once upon a timeMost think of storytelling as a creative way to help kids fall asleep. In fact, when people hear the word “storytelling,” they almost always associate it with children. That is not the case, however. In reality, storytelling plays an important role in the way humans communicate. Consider our ancestors all the way back from the Stone Age. It all started back then when they would share their tales by carving on the walls of caves. Generation after generation has led us to also rely on storytelling, so much so that we need it in business. Corporate storytelling produces strong benefits and results for the adult business. Without it, consumers find it difficult to connect and advocate for something. Storytelling can and should be used in any business because it can drive loyalty, advocacy, and trust. If you want to know how to incorporate strong storytelling into your business, read on!

The Power of Story

Why is storytelling so useful for the success of a business? There are many reasons, but here are just a few:

  • Stories help us understand Products and Services: It is the way people sense such attributes as utility and quality. Rather than having to figure out boring data and facts, corporate storytelling show the customer/client how a product/service can be beneficial to them, and this forms a stronger connection with that customer.
  • Storytelling is part of human nature. People don’t want to hear all about your product specifications. They want to know the story behind the product, such as success stories of other buyers. If you communicate more emotionally, by sharing personal buyer stories instead of rambling on and on about data, the customer is more likely to listen and be interested in your product.
  • Speaking of data, when it comes to buyers and employees, remember you are speaking to a person. People don’t digest data the same way as our electronic devices. Data can be beneficial, but most people are looking for a connection.
  • It is no longer a “Business” connecting with a “Consumer.” It is people connecting with people. Businesses need to understand who they are speaking with and craft their communications so that it is relevant. People will not connect with a business that offers no emotional connection and that doesn’t meet a need.
  • Storytelling is a dialogue. Buyers have a larger say in marketing and branding because the way consumers communicate has shifted. People are listening to other people as opposed to large campaigns. The value of word-of-mouth has soared, and social media allows people to see what others are saying, in real-time. Two-way communication is very powerful.

Buyer Decisions are mainly emotional

Buyers make most of their decisions based on emotions. For instance, a buyer might find a beautiful coffeemaker and decide she wants it. She might then spend a lot of time trying to logically defend the emotional decision that brought her to make the purchase. As a result, emotional impact is very important for branding, to marketing and sales, to human resources. Storytelling provides that initial emotional impact. Here are some of the emotional aspects of a business story:

  • Emotional connection- Adults may remember the feelings of emotions which can trigger memories or create resolve as a result of hearing stories. This is especially true when it comes to memories of quality, trust, and service.
  • Understanding Others- For example, stories can help non-profit organizations connect the lives of those they serve to those that support the organization.
  • Growing Intimacy- Your buyers want and need to know that they are heard by you.

what's your storyOrganizational Benefits

Corporate storytelling provides benefits and results in five organizational areas: Internal communications, sales and marketing, training and recruitment, brand building, and operations. Here is a summary of these benefits:

Internal communications

  • Employee engagement
  • Corporate mission
  • Culture
  • Best practices
  • Celebrating success
  • Reward & recognition

Key benefits: vision transfer, awareness, collaboration, increased morale, memorable.

Main uses: Intranet, town halls, events, lunch & learns

Sales & marketing

  • Client experience: testimonials
  • Point of sale: retail, captive audience
  • Sales tools
  • Direct response
  • Advice & knowledge sharing
  • Peer to peer communication
  • Referrals process [internal/external]
  • Key benefits: increase conversion rate, shorten sales cycle, increase win rate, trust, customer as advocate, memorable
  • Main uses: online, retail locations, remote sales [tablets], email, events, presentations, proposals, trade shows, client seminars, vertical marketing

Training & recruitment

  • Show not tell
  • Behavior modeling
  • Simplifying complex concepts
  • Key benefits: consistency, re-use, provides a simple take-away, memorable
  • Main uses: training sessions, Intranet

Brand building

  • Public/investor relations
  • Customer engagement
  • Community involvement
  • Philanthropy
  • Awards & achievements
  • Key benefits: trust, confidence, memorable
  • Main uses: online, events

Operations

  • B2B/partnerships
  • News
  • Interdepartmental collaboration
  • Research /customer insights
  • Key benefits: networking, efficiencies, memorable
  • Main uses: B2B portals, resource center, presentations, email

As you can see, this allows you to share your business message with your customers and help them connect with you and support your product. That’s what makes business storytelling so powerful and even crucial.

It is important that the storyteller knows and understands his/her audience persona. With corporate storytelling, story content varies based on the audience’s (targeted buyer’s) persona. For targeted audience considerations, it is important that we understand both the demographics (age, gender, culture, etc.) and psychographics (needs, wants, stereotypes, and emotions). The best of storytellers, change their approach based on their audience.

To assist you, we are offering our “A Marketer’s template for Creating Buyer Personas.” This will help you create your persona by:

  • Asking the right questions during your persona interviews and surveys
  • Format your persona research in a compelling way
  • Present your new, finalized buyer persona to your company

Read another blog about Corporate Storytelling.

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