Give a back story to the creation of your products or services - and see the difference it makes.
A story gives your product or service context.
Simply describing the features and benefits is not enough, because when there’s no narrative, no context, no connection - then it’s just another ‘thing’ just like all the other ‘things’ out there.
A story gives your product or service context. It creates a connection with the people you’re trying to reach.
It adds meaning. It creates magic. No lies, just a simple narrative behind the product or service that makes sense of what drove you to create it in the first place.
"Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make but about the stories you tell."– Seth Godin,
All the best reasons to have a story behind your product or service....
Differentiation - there’s a lot of people doing what you’re doing out there and there’s a sea of providers who will have created what you’ve created.
What sets you apart?
The story behind it.
Emotional connection - creating connections with your ideal audience helps to engage those you’re trying to reach on a deeper, more meaningful level.
Build trust - an authentic story helps build credibility, showcases what your values are, the reasoning behind why this service or product exists, and fosters understanding to why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Consistency - it gives you a base from which you can create consistent messaging throughout your web copy, content and social media platforms.
Communicate - you can use your story to communicate your values and your purpose.
Marketing - formulating a story makes for a great marketing strategy.
Brand awareness - think Adidas, Nike, Apple, and Coke. You can make your brand more unforgettable with a brilliant story.
Customer/client loyalty - We all want a piece of the action when a brand is just so relatable, funny and sincere or maybe a combination of all of those things.
Audiences have changed....
People are buying differently, and we’re living in a world of uncertainty and constant change - more than ever before.
Just selling a product or service and only referring to its benefits and features is no longer enough. I gave a presentation to a marketing summit recently, and what I discovered was that people are now more concerned with value and customer service than ever before.
And get this, there are at least 70 countries having elections in 2024, that’s nearly half the world (this won’t remain evergreen - but for now it gives context) and the good news is that this will lead to a better economy in each country - eventually.
Right now, in the middle of this phenomenon and temporary economic uncertainty, there are customers out there wanting emotional connection without the hard sell, with value matched by a white glove customer service. Value and emotional intelligence are key to understanding what your customers want and the emotions that drive customer behaviour have changed fundamentally to what they were 5 years ago.
When buyer behaviour changes so must your strategy - and a good place to start is with a story.
*See my presentation here.
