Storytelling is incredibly powerful. Transporting the reader to another place, transforming their view on a subject and enlightening them with a new way of thinking. There’s knowhow to storytelling and it’s not always easy, but it’s important for a company to understand how to clearly and interestingly articulate its key messages in a way that will resonate with its audience.
“And do you know what is the most-often missing ingredient in a sales message? It’s the sales message that doesn’t tell an interesting story. Storytelling . . . good storytelling . . . is a vital component of a marketing campaign.”- Gary Halbert, author
Particularly in the B2B tech space it can be difficult to define the story that has real human interest. How do we devise a narrative that appeals to the individual, that identifies something new or explores the industry in a fresh and exciting way?
From a global perspective, it’s a highly competitive landscape with thousands of companies vying for similar headlines to cover its product launch, its latest announcement, or how its new service offer beats all the rest, yet there’s often little consideration to the story, how the narrative evolves to engage your readers, and what it really means to end users.
What I’m saying is, it’s always important to consider the story and here are my three reasons why.
Be heard above the noise
It’s not uncommon for journalists to receive hundreds of emails and dozens of calls a day to talk about a company’s latest news announcement, partnership or offering. There’s no wonder journalists let their calls go to voicemail or to ctrl+A and delete when they see “NEW” in the email subject line.
It can be subjective: to be or not to be newsworthy. Journalists need to deep dive through their inboxes every day to determine what makes it to print and to their online publications. Brands that create worthwhile content that have impact will be the stories that make the cut.
“Purposeful storytelling isn’t show business, it’s good business.” – Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment
Educate and create understanding
We probably say the term “thought leader” in every other sentence to our clients… and for good reason. Thought leadership helps to establish a brand or individual as an expert in their field or in a sector and topic. What the brand, and often what an appointed spokesperson has to say has gravitas, value and is highly regarded. Creating thought leadership content as a part of a brand’s communication plan and strategy can help to build a positive reputation, differentiate the organisation from its competitors, and build brand value.
Several publications will only accept thought leader contributions – that being opinion pieces, and content that is anecdotal, educational and has a strong point of view. Product focused pieces or self-promotional sales pitches do not interest the media – where’s the story? What value does it truly have for the reader? Content that solves problems, focuses on the human element or interest and is thought-provoking is what journalists and their editorial teams are looking for.
“At its very core, marketing is storytelling. The best advertising campaigns take us on an emotional journey – appealing to our wants, needs and desires – while at the same time telling us about a product or service.” – Melinda Partin, Multimedia Producer
Build a narrative around your products and services
There’s a reason for your new product offer or service – and something deeper than to improve your bottom line. There’s an industry-wide concern that your product will help to solve; it’s a tool that will help to make IT professionals’ jobs easier, improving production, efficiency; the service offers something more, bigger, better, that will help to revolutionise the sector.
Did the product idea come about because of an incident? What led to the conception of the innovation, why is it necessary now? How does it compare to what was on the market a year ago? Ten years ago? Is there a story about the evolution of the product that you could tell?
Who is this product helping, how and why? On a personal level, is it making their job easier? More stress-free? Could you share quotes or stories based on real-life experiences? On a larger, organisational level, how will it in-turn improve efficiency and contribute towards profit?
In asking these sorts of questions in the initial stages of creating a press release, whitepaper or thought leadership article, you are enabling yourself to refine the story for all the right reasons – to serve and give value to the reader and end user.
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin, author
As PR professionals, storytelling is the basis of our job. From developing our client’s strategy, to creating content to media pitching, we are always thinking about the brand’s story – who they are and what do they want to convey. We have a nose for sniffing out the story and understand how to create content that ignites interest and connects with the right audiences globally.
Discover more at C8
Your content needs to reach its target audience through the right channels, in the right format, at the perfect point in the decision-making cycle. With that, we can help.
From informative thought leadership pieces and technical whitepapers, to easily digestible incisive comment and vibrant, shareable visuals, C8 develops insightful content that is tailored to resonate with your target customer.
For more information about how C8 Consulting can help to create compelling campaigns and kick-start conversations for your business, contact us. Read more about our services and case studies.