How to Tell a Story to Market Your Business

If you tell a story well, it can be an excellent way of encouraging people to engage with your brand. It helps you to show how reliable you are and how much you know about the work that you do. In addition, it does so in a way that is interesting and entertaining.

This makes storytelling an essential tool if you are marketing your small business. When it comes to using this tool, you need to understand how to tell a story that works. There are several steps to follow.

Understand the why, who and where

You cannot simply sit down and hope to create a story without any planning. You need to know what the context of the story is. In order to do this, you should establish certain things:

• Who is telling the story?
• What is the location and timeline for the story?
• Who is involved in the story?
• What achievement is being sought during the story?
• What challenges are part of the story?
• Which ways of communication will be used to send the message?

If you know why you are writing the story, and what you want your message to be, you can clearly communicate this to your audience.

Be honest

You should never over exaggerate when you are telling a story. Your audience will know if you are not being completely honest with them. This will cause them to lose confidence in your brand which can be damaging in the short and long-term.

It’s always best to tell an authentic story that helps people to connect with your brand. For instance, you can explain how you overcame the challenges of starting the business. You may also want to talk about how you are involved in the local community. Your aim is not to show how ultra-impressive your brand is; it’s to help people relate to your business. This peaks their interest and makes it more likely that they will use your services or buy your products.

Keep the story consistent

One reason why you need to fully understand the story that you are trying to tell is that consistency is vital. If you use different types of language, or different messages, across different areas of the Internet, this can be confusing to your audience.

You should decide on what message you are trying to put across and stick to it. This helps people to develop a deep understanding of your brand and avoids any misunderstandings.

Involve your customers

People love to get involved with a good story. This is why you need to figure out a way to make your audience a part of your story. For instance, you may want to encourage people to tell their own short stories about how they have interacted with your brand. These stories can be included when you write about the big picture of your business.

You can see how important storytelling can be to your marketing efforts. Tell a story in the right way and it can help you attract customers and keep them engaged.

Also, it’s necessary to consider the way you will use to bring the stories to the right audience. Know where your target audience is, and the communication channels will become very important.