Imagine if a mystery opened like this…
"At a certain time, a person walked into a building. They saw something somewhere in the building, and then it chased them..."
We're you spooked? No? Yeah, me either.
Because good stories aren't vague, but rather grip you with details from the moment they start to the moment they end. Whether it's the immediate setting of "a dark and stormy night" or the characterization of "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself," any novelist will tell you: details make or break a book.
What works for books works in B2B marketing because the rules of storytelling stay the same.
We're obsessed with storytelling. That's why we're sharing this three-part series on telling better stories. With the right story, your communication will leave a lasting impact.
Last week, we talked about focusing on the "why" and connecting with the heart. This week, we'll show you how to be as specific as possible to become more relatable to your prospective audience and thus more engaging.
Many businesses make the mistake of trying to appeal to everyone and essentially becoming generalists.
Nobody wants to "alienate" a potential section of their market. Yet, the companies that do best are often the very ones who seem to be "ignoring" whole swathes of potential customers in favor of their niche.
Why does specificity work better than generalization?
Imagine two ads rolling across your Linkedin feed. One says, "People love our financial assistant app for all their finance needs!"
The next says, "Michael, a 47-year-old entrepreneur, was kept so busy with his company's finances, he would forget to pay his personal phone bill! The late charges racked up, but not anymore. Now, he uses our financial assistant app, which automates his bills so he'll never have another late payment again."
Which one are you more likely to click on?
Even if your name isn't Michael and you're not a 47-year-old entrepreneur, specificity breeds relatability. If you've ever forgotten to pay the phone bill, or felt overwhelmed by personal and business finances, you'll relate to that story.
Unlike the vagueness in the first ad, the details in the second one tend to connect on a personal level, causing the audience to empathize and relate.
Specificity breeds better storytelling.
If you're ready to get specific with your brand's messaging, here are three simple ways to start implementing specificity in your marketing strategy.
• Get the details on your ideal audience. Be as specific as possible. Give them a name, age, job title, what they like to do in their free time, what they drive, what they like to eat, you name it… all the details you can think of nailed.
• Write directly with that one person in mind.
• Use specific details about situations they encounter and real people like them.
Now that you've learned about the power of getting specific, next week, we'll be wrapping up this three-part series with a tip that's integral to good storytelling: sticking to one singular message.
This goes along well with "get specific," but it's more about the overall message of your story. You don't want to confuse potential prospects or leave them unclear on what to do next.
