Thanks to the pandemic, people are craving human interaction more than ever, and many are relying on businesses to deliver this. Today’s consumers care more about who they are doing business with as opposed to simply the features and benefits you can provide – for this reason, more and more businesses are embracing storytelling. Let’s dive into five benefits that mean your business should too!
Differentiate your business
These days, almost every industry is saturated with businesses offering the same products or services at a similar price, meaning competition is extremely high and to cut through the noise, you need to have something that differentiates your business from the rest.
One of the most obvious ways to set yourself apart from your competitors is by communicating your history, purpose and values; the things that make your business unique. Telling the story behind your company is a fantastic way to captivate your audience, convey purpose, and ultimately, stand out from your competitors. In a world of features and facts, storytelling will not only get you noticed, but it will get you remembered too, with stories being up to 22 times more memorable than facts and figures.
Build relationships
Did you know 94% of brands’ have no meaning in consumers’ lives? This means, if one of your competitors undercuts you (even by a small amount), it’s highly likely your customers will up and leave. This is why you need to be connecting with your audience on a more personal level; think of them as your friend rather than just another business opportunity. To establish this relationship, you need to gain their trust by opening up and showing them who you are: tell them your story.
You need to give people a reason to want to interact with your business, and a powerful story will speak to your audience on a much deeper level than features and benefits ever could. Storytelling will humanise your brand and make it more relatable by sharing a vulnerable side to your business, establishing a clear sense of purpose and in turn, building a community. By developing more meaningful, emotional relationships with your customers, you will also be encouraging long-term brand loyalty, ensuring those who join are there to stay.
Increase your profits
If you’ve read any of our previous blog posts, you will likely be familiar with the term: emotion sells. Whether you’re in the B2B or B2C market, buyers will initially make their decisions based on emotional factors and rationalise their choices after. And guess what… storytelling is a fantastic way to evoke an emotional response from your audience and motivate them to want to do business with you. At the end of the day, people want to do business with people – not cold, faceless corporations. But don’t just take my word for it, listen to what the numbers have to say: 55% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand if they have a story that they can admire or relate to.
Create consistent and engaging communication
Storytelling should be integrated throughout all of your marketing campaigns, as it helps to communicate a consistent brand story that reinforces your audiences’ understanding of your business values and purpose while offering structure for your employees to follow. Telling stories also allows you to communicate ideas more engagingly and memorably, which most likely explains why 92% of consumers say they want brands to create ads that feel like a story.
Motivate your employees
Along with driving action from your customers, stories are a great way to motivate your employees. They are the heart and soul of your business, and your success rests in their hands, so it’s fundamental they are performing at their best – but, how can you ensure they do that?
The simplest way to engage and motivate any human is by giving them a purpose – something to believe in – and what better way to communicate this to your employees than by telling stories that you are passionate about (and that they should be, too). Storytelling should not only focus on communicating your businesses’ story, but should also include stories from your employees. After all, they are the backbone of your business, and encouraging them to share their stories can help them to realise their value and make them feel like an integral part of your establishment.
At the end of the day, storytelling is all about building meaningful relationships by connecting with people on an emotional level – whether that’s your customers or employees. In today’s society, it shouldn’t be an afterthought, but rather at the forefront of every business. Ultimately, if you are looking to grow and succeed in any market, you need to be embracing storytelling.
