Bring Them Into Your Story

Each year in my hometown of Athens, AL, there’s a festival at Athens State University which honors an old art form lost to time. The festival is the “Deep South Storytellers Meeting,” and it’s a reminder each year that words and story development have tremendous power to captivate our minds. As a young child, I remember being fascinated watching old men sit lazily in rocking chairs on stage in front of crowds of hundreds. I was mesmerized. No spotlights, music, or flash… just a calm, clear voice with proper inflection, imagination, and endless possibilities.

Sometimes I wonder if kids these days even have imaginations, or attention spans at all, for that matter. But story and the art of storytelling will always hold power of the human mind. No matter the medium — movies, love songs, novels, or an old guy on a stage telling about his days plowing with a mule — we’re all suckers for a good story, and your business can use this power to draw customers into yours.

Marketing is so much more than discount ads. The best marketing paints a picture in the minds of your prospects about their needs and you riding in to save the day like a knight on a white horse. When you think of your marketing efforts, are they telling a story for your customers to be caught up in? Is your story boring them to tears? Or is it scaring them away?

Many contractors have mascots with a backstory, whether of the cartoon variety or even some who use live animals (like Olive the Shop Dog with her own blog page: shout-out to Russel & Abbott in TN). And that’s the right idea, but it’s still only scratching the surface. Let your customers see your personality, introduce them to the “characters” in your office, and they’ll be swept up in a connection with you that’s bigger than just their stale and boring service provider.

Storytelling is an art. And like art, it requires creativity, vision, skill, and practice. But the power of story is what sets some of the most successful brands apart from others. Storytelling is the use of words and pictures to convey emotion, and if we’ve been taught anything by marketing studies throughout history, almost all purchases are driven by some form of emotional response. No one is asking you to write a love sonnet about air conditioners, but if you can take a customer’s mind to that sweaty dead of Summer and remind them of sleepless nights of misery, they might write one for you.

Here are a few tips on storytelling through your marketing:

Don’t get too technical. Too much specific industry jargon is typically not a good thing. You want to establish yourself as an expert, but talking over people’s heads makes people go glassy-eyed and lose interest.

Use video and photos to tell your story. I’m too much of a writer and communicator at heart to fully believe the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but a good one is at least worth 600 or so. Although the best storytellers can take you on an adventure and make you feel every part with only their words, we do have to remember you might only have a few seconds with your audience and must engage them quickly. Social media is an especially great way to give a view behind the scenes of what the entire experience of working with or even FOR your company would be like. Take your prospects along for the entire ride, and soon your family will become theirs through the social media window.

Remember to make it useful. Nothing is worse than being caught by someone telling a long story that’s badly told and uninteresting. And there’s something else key to human nature here: we’re all a little narcissistic at heart. So if people think what you’re telling them doesn’t apply to them, or give them any added benefit, they’ll cut you off in a heartbeat. Remember to keep your interactions brief, and always focus on building a relationship that benefits the homeowner.

Leave plenty of room for creativity. I said jokingly earlier I’m not sure kids today have working imaginations because they’re so overly stimulated by everything else. They don’t play with sticks imagining they’re swords anymore like I used to, but the sense of wonder is still present, and people are still grabbed by original ideas. Nothing will get you and your marketing ignored faster than looking like everyone else, so be willing to take risks and be the outlier to get noticed. If you’re the only one adventurous enough to be doing certain things in your area, you’re probably on the right track. And soon you might become known in your area for some of the things you’ve done to push the envelope, and those things become a part of your story. Recognizable for good and recognizable for odd still means recognizable, which beats invisible every single time.

The power of story has been around since languages began. The definition of marketing is, in simplified terms, using media to amplify your message. What story do you have to tell your customers? Are you telling it effectively? Engaging? Are they hearing it at all?

If you need help defining or capturing your story, just reach out to us at [email protected]. Our experienced marketing coaches can help you discover and share the best parts of your story with your audience.