5 Reasons Why Marketers Should Be Obsessed With Storytelling

Don’t yell to the masses; whisper to a few. People will choose to talk about it. Give away your ideas. When your ideas are widespread and you are trusted, you don’t have trouble making a living.__Seth Godin

Marketing as we know it has changed, if you are still hanging to your old marketing strategies, chances are you are putting in much more effort than you used to and generating less response than you expect. Consumers are tired of being sold to, they now require permission to be sold to and the earlier you work on telling them what they need and want to know, the better for your marketing campaign. When your company’s marketing story aligns with your audience’s worldview, they will  have something to discuss and  share.

1. Storytelling is the new marketing

The new marketing today is about telling stories to prospective consumers and buyers who want to hear it, in a way they can identify with, so they are likely to either listen, respond, connect and most importantly tell their friends.

Companies that are successful at story telling are integrating their company’s history, goals, culture, values, and audience into every component of their content marketing strategy. And they are connecting with their audience like never before.

2. Consumers want to buy from people, not a corporate entity!

You can start off by allowing some of your employees to provide social proof of your values by sharing videos, images, and quotations, your brand message throughout your content strategy. Involve the people behind the scenes, put a face to the message, get a voice behind the story, communicate the positive energy in the office, increase your human element in your story and tell an awesome brand message that connects with humans. Remember , you want to sell to people like yourself.

3. Connect like-minds and they will tell your story

You job is to create a great brand people can identify with and are passionate about and they will do the marketing for you. Connect like-minds who share a passion and interest with your story or message, create an environment where they can openly share their concerns, suggestions and feedback. Your job is to listen and address issues and the problems. People want to feel like they a part of something.

4. Pull, you can no longer push!

Consumers are  now in control of what they view, what they share, and how they view what they see. Marketers no longer push their messages across, because you could be pushing your prospective customers away. You need to pull customers in with engaging, useful content and sharable content. And they will in turn share your great insight, information and educative material with other like-minds who could eventually sign up for your product or service.

5. Stories are better shared on social media

Every business is represented by people (employees) trying to connect with other people (consumers). And guess what, consumers are connected and they keep getting social. Go find them where they hang out and speak in a language(story) they understand.

—-Lessons from selected marketing professionals:

Seth Godin, best-selling author

“Marketing is storytelling. The story of your product, built into your product. The ad might be part of it, the copy might be part of it, but mostly, your product and your service and your people are all part of the story. Tell it on purpose. Choose your story (or the competition’s story) wisely, because you have to live with it for a long time, and if it’s not authentic, if it doesn’t hold up, you’re left with nothing.”

Cameron Uganec, HootSuite’s Director of Marketing and Communications.

“The best marketers and communicators have always used storytelling to connect and inspire an audience to act. They have used traditional storytelling structures to share their messages; there’s a beginning, there’s a middle and there’s an end. As storytellers we need to answer these questions. Who is the hero? What is the plot? What is the setting? And, a scary thing for some marketers, what’s the conflict? If you’re telling a story, there’s always a conflict. It’s not always unicorns and rainbows and the hyperbole that lazy marketers often resort to.”

Susan Gunelius, a 20-year marketing veteran and President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc.

“Make sure your brand stories are page turners by focusing on the use of perpetual marketing in your efforts where one piece feeds off of the next. Leave your audience wanting more, and they’ll come back again and again. Consider using “Watch This Space” hooks on your website or Facebook Page, or try releasing teasers via Facebook, email, or Pinterest. Perpetual marketing tactics offer the perfect opportunity to include offline and mobile marketing in your brand storytelling initiative, too.”

What strategies have worked for you in your effort to promote your business to your targeted audience? Share them in the comment box below.