By Lori Creighton
Owner, Homestead Media, LLC

Storytelling for business is a strategic approach to marketing and communications

By weaving stories into everything you do – from web content and email marketing; to social media and public relations – you gain the ability to create empathy in the people whom you want to reach. Empathy connects people and creates opportunities to influence their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors resulting in outcomes that help you meet your business goals such as:
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• Developing relationships and nurturing trust
• Persuading people to make decisions
• Inspiring and motivating people to take action

What does neuroscience say about storytelling?

Our brains love stories! Uri Hasson at Princeton University and Paul Zak at Claremont Graduate University are the primary researchers who have been studying the neuroscience of storytelling.
 
They found that our brains elicit two main reactions when we are watching or listening to a good story – distress and empathy. They demonstrated their findings in a series of physiological studies.

Their research included blood tests where they found cortisol (associated with distress) and oxytocin (associated with empathy). They tested respiration and heart rates. They conducted MRIs.

Participant not spectator

Paul Zak’s conclusion is that because they stimulate empathy, dramatic stories can change our attitudes and beliefs by working with our brain chemistry. When we are absorbed in a good story the intense brain activity allows us to enjoy the experience more, to understand the message, and to better retain the information. These feelings of empathy can also lead us to take action.

Does this happen with every story? No, because the type of story makes a difference. The best stories create tension, present an obstacle or a challenge, and take the listener up and over the dramatic arc. The dramatic arc refers to a universal story structure that takes a character on a journey to overcome adversity, and make his world and himself better as a result.

 

The most important story

Executive and leadership programs often include training on storytelling because it’s the best tool to communicate vision, passion and strategy. Throughout an organization, storytelling can build culture and engage people in a shared mission. Marketing can play a role in helping businesses find and tell these stories, but the most important story for you or your marketing manager to know and tell is the story about your client. In this story, the client is the hero.

Have you heard of the storytelling model called “the hero’s journey?” In 1949, Joseph Campbell wrote “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” in which he outlined a pattern that can be found in narratives around the world. Your favorite movies and books probably follow this structure that goes up and over the dramatic arc. You are pulled into the story because your brain responds as if you are in the story eliciting distress and then empathy.

​Your client’s story follows the hero’s journey starting with the event that triggered a search for a solution through to the successful resolution of his problem. The story helps the prospective client recognize the pain caused by his problem; introduces him to your solution and why you are uniquely qualified to help him; paints a picture of what his future success or failure looks like; and helps him envision how his world will be better as a result of choosing your solution.

Get your client's story

Start by listening

Buyer Personas are the starting point for understanding your client’s story. A persona is a representation of the person you want to reach. There are many resources available on the internet to guide your work. Don’t be tempted to send a questionnaire to your client to complete unless you are also going to talk through the questions. Having an open-ended conversation is going to get the best information on your client’s experience.

​Revise your buyer personas as you deepen your understanding of your client. This document is going to be a guide for other actions that you take as you create and implement your marketing strategy. For example, demographic data won’t necessarily be included in your client story but will be useful when you need to determine targeting for social advertising. 

Write your client story

Depending on the buyer persona template you use, it’s likely you’ll have to supplement with additional questions. You still need to learn what triggered their search for a solution; who was involved in the buying decision; what steps they took in their decision-making process; and any barriers that stood in their way. Once you have collected your information, write a narrative of your client’s experience.

Align marketing strategy with your client's story

A marketing strategy is not a to-do list. Strategy is the overall approach that you’re going to take to achieve your business goals. Buyer personas and storytelling are two key pieces of any approach. Use other insights that you glean from your client intelligence to determine if there are any other components that you should include such as account-based or relationship marketing or something else.

Line up your strategy, goals, objectives, and tactics with your client’s story. Return to your buyer personas and the narrative of your client’s experience again and again to make sure you don’t lose sight of what’s important to them. As you continue to talk with clients and your knowledge goes deeper, revise your plan. You might even find that you need to create new personas.

Weave your client's story into your marketing

Your client story doesn’t need to be on every page of your website but pieces do. Frame your messages to focus on different segments of your client narrative whether he is just starting his search for a solution or is ready to make his decision. As you learn other storytelling techniques, you can combine them. For example, a blog post can begin with a personal story that is an analogy for a moment in the client story. 

Home page: Tell your client story with value propositions that help prospects envision success, illustrate that you have the right solution, imagine the failure that they need to avert, and tell them what to do next.
 
Services page: You still need to communicate features but relate them to the client story. Look to your buyer personas to determine which features are important.
 
About Us: Tell your backstory as it relates to the passion that the founders had when they started the business. Paint a picture of your culture by telling stories of how your people live out your mission.
 
Blog: Map content to the client story. Use metaphors to help the prospect realize they can’t live with their problem, and that you have the solution they need to be successful.
 
Case Studies: These are the obvious client stories, but your perspective makes a big difference in how it’s received. Don’t toot your own horn, but instead focus on your client’s outcomes and success.

Email Marketing: Use automation to create a series of messages that guides prospects towards a decision. Keep in touch with current clients to support them and remind them that you’re still there to help.
 
Social Media: Create shareable posts that guide people into your stories. Pump up your digital literacy so that you can create in the formats that people like the most.
 
Meetings, Presentations, Events, PR: People who are storytellers recognize ways to frame an idea with a story to help people understand the information, remember it, and take action.
 
Careers: Support your company’s recruiting efforts by creating content that addresses your candidate’s story. Start with personas for the types of people you’re targeting, then create marketing materials that reflect their story.

The result of a storytelling approach

When you are successful in applying a storytelling approach to your communications, the result is empathy, but how do you measure that in regard to business results? If your marketing plan starts with your business goals, and everything is lined up with your client’s story, more of your shots are going to hit the target.
 
Revisit your objectives and the metrics you’re using to define progress. Update your marketing goals as your situation changes. Continue to talk to new clients to deepen your understanding of the client’s experience. The more strategic you are in your use of storytelling, the more you will see this approach contribute to your bottom line.

Become a student of storytelling

I have discovered that to become a better storyteller, you must become a student of storytelling. The more I learn, the more I find ways to apply what I have learned. It’s ironic that the way to get better marketing results is not to focus on trends and technology, but to focus on people and their real experiences. As you learn more about storytelling, you’ll actually be learning more about people.

Why wait to become a storytelling organization?

Your ability to connect and build relationships with people both inside and outside your organization can mean the difference between meeting your strategic objectives or falling short.