6 Ways To Tell Better Storytelling in Your Content Marketing
Today, in the midst of increasing noise - both online as well as offline, the majority of people's attention spans are as long as a sleepy goldfish. Even with and helpful information It can be a challenge to connect with your target customers and get them to engage. But there's a silver lining to all this noise, since it has left people hungry for something very particular: a human connection.
One of the best method to establish a rapport with others is through storytelling. When we incorporate stories into our content we transform the information we provide into wisdom. We show we're doing what we do for not just the sake of profit. we are committed to finding solutions to this issue and assisting our viewers. Also, it helps create a sense of context among each piece of content that we produce when we combine them to form a larger image.
"If you truly are looking to get people interested, you need to present a compelling and authentic tale. Stories are a great medium for expressing your opinions, impress people and make a human connection with them." Jeff Bullas Jeff Bullas
Here are 6 ways to create better narratives in your content marketing:
1. Make your audience the hero.
The first and most crucial aspect of the art of storytelling in your company. You are not the hero, your customer is. If you are focused on your own interests and the things that interest you the stories you tell will come off as "hype" and will have the opposite effect. Instead of creating a connection with your audience that they'll turn them off.
It doesn't mean you shouldn't tell tales about you. Sharing your stories is essential. Remember that your audience experiences your stories as if they were living them. Make sure the experience and message are what they need to hear.
2. Find out where your customers are within "The buyer's journey"
You've got hundreds of stories you can tell, which will you choose? The stories you tell should be ones which resonate with your audience and are relevant to them today. It is important to tell a story that will help people feel encouraged to make the next move together with them.
The buyer's journey provides an excellent provide a framework for understanding the state of mind of our clients when they're considering whether or not to purchase from us. The buyer's journey comprises three main phases: Know that, like and trust. Let's take a look at each of them:
Know: At this stage the audience you are targeting just has to realize that you exist in any way. It is possible that they are not aware of an issue that you are able to have to solve. Your stories should paint a picture of the problem or opportunity that will grab their attention and interest fast. The stories you tell should be brief (your readers won't have that much of an attention span for them yet) and offer either entertainment, emotional or actionable benefit.
3. Do not reinvent the wheel. utilize frameworks
In many cases, storytelling isn't something that comes from the inside. Yes, we "tell stories" but there's a way to telling a story that really connects with your audience. The absence of frameworks is similar to creating a brand new story every whenever you tell a tale. Frames help us discover fresh perspectives and take new routes of thinking that help you to get out of the ruts of thought that we commonly find ourselves in.
There are numerous frameworks available but my favorite method of telling stories that connect with your audience and spur action is the Crossroads Formula. The Crossroads Formula breaks up the phases of the Buyer's Journey into questions, and matches them to the various phases in the Hero's Journey.
4. Use to tell stories using images
Don't be limited to one medium in your storytelling. If you're either writing or telling your stories it's possible to incorporate visuals to further improve the emotional impact or idea you're trying to communicate.
Visuals are processed quicker by the brain and retained longer than textual information or spoken words. Vision is the strongest sense we have and visual messages cut straight into our unconscious without us even realizing it. They can break up large blocks of text and help keep readers interested. They're able to communicate concepts and emotions in ways that others methods of communication aren't able to.
It doesn't require to have a Hollywood film budget to make it in visual storytelling. Think about Wait, What's the Matter? A blog of Tim Urban with millions of followers ... You'd think with that many followers they'd have enough money to create stunning visuals. But the blog is brimming with pencil drawings of stick figures that look like work done by a 13-year-old using paint software dating back to 1995...
Here are a few simple methods to include images to your website content:
Screenshots accompanied by annotations: There is no need to spend a lot of money on layout here. Taking a screen shot with a few quick annotations can increase the value of the concepts you communicate to your visitors by showing real examples that support your writing.
Diagrams and charts -All you require to tell a good story is a line. The graphs and charts help create visual representations of data and tell visually a story through the rise and fall of the information. Look at the way Kurt Vonnegut (my favorite author) turns classic tales into easy graphs.
Memes - Memes are fantastic as they use familiar concepts and characters and apply them in the context of our content. Based on the simple-exposure effect, people prefer ideas or images that are familiar to them rather than those that they haven't yet encountered.
Quotes imagesThis is an easy and effective way to include an image to your content. Any time you add an influential person's quote to back your thoughts create an image of a quote. This makes the person you quoted look like a rockstar too (which means they are more likely to spread your posts)
5. Set big goals
Don't rely on the past for stories. You can make your own stories through setting high-level goals for your company.
Story-driven goals, often known as a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) represent the impact that you'd like to create in the world with your efforts. It's the future that you build day-to-day by the things you do.
There are several important advantages to having a BHAG:
- It makes it easy to talk about your business It makes it easy to talk about your businessA major goal can be a powerful tool to spark conversation and curiosity when talking about your business.
- It creates something bigger than your own ego The result is something greater than yourself. With a big goal you demonstrate that you're doing your job for more than just profits, but also for more than just profit. It allows you to involve your followers in your goals and take part in creating a better world through collaboration alongside you.
- This creates more significance for both you and your team It is a way to create more meaning for your team and you. A BHAG does not only affect your customers, but your entire team. Your employees will be inspired by the vision you have set, which boosts motivation and loyalty.
For a BHAG to be created, it is necessary to have a concrete goal which is connected to the story you're telling. If it's measurable you can communicate your progress and also make it concrete. It needs to force you to step out of your comfort area. Thinking of your goal should create a little stress and make you think "how will I accomplish this?" This pushes your limits and inspires action.
To learn more about how to create an BHAG read: Storytelling Secret Weapons: How to Create A BHAG
6. Develop an "secret recipe"
Remember when you were young and your grandma, mother or any other important person in your life would cook that special dish that you enjoyed. We'll call it "grandma's lasagna". The lasagna you ate at grandma's house was such that you found it impossible to enjoy anyone who else's lasagna. We'll be honest, your her lasagna wasn't anything special to her lasagna but because of that emotional connection you had with her, all the other lasagnas just seemed bland...
It is possible to create that "grandma's lasagna" result for your company through the creation of a "proprietary process". It is a way to tell an account of the process that helped you get a certain result.
Think of Brian Dean's Skyscraper Technique It's not anything special about the various aspects of this technique, but the term "Skyscraper" is now a common use by SEO marketers.
Here are the most important elements of a proprietary process:
- Make it 3-5 steps:3 steps is the most effective because it's easier to keep in mind and comprehend.
- Show you're ordinary:It should point to your humanity also and shared the challenges and struggles of the people you are promoting to.
- Show you're extraordinary:Though you can relate to your customers however, you've done the work or discovered something that allows you to be uniquely qualified to tackle the issue.
- Show you care by attempting toonnect your process with an individual story or even a an analogy that demonstrates how much you value the solution to this specific issue.
Here's another example, I walk my clients through "The Scalable Storytelling Method":
- Discover - We find fascinating aspects of your life.
- Define - We get crystal clear about how we would like the story to be told.
- Delegate - As an innovative team that you get help in to tell your story.
For more examples and information on proprietary processes check out: Storytelling Secret Weapons - A Proprietary Process.
Get your message across to the world by telling better stories
The art of storytelling can have an enormous impact on the engagement and effectiveness of your strategy for marketing through content. This can spark new concepts about what you can create, and give new meaning to your the purpose of your marketing that can inspire you to create more. Don't be afraid to be transparent and vulnerable, it can help you create that human connections that your customers are looking for.
Start small with your storytelling and be attentive at how the audience reacts to what you share. Also, practice and test your storytelling in daily conversations, and if they pique people's attention, you can incorporate the story in your own content.
What do you use to tell stories in your content? Please let me know via the comment section!
Kyle Gray helps entrepreneurs create powerful storylines for their businesses that drive sales, growth, and engagement. He has worked in a variety of startup companies and small companies to design efficient strategies for marketing through content. His book The Story Engine outlines his methods for making marketing through content and brand storytelling easy and effective.