Let’s talk about the power of storytelling.
Storytelling is powerful whether it’s in marketing, business, or just in life in general. Just think back to when you were a kid, and you had either mom or dad or maybe even a teacher telling you a story. Think back to how captivated you were, how engaged you were!
What does this have to do with business? Well, it turns out that people don’t necessarily care about what you do in your business, as much as they care about the end result of what you do. They don’t really care about pie charts and graphs and statistics … they care about the things that they can see make a difference.
The Emotional Impact Of Your Business
Here’s an example, and you might have heard me tell this story before. One day our washer went out, and we called an appliance repair company to come fix it. They couldn’t get out to us for a couple of days, and so in the meanwhile the laundry was piling up! Throughout this whole time our youngest daughter really wanted to wear her Mickey Mouse dress. Every day she would bring it to us asking us to put it on her … and I’d have to be the bad guy and tell her it was dirty, and she couldn’t wear it!
So when we finally got the washer fixed, it wasn’t just about getting the washer fixed. Yes the part was fixed, but now the family was happy! We had clean clothes to wear, and our daughter finally got to wear her Mickey Mouse dress! She was so excited and happy, and the appliance repair guy was like a hero to her!
So think about this in your business. If you own a catering company, it’s not just the food and the service, it’s that event, it’s that wedding the guests will never forget. Or maybe it’s a business luncheon, and you brought in this really good lunch and impressed whomever you were trying to pitch that day and really landed the deal.
If you are a heating and air conditioning company maybe you came in and you saved the day because your clients’ air conditioner was out on a hot summer day. Or maybe they were hosting holiday company and you came in and you fixed their heating unit right before their company came and everyone had a great, relaxing, comfortable time.
None of these clients really care about what part you’re using, or what you are doing as a business process. They care that you came through with your service, and you made it happen!
So really get involved in your stories! That’s one of the things that we do at Market With Mario, we meet with our clients at least once a month and we say, “What stories can we share on social media, in a blog post, in a video?” Because those types of stories are the things that really get people engaged in your company and your brand.
When I’m meeting with a potential client we’re not going over metrics and impressions and different acronyms that they don’t understand. What we’re doing is telling the stories that helped our client, who started out with no online presence, the phone wasn’t ringing, and then through months of working with us, they were able to get this gigantic following, this online presence. Now they’re hiring more employees, their lead flow is great, they’re adding trucks, etc. And that’s what business owners want! They don’t want impressions and clicks and all the nitty gritty details, they want more sales.
So think about the fact that what your customer, your client, really wants is not your business, but the result of your business. And the way you convey that to them is through the stories of the different people you’ve helped along the way.
I hope this helps you take a more personalized, storytelling approach to your online marketing, and I look forward to hearing about your next story!