It can feel like shouting into an empty void. You're telling your story as best you can, but it's falling on deaf ears. Or maybe you're not sure how to get the right stories to the right people. Whatever it is, your B2B marketing strategy needs better stories.
Storytelling is hard. It's why Hollywood makes the big bucks. Human beings love stories, and when we hear a good one, it changes us forever.
Your brand has terrific stories to tell, but you've got to tell it the right way, to the right people, or you might as well be shouting in an empty forest.
At UviaUs, we're obsessed with storytelling. That's why we're sharing this three-part series with you on telling better stories. With the right story and approach to tell it, we believe that your B2B story-based marketing will skyrocket.
First, we're going to cover the essential aspect of storytelling. You have to focus on the "why" to connect to the heart.
B2B marketers tend to rely on data and facts. Don't get me wrong, they are important, but you shouldn't lead with that.
Hearing that ER wait times are 2x longer today than they were in 1990 might make you say, "That's not good," but does it motivate you to take a specific action?
How about hearing the story of a husband watching as his partner suffers in a waiting room, that's different. You can imagine being in the same position. Your loved one cries out in pain, and there's nothing you can do but sit in the chair and wait.
An emotional story is both more memorable and more impactful than the statistic on its own. We may not remember numbers and facts, but we remember stories. In fact, storytelling is 20 times more likely to be remembered over facts and figures.
We know emotional connection works, but to prove it, we also have the metrics. After all, when it comes to your marketing strategy, you want to make sure you're using the data-backed tactics that work.
Save the Children conducted an experiment using two brochures. One contained just statistics about children in need and another that also used statistics but led with a story.
The respondents were given $5 for their time and asked if they would like to donate any of that to the cause. Those who received just the statistics gave $1.43 on average. The stats plus the story resulted in $2.38
That's nearly double the impact, all because of the power of storytelling!
If you're excited to "Focus on the Why" and you want to start implementing it in your marketing strategy, here are three simple ways to get started:
Now that you've learned the number one rule of storytelling, next week we'll go even deeper into how to tell better stories.
We'll learn how getting specific, rather than alienating a section of your market, will deeply connect with your prospects and bring your marketing messages to a whole new level of impact.
