By Shumirai Chimombe
Imagine watching a YouTube video of a business owner selling her range of handmade ceramic dishes talking about how beautiful they are, how they can be used, and giving the price range. Then watching a video on Instagram of another entrepreneur also selling ceramics, but this time tells her story of how she employs and trains unemployed women from a nearby township, and gives them the skills to produce this beautiful range with designs inspired by the Shwe Shwe fabric that the women love to wear.
Which product would grab the most attention? Most likely, it would be the product with a story. The reason being that stories have the power to grab attention, connect with emotion, and persuade us to take action.
Storytelling has become an essential necessity for entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders who wish to distinguish themselves in today’s fast-paced and competitive market. Especially where social media has so many people jostling for attention, likes, and ultimately clicks on the ‘Add to Cart” icon on your website, or clients’ feet through the doors of your business. The same applies to other areas of business communication – be it pitching your idea to potential funders and clients, advertising and marketing your services on radio, television or online platforms, or networking at business events.
StoryTagger defines business storytelling as the art of using narratives to convey messages, ideas and values in a compelling manner. If used effectively this can be a very powerful tool to captivate audiences and have a lasting impact. It is a strategic approach that drives engagement, shapes brand identity, creates a deep emotional connection, and establishes trust.
What are the benefits of storytelling?
Boosting engagement: Overwhelming your audience with too much complex information or technical jargon is a sure way to lose people’s attention. Weaving a compelling story that speaks to your customers can help you connect and engage with them on a deeper level.
Establishing emotional connections: Related to boosting engagement, customers often feel more drawn to stories than sales pitches, marketing emails or other overtly promotional methods. If used skillfully, stories can grab their attention, appeal to their emotions and encourage them to listen to your message instead of tuning out.
Giving Inspiration: A good story will resonate with your audience and inspire them to take action, especially when your message appeals to their emotions. This will boost your business goals – whether it’s to gain more clients, sell your product, encourage people to sign up for your service, or subscribe to your publication.
Building trust: If your story is authentic and sincere, it will earn the trust of the people you are reaching out to, and as we know, earning trust is a major asset to have in business.
Giving you the edge: You can gain competitive advantage if your competitors do not have a business storytelling strategy. And even if others also use similar strategies, the great thing about storytelling is that you can craft your stories to be unique to your business and your identity which will help you stand out.
Types of storytelling
According to Indeed.com there are several types of storytelling. You can decide on which strategy is the most suitable for your company and aligns with your identity the best. Here are four options:
The challenge: You can tell the story that demonstrates how someone faced a challenge and overcame it. Also referred to as the hero’s journey, this type of story follows the mission of the hero, who powers through a challenge.
The underdog: The underdog story follows the journey of how someone starts out appearing to have little chance for success. However, by the end, they’re victorious.
The customer: Focusing on a customer’s story shows a real-life case of how your product or service helped someone.
The pivot: This demonstrates to your audience that you’re flexible and adaptable with a pivot story, which shows how your company changed directions to overcome a challenge or to improve its services to its clients.
Crafting your story
The art of storytelling may be a difficult concept for some people to navigate. Especially as it requires creativity, authenticity and uniqueness. But you can follow some tips to set you in the right direction.
Define your story
What message do you want to get across? Do you want to tell your personal story about how you started your business? Or tell the story behind the company. Or you create a narrative that demonstrates your values and what you want to achieve. The iconic John Lewis & Partners Christmas adverts are the perfect example of how a brand tells a captivating story that goes straight to the viewers’ emotions especially during the season of giving.
Focus on the story, not the product:
Subtlety is the key ingredient here. Emphasising your product too much can make the story feel insincere and drive away potential clients. It is possible to inspire your audience to try your product without pushing it on them.
Have a clear goal
Your storytelling campaign needs a clear, specific objective and should align closely with the business goal you’re aiming to meet. Having a clear structure with a beginning, middle, and end to your story will help maintain a logical flow so your audience can follow the narrative.
Supporting your goal with real work experiences from employees and leaders or from your clients is an impactful form of storytelling for business.
Decide on the best way to share your story
How will you keep your audience engaged? Think about the best medium to share your stories. This could be through blogs, videos, podcasts, radio, television or other means that best reaches your target audience.
Ultimately, developing a strategy that translates your journey, expertise and achievements into compelling storytelling could be the magic that will drive the growth and success of your business.
