Once upon a time…
From the time we are children, we are addicted to stories. We crave them. We progress from fairy tales to films, and yes, some of us even still read books. No matter what form they take, we’re continually captivated by a good story and will spend great amounts of time and money to get them.
That’s why marketers use stories so expertly.
Stories work. Why? Well, in part they help us make sense of the world we live in. They provide us characters and narratives that help us make the abstract understandable and the complex more simple.
In marketing, that sometimes means reversing that process. Good marketing stories take simple products and services and, using abstractions, connect them in meaningful ways to the customer. Marketers craft stories that make cans of soda more than just cheap 12 ounce containers of fizzy water. Those cans are magically transformed into attractive lifestyles that are available to us all if we just drink more Pepsi.
How does your story fit into your customer’s story?
This is one of the key questions any business owner or service provider needs to ask. After all, your customer isn’t really buying your piece of hardware or your bit of service. What you’re selling probably isn’t “must-have” or “one-of-a-kind.” No, what will determine whether your customer invests in you will be whether your story connects to theirs.
Chick-fil-a makes a pretty good chicken sandwich, but so do McDonald’s, KFC and many other restaurants. Their quality and service are good, but not that much better. Chick-fil-a has a public mission beyond chicken sandwiches, however. The faith story of S. Truett Cathy (and continued by his son Dan) stands out to customers. For a few, that’s off-putting, but for a vastly wider audience, it’s one that connects on a level deeper than food. And when they’re given the option of patronizing Chick-fil-a or some other restaurant that merely serves chicken, they choose the option that tells a meaningful story.
The same is true with Starbucks, Wendy’s and many other companies. Their “About Us” pages aren’t just dry bios or histories. They’re riveting stories that connect with customers.
How does your product or service help the customer write their story?
So, if you don’t have a riveting personal story to capture your customers, that’s okay. You can still help them write their own story through what you provide. Firestone doesn’t just sell tires. They sell peace of mind that your teenager, out driving on rainy or icy roads, will come home safely because the car they’re in has Firestone tires.
Nike doesn’t sell shoes. They sell a dream of athletic achievement. They sell a sense of belonging through being a user of the brand.
I could go on and on talking about how Apple, Dodge, Dollar Shave Club and thousands of other companies take their often very ordinary products and transform them into plot lines for their customers’ stories. That’s what separates them from companies who only sell computers, cars or razor blades.
It’s also what makes them lots and lots of money.
If you’re a small business or non-profit, you may have a great story to share. I know for a fact your product or service has part to play in your customers’ stories. But you’re not a story-teller. You’re about the business or the mission. That’s okay, but you still need someone to tell your story.
Knuckleball Digital exists to do that for you. We’re professional story-tellers. And telling your story is part of telling our story. We exist to help you connect with your customers.
Contact us today for a free consultation. Whether you want to tell your story in a blog, through video or on social media (or all three!) we can help.