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Why is it so important to tell a story with your content marketing?
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8 Answers
Because people relate to stories which means ...
... people remember stories which helps ...
... people share stories.
Story is how we process everything that happens to us. By using the language of story in your content marketing, you make it easy for people to step into your messaging in a way that "unstoried" facts and figures will never accomplish.
Each piece of content should include elements of story - protagonist, antagonist, story arc, tension, closure, etc - but you should also think about the larger story told by your aggregated content. What are the themes that run through the different pieces and how do they tie back to your brand messaging? Is there a consistent pace and flow from one piece to the next, drawing your prospect through the larger story one "chapter" at a time? Is your cast of characters and "voice" consistent?
Story techniques can be used for much more than the classic case study. They can improve your blog posts, e-books, webinars, product landing pages, and much more. Every piece of copy you write doesn't have to start with "once upon a time." "Story" can mean creating a sense of place, character, or conflict. It can mean showing transformation. It can mean developing specific voices to deliver your content. It can mean crafting a narrative that the reader identifies with on a personal level. Each of these tactics puts the elements of story to work for you.
Bottom line: Stories help people connect with your content in a much more "intimate," natural, and memorable way. Stories increase your powers of persuasion by creating affinity. And - as a bonus - they are WAY more fun to write than your typical data sheet.
;)
Because we sell to people! Especially in B2B we forget that we sell to people, not buildings, offices or C-Suites, but people who have biases, feelings, opinions, etc. Stories convey importance, build relationships and when used correctly can help build trust. These are things buyers i.e. people are looking for in a vendor relationship - Do they get me and my needs (importance), am I a number to them or a valued customer (relationship), can they be trusted.
While story telling is important in content marketing it should not be forgotten in selling (which I think a case could be made that they are both content driven).
Carlos Hidalgo
The Annuitas Group
@cahidalgo
To build on Jamie and Carlos' answers, people love to be entertained. Our entire economy revolves around entertainment. People love color, drama, humor, and most of all, people want a vision of hope.
Good stories that are relevant and congruent with the message, and contain all of these properties is what people want. So give them what they want, the way they want it.
I think it is most important that while you are telling a story, you engage your client and appeal to their emotion then find a common ground or interest. This is how you start to build long lasting selling relationships. So I guess my answer to your question is....to find common ground.
A key way to shift from "writing articles" to "telling a story" is to adopt the perspective of a magazine editor. It's not about the article you are writing in isolation, it's about the overall tone of the content proposition, the brand voice that is heard through the collection of articles, videos, and images.
We encourage our clients to take a wider view, and to move from authorizing every article to authorizing the overall brand story against which every post is judged, from identifying the single sales message to identifying the wider customer aspiration that needs to be portrayed, from content creation to content curation.
Great responses, guys. Yes, we are talking to human beings and we do appreciated stories. As we tell stories and anecdotes, we tend to wear a more relaxed attitude. We ourselves become more open and genuine as people see more of our core personality.
Our stories come from our lives. Marketing copy comes from our heads. The story form itself is introduced to as practically from birth by people we know and trust. Marketing copy, not so much.
I just released a blog post today wherein I tell the story of how we put together our latest video project:
http://www.propelgrowth.com/2011/10/04/propelgrowth-b2b-marketing-revolution-...
It was fun to tell that story and my boss really enjoyed it. As we communicate more of the personality of our respected firms by telling stories, we move way beyond Ye Olde Marketing to creating a more relaxed and transparent atmosphere for building relationships.
After all, that's what content marketing is supposed to do, right?
Telling a story is good, can be fun, can help attract interest. But if you really want to sell something at some point, what is critical is that you DIFFERENTIATE your company/product/service from the competition. That's what is most needed yet that is what's left out of most companies' marketing and communications — probably because it's hard to do!
Al Shultz
www.alshultz.com
I agree, fun, entertainment and empathy are a big part of it.
People communicate through stories. We are brought up with stories, we tell our friends stories, in everyday life (and even in informal business conversation) - every conversation is a story. Think about it - anything that happened, any memory, any dream for the future... we are in story mode all the time.
And that is the easiest way to relate to whatever you are selling and most importantly - to understand and learn at a deeper level.
Then, sprinkling your story with some psychological triggers and selling techniques can boost your results 200-300%, sometimes more.
I would say - if you can find a story you can incorporate into your selling, go for it with all you've got :-)
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