Think about that time you sat down to read an interesting book or listen to a highly engaging podcast. Maybe you were so drawn into it that you simply lost all consciousness of your surroundings. Then, finally, snapping back to reality from hearing a sudden noise or someone coming into your space and calling your name.

That’s the power of storytelling. It draws you into this other world and grabs your constant and undivided attention. Imagine if you could use this power in your business marketing campaign to capture the undivided attention of potential customers.

Guess what… you can!

Here’s how.

Storytelling Process

While storytelling is a great strategy to add to your marketing campaigns, you want to make sure you have a plan. Having a plan keeps you on track and keeps your customers from getting lost.

Your storytelling plan should look something like this:

• Identify your target audience

• Define your core message and goals

• Find Your Main Character

• Create a Call to Action

• Figure out your medium (video, written)

• Craft your story

• Share it!

Identify Your Target Audience

Having a target audience helps you direct your focus and stay on topic. Knowing your target audience also allows you to talk about specific topics your viewers want to learn about and keep them interested in your brand.

By focusing on one segment of your audience, you can better personalize each aspect of your storytelling. As a result, you can build a better strategy to meet the needs and interests of your viewers. 

Define Your Core Message and Goals

What message do you want your viewers to take with them? What are your trying to teach them? Having a plan for your message can help you stay focused.

Take what you’ve learned about your customers and create goals tailored to them. For example, are you trying to get them to download an ebook? Maybe you want them to sign up for your webinar? Whatever your goal, create your story to focus on achieving it.

Find Your Main Character

When writing a story, you want to have a main character for your audience to focus on. This character can be a hypothetical or someone real, like your customers or employees. You can even focus on yourself and tell your own story.

Use your story to teach people about your industry, company, or yourself. For example, write a blog post welcoming people to your site where you talk about how your company values or maybe show off your customers with testimonials and reviews.

Whatever you decide to focus on, let your main character shine through.

Create a Call to Action

As with all other aspects of digital marketing, you need a call to action to encourage readers to continue to interact with your brand. Reflect on your goals and see how you can pull your customers to achieve that goal.

Encourage viewers to sign up for your newsletter, reserve a spot at your webinar, or even something as simple as visit your website. Whatever you choose, make sure it aligns with your goals and pushes your business forward.

Choose Your Medium

Now it’s time to think about where you will be putting your story. Will it be a blog post or a YouTube video? Where you place your story depends on your goals and audience, so research before choosing.

Some of the medium types you can choose from are: 

Craft Your Story

Now is the time to put all the working parts together! Craft your blog post, script, or whatever you need to succeed and get to work. Remember to focus on your core message and goals and include your call to action in your content.

Share It

The work doesn’t stop once you have created and told your story. You need to share the content so more people can hear and see your brand. Use what you learned about your audience to share the message on the platforms your viewers are most likely to be. 

Top Storytelling Tips

Yay! We’ve learned the storytelling process! Still not sure how to create a great story, though?

No worries, check out these great tips just for you.

Create Emotion in Your Viewers

Emotions drive our daily lives, and by appealing to those emotions, we can create lasting relationships and build strong bonds. Knowing what frustrates or thrills your customers can help you make an experience for them that is just what they’re looking for.

Create a conversation

By connecting with your customers' emotions, you can keep them better engaged and create conversations. If your words resonate with them, they are more likely to stick around. Look to learn about your customers as you teach them. They’ll feel more heard and understood and want to continue working with you.

Keep Quality in Mind

While telling your story can be great for your business, having low-quality content can deter customers from returning. So take time to review blog posts, edit videos, and use the highest quality tools possible.

Creating Lasting Impressions

Stand out from the crowd and be you. There’s something special about each business and person, so be yourself and let it shine through your work. You’ll be surprised how many bonds you can build.

Ready to Tell Your Story?

One thing is for sure. Storytelling works. It is that one tool that you can always rely upon with your marketing. It appeals to the customer's emotions and urges them towards taking a specific action. Storytelling builds trust in the brand and makes it easier to sell products to the customers. So give it a try and let us know how it goes.