Marketing Storytelling: Craft Stories That Sell

picture this your potential customers
are running away from you as fast as
they can towards your competitors this
is what it looks like when your
conversion rate is dropping why does
that happen one of the big reasons could
be that your competitors are telling a
better story but I come bearing good
news it's within every business's power
to tell better stories let me show you
how in this video I'm going to outline
exactly where you can use storytelling
in your marketing share a framework to
streamline your creation and reveal some
pretty big mistakes you need to avoid so
stick around as we unpack the practical
ways you can harness the power of
strategic storytelling to drive
conversion including a little lesson
from your friendly neighborhood
Spider-Man first things first
storytelling means communicating ideas
through a narrative structure and when
it comes to marketing it has a very
specific purpose to convert that can be
as small as gaining a click or as big as
closing a deal it's the most effective
technique to build trust engage
audiences enhance brand value and
differentiate yourself from the
competition so how can you practically
realize these benefits let's dive into
the three ways you can build great
stories that drive conversion first up
nail your Brand Story a Brand Story
recounts the series of events that
sparked your company's Inception and
expresses how that narrative still
drives your mission today just like your
favorite books and movie characters if
you can craft a compelling Brand Story
your audience will remember who you are
develop empathy for you and ultimately
care about you sweet I know your Brand
Story should always have a status quo a
conflict and a resolution take this
example from Harry's a shaving company
our Founders Jeff and Andy created
Harry's because they were tired of
overpaying for over-designed razors
that's the status quo instead they
wanted simple high quality products that
felt good to use all at a fair price
that's the conflict when they asked
around they learned lots of guys were
upset about the situation too so they
decided to do something about it that's
the resolution it word of warning when
you come to apply this to your own Brand
Story keep it simple there will be a
real temptation to explore your USP in
all of its glittery detail fight that
urge this needs to be a digestible
narrative explaining why your business
began and how this reason still serves
your purpose today next tell your
customer success stories also known as
case studies these don't have to be a
Showcase of your company's achievements
with a thoughtful approach they can
illustrate how your product or service
solves real problems for real customers
you can do that through a video a blog
or an infographic which you can find
some free templates for in the
description down below we offer 150
choices which include a case study
template so definitely check it out no
matter the form it takes in order to
craft a case study that really connects
you'll need to include the challenge how
did the client feel at the beginning
versus the end so let's say a small
business struggled with poor online
visibility and low traffic leaving the
owner frustrated due to Disney more
conversion rates the process what
struggles did they face using our
example from a second ago Tori's web
solution steps in overcoming initial
hesitations and outdated website issues
to create a powerful digital strategy
boosting the online footprint and the
results how did they feel when they
overcame the challenges in just four
months the business saw an 80 rise in
traffic better search engine rankings
and a 30 uplift in conversion rate
leading to growth and a delighted owner
that's the result two important tips to
keep in mind when it comes to creating
customer success stories one always
approach a customer success story from a
customer first angle it's about their
success not about yours after all and
number two make sure you back up your
story with real life results stats will
help you quantify any claims or impact
statements next up product stories a
product story is a narrative about your
product that illustrates its benefits
and the problem it solves and the
compelling and relatable way it's about
creating an emotional connection with
with your audience and showing them how
your product can transform their lives a
great product means nothing if it
doesn't get the attention of the people
who would benefit from it in order to
make it appeal to your audience you'll
need to understand what motivates your
audience Define their pain Point
introduce your product as a solution and
show the transformation of what life is
like after using your product here's an
example of a product story that
delivered some amazing results in 1984
Apple released this ad they spent one
million dollars on a 60 second spot that
premiered at the Super Bowl in the ad
Apple told the story of a world in which
people mindlessly obey Big Brother as
they are brainwashed staring at a screen
but then a hero enters smashes the
screen that contains the overlord
character and sets people free at the
time the company was an underdog and a
personal computer Market that IBM
dominated and rather than say we do X or
Y function better than IBM they
identified the rat race feeling that
many office workers experience and
offered them an Innovative alternative
an invitation to think different within
100 days Apple sold 72 000 computers
because when you get storytelling right
it can Inspire motivate Foster brand
loyalty and convert customers now at
this point you might be thinking sure I
know how to use a story but how do I
actually write the thing well before you
start feeling the pressure to be the
next Ernest Hemingway let me reassure
you anyone can tell a story especially
with the framework and writing exercise
I'm going to break down for you right
now first up storytelling Frameworks
these are templates that provide you
with an easy way to make unusual
Concepts and ideas feel familiar this
makes connecting with your audience an
absolute Breeze because even though the
characters are new and the setting is
strange your audience will have seen and
heard the same structure a hundred times
before which means they can follow along
with ease the most popular storytelling
framework is with without a doubt the
hero's journey the hero's journey works
so garshed darn well because the story
template is one that you've been
watching in movies since you were a kid
Star Wars Harry Potter Iron Man you name
it and once you see it you'll see it
everywhere from marketing campaigns to
the Toby Maguire classic Spider-Man it
starts with the Ordinary World with our
main character living a regular life as
much as you can make your customer the
hero in your stories don't worry there
will be a role for your business too I
promise then one day he experiences a
call to Adventure this could be your
customer becoming aware of a problem or
tasks that they must complete while he
initially refuses The Call to Adventure
he takes his mentors words to heart with
great power comes great responsibility
gives me every time do we have to show
that scene do we have to show Uncle Ben
dying like come on man have some mercy
and here's where you come in your
business is the mentor the figure who
will guide them in the process of
completing the task this could be a
superstar salesperson guiding a lead
toward a conversion the main character
crosses the threshold into his new life
like a customer who's just made a new
purchase and eventually encounters
different trials in the process the hero
then overcomes a final Challenge and
deals with the outcomes of the journey
and that's the hero's journey an
ordinary person and the adventure that
lies ahead the distance from one to the
other is the journey now there are two
major Pros to the hero's journey
framework it's recognizable your
audience will have seen this framework
hundreds of times which makes it much
easier to digest and it's relatable it's
all about making the hero struggles
reflect the customer struggles which
makes the story very relatable but there
are cons too first it's overused it's a
common framework which means it lacks
novelty and constrain into cliches if
not executed with a unique take and it's
complex it can be very difficult to
execute properly requiring careful
crafting of narrative stages now let's
touch on a writing exercise you can use
to take that framework to the next level
it's called the Benjamin Franklin method
back in the day Benjamin Franklin
devised a system for mastering writing
he collected issues of a publication
that contains some of the best writing
of his day and reverse engineered it he
took notes at a sentence level sat on
him for a while and tried to recreate
the sentences from his own head without
looking at The Originals the exercise
forced Franklin to pay extra attention
to the tiny details that made the
difference between decent writing and
great writing you can start to replicate
this method by reverse engineering your
competitor's copy but before I reveal
how I need you to make me a promise
raise your hand please repeat after me I
will not publish the material created in
this exercise if you do do it'll be seen
as extreme levels of plagiarism and
you'll be flagged faster than you can
say copy and paste this is just an
exercise to start flexing and training
your riding muscles nothing more take a
piece of copy that you particularly
Admire from your competitor's website it
can be a web page a case study a white
paper or an article and read it read it
and note every detail of what's
particularly effective about it then
without looking at it for a few days
rewrite in Franklin's words expressing
each hinted sentiment at length and as
fully as it had been expressed before in
any suitable words that should come to
hand be sure that you use your notes to
guide your rewrite and try to identify
the storytelling template your
competitor is using take this story on
patagonia's website for example in
Remembering Alan Steck Patagonia writes
about a pioneering mountain climber
Steck was no stranger to difficult
climbing he had begun his career as so
many youths did back in those days in
the High Sierra hiking along trails and
scrambling up Rocky Peaks then came
stint in the Navy where he bobbed around
the South Pacific going to Destroyer
Escort during the waning months of the
war discharged he attended UC Berkeley
served as a ranger for the summer of
1948 in the valley and then spent the
next summer bicycling through the Alps
climbing everything in sight he became
one of the first Americans to ever climb
one of the fabled six great North Faces
of the Alps let's note what's effective
about it the use of concise and
impactful language the passage
efficiently conveys important
information using a limited number of
words historical context the mention of
the protagonist stint in the Navy during
the waning months of the war provides
context and adds depth to the
character's experience vivid imagery the
description of Stack's experiences in
the High Sierra hiking along trails and
scrambling up Rocky Peaks paints a clear
picture in the reader's mind now set
your notes aside for a few days then
come back and reassemble the sentences
as well as you can ready to compare set
the two versions side by side and ask
yourself how does yours compare here to
the original what's missing what did
your competitor do well what did you do
well note your findings in a separate
document and then repeat repeat repeat
this may sound laborious but the Insight
it'll give you is invaluable and if
you're serious about wanting to drive
your conversion effective storytelling
is how you'll get there plus as you get
more comfortable with this exercise over
time and develop more competitive
Insight you'll be able to apply your
findings to your new stories as you're
writing them just like the hero's
journey this exercise does have its
advantages and drawbacks Pros Simplicity
it's more straightforward and easy to
follow than the hero's journey
teachability it's excellent for
instructional or educational content now
for the cons differentiation in some
situations this exercise can lead to
Brands repeating the same mistakes like
jargon or corporate speak as their
competitors lack of emotion it doesn't
start with that big emotive hook of the
hero's journey so it can fail to engage
your audience and is not now driven at
its heart it's more about analysis and
learning than about telling a great
story now storytelling Frameworks no
matter how good aren't going to be a
magical solution for your conversion
woes they take effort dedication and no
small amount of caffeine to help you
keep yours on the straight and narrow
here are some key mistakes you need to
be aware of don't use jargon or business
speak corporate and Tech jargon can be
very confusing take it out it's the
difference between our Cutting Edge
solution leverages proprietary
algorithms to synergize and streamline
your business processes for optimal Roi
and our tool uses smart technology to
make your business run more smoothly and
in a more profitable way use language
that's easily understood so it's easily
digestible and you don't alienate
customers that might be a good fit for
your product or solution don't focus on
yourself it's always about your audience
bragging about product features can be
super off-putting focus on how you can
help the audience under understand
something new fix a problem or make
their lives easier think about how your
story benefits them before you tell it
don't be vague details are persuasive
and when they're chosen well they make
stories tangible and evocative this is
about being able to efficiently and
effectively capture a moment of your
customers life do that without trying to
tell them everything about everything in
your content will feel real direct and
relatable and that's it now go forth and
start telling your story in the words of
Superstar author Patrick Ness stories
are wild creatures the monster said when
you let them loose who knows what Havoc
they might read if you want yours to
wreak positive conversion wreaking havoc
make sure you look at everything from a
customer first standpoint whip your
Brand Story customer success stories and
product stories into shape assess the
storytelling Frameworks that will work
best for you and be as clear concise and
compelling as possible also remember
you're not alone in this journey our 150
content increase and templates are here
to assist you every single step of the
way whether it's infographics buyer
personas or case studies we have free
templates ready to make your content
creation life just a bit easier got a
great example of a hero's journey in the
business World let us know down in the
comments below and as always don't
forget to subscribe until next time
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