Seth Godin said ‘marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell”. And he couldn’t be more right. These days we don’t care about socks, we care about what they will do with our feet.
And so storytelling became an essential part of content marketing today. However we have been telling stories since the early days. In the cave of Lascaux in France they have discovered paintings that date back to 15.000 bc. Back than they used cave paintings to tell stories about animals and where to find them.
Fast forward to the now. Storytelling isn’t the cornerstone of leadership, but it often enables leaders to connect with an audience in ways normal forms of communication fall short. Creating and using a personal brand is a great opportunity if you want your message to be heard.
Harnessing the magic of a well-told story is a tough line to toe. So that is why I have made a list of five tips to ensure storytelling is something your brand can use to its advantage:
1. Online visibility
Don’t ignore online because you don’t feel comfortable with it. Hybrid models are the future. Think mixing offline & online , digital & physical, working from home & working in the office, blended learning. This is how we will Iive and work in the future. So best if you use both, offline and online in your storytelling. Do we even call it a company when they have no website or socials these days?
2. Walk the talk
Don’t tell a Hollywood story when in fact it’s a broadway show. Storytelling is more than writing social media posts telling who you are and what you offer and repeating this over and over again. It’s creating engagement. And when you are engaging with your audience you have to be real and authentic. One of the biggest assets you have and must use is your story. It is your USP (unique selling point), your personal brand. There is no other IT’er, graphic designer, copywriter etc with the same story at exactly the same time who is using exactly the same tools or platforms in exact. If that is the case you have a copycat and that means that a person thinks you are so much more interesting than their own story that they decide it’s better to be a copy of you.
3. Comfort zones are your arch enemy
So best if you leave them at the door. Most of you will have heard of imposter syndrome, perfectionism, fear of failure and even fear of public speaking. A lot of people ask themselves: “what story do I have to tell? There are already so many of us. How can my story make a difference? Well it can, because when you tell your story you create the know, like, trust factor also known as rule for buying. It is NOT necessary to get everyone to like you. For absolutely no reason at all, some people do not like you. But I thinkthe worst is to be absolutely invisible that no one likes NOR dislikes you.
4. Apply the Japanese proverb
Vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a nightmare. A japanse proverb that nailed it. When you are telling your story but you are not asking your audience to take action, it will remain just another story that somebody once told. When you are asking your audience to take action but you don’t give them a framework in the form of a story, they will not engage nor will they share your story.
Vision is what gets you able to tell a story, action is what gets your story shared.
5. You do you, at any time
Take time to find out which platform and tone of voice suits you. Storytelling is a marathon, not a sprint so best if you choose something that you can manage for the long run. As said in tip nr. 2 your story is your unique selling point to build that know, like, trust factor that leads to buying customers. This does not happen overnight so choose wisely. Writing a book is not for everyone nor is vlogging on your own youtube channel.
Do you have any other tips that help to improve the storytelling of a brand? Feel free to share it with us in the comments or on our Social Media platforms.
