcame to become the awesome company you are today. What are you fighting for? Who are you helping? Always think about the “why” of your business because people don’t care about what you do as much as they care about why you do it.  

Use different mediums to get your story across
Remember those short attention spans we talked about earlier? A good story is captivating enough to make people fight their short attention spans. One way to do that is to tell your story in many different ways. Some of our favorite storytelling avenues are videos, webinars, live Q&As, pictures, infographics, newsletters, social media posts and stories, testimonials, blogs, articles, and annual reports. These are all great because each is powerful in its own way and can be used for reaching audiences in whatever way they prefer. 

Adjust your story for different platforms
Finally, just as it is crucial to tell your story in different ways for different audiences, it’s equally important to find the right storytelling method for each platform. For instance, annual reports aren’t probably something that will perform well on Facebook, but you could tell a great story with an annual report on LinkedIn. Instead, you might consider using photos and videos on Facebook with short text to tell the story of your brand or product.  

Many storytelling assets can be combined to really spark emotion and get the story across. It’s all about finding the right formula for your audiences. 

STORYTELL LIKE A PRO 

Telling your story in a compelling way is a tall order for even the best marketers. It’s why so many people turn to F.P. Horak. We know how to frame your brand story in a way that captivates imaginations, creates connections and grows your bottom line.  

Start building your company’s happy ending today. Give us a call at (989) 892–6505 or visit fphorak.com.