Marketing via storytelling

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood: https://www.pexels.com/photo/opened-white-book-1447273/

 

Mankind has been using storytelling to educate and motivate people from the earliest days of cave dwellers who would draw scenes inspired by their surroundings on the walls of their dwellings. They would often depict the animals they lived amongst, with many of the paintings showing groups of people indulging in hunting. These paintings told tales to the young, teaching them valuable lessons about what kind of life lay ahead for them. To a youngster looking at these paintings on the roof and walls of his or her cave in the flickering light of a log fire, the stories told by them would appear almost like watching a movie in a darkened cinema theatre.

As mankind evolved, so did its ability to tell emotive tales about legends, folklore, and religion to one another. The hold that such vivid imagery implanted in people's minds became unshakeable and this remains true to this day. Look at the world around us and you will see people going to war over religion and perceived historical wrongs imprinted on their minds, thanks to all the stories heard by them about these.

This happens because mankind is more emotional than rational. The reason for that is that humans are not really very different from other animals in that they react primarily on the basis of instinct, rather than any well-thought-out reasoned argument.  The only difference is that humans have a much better ability to communicate with each other and are able to very well articulate their hopes, fears and aspirations. This is something that they do best with the help of storytelling.

Savvy marketers know that the best way to connect with their target audience is on an emotional level rather than a factual one. This led to the rise of the advertising industry whose primary function was to emotionally connect a product to a potential customer by relating a story about it that resonated with the latter. Advertising worked fine for a very long time, but eventually, its magic wore thin with the intended target audience being put off by the slickness of the ads in question. They no longer related to the synthetic emotions associated with the brand.

The advent of the digital age and the age of social media which empowered the customers to engage in real time both with the brands and other consumers sounded the death knell of traditional advertising as one knew it. Instead, consumers shared their personal stories about their real-life experiences with the brands in question. This forced brands to invest in long-term, personal relations with their customers. The only way to do that was to exchange stories with them.

These needn’t necessarily only be about using the brand, but more about what’s going on in their lives and helping find what they are looking for or fulfilling their aspirations. The brand still exists, but more as a friend and an enabler than a product or service that needs to be sold. People are bored of artifice and crave genuineness. That is the reason why we see the movie industry in the doldrums. People would rather see YouTube videos of people like them doing stuff that interests them than watch the fake heroics and the dramatic scenarios that traditional cinema throws at them.

If you can get your customers invested in your brand through the tales you relate to them, you will not only make paying customers out of them but also loyal advocates of your brand. They will buy your brand not because you sold it to them, but because they bought it from you, as it is the natural thing for them to do.

 

How can a solopreneur leverage storytelling to grow their business?

Most solopreneurs become solopreneurs for a reason. There is the urge to prove that you can earn your living on your own without the infrastructural, moral and financial support provided by a regular job. There can also be the incentive of being left alone to follow your passion or dream and try and turn it into a thriving business. It could also be driven out of your desire to not have to deal with office politics or the pressures and tensions associated with a regular 9 to 5 job. What helps is that advancements in technology have made it person for a single person to easily and effectively carry out tasks and functions that would require a team of people to accomplish in the past.  The fact that there are many examples of solopreneurs finding fabulous success and even creating one person unicorns makes solopreneurship stand out as a doable and viable business and self-employment option.

However, the most challenging part of a solopreneur’s journey is that of scaling up or achieving substantial growth. Business growth is almost always driven by the size of a business enterprise’s network and this is where a solopreneur might find himself or herself hamstrung in comparison to regular businesses.  One of the most effective ways for a solopreneur to grow their network is by leveraging the ancient art of storytelling. Story telling has been used by mankind since the time of cave dwellers, who whispered tales around camp fires and drew paintings on cave walls depicting things like hunting scenes with the intent of teaching others to acquire the skills necessary to get along and survive in life.

Every solopreneur has a deeply personal tale about what motivated them to embark on their entrepreneurial journey which they can use  to forge a connection with their target audience and, thereby grow their network.  Let us look at how a solopreneur can leverage storytelling to scale up their business in a major way by expanding their network of connections-

Use Story Telling to Forge Authentic Bonds and Generate Trust

Share your unique origin story in an open and sincere manner with those you think constitute your target audience. Let them, for instance, know what drove you to chuck the security of a regular job and dive into the uncertain and highly challenging world of solopreneurship. Let them, for sure, know of the primary reason that made you start your business. It could be anything ranging from your passionate belief in your business idea to your utter disillusionment with conventional jobs. Share both your frustration with your old job and the fact that you think that you would be much better off using your considerable skills to resolve client issues or problems in the most effective manner working as your own boss rather than as part of an organised hierarchy.  This will help give your brand a human face. By sharing your vulnerability you will come across as both relatable and authentic, which in turn will help you forge a long term bond with your likely business prospects.

Expand Your Reach and Build a Community

The best way for a solopreneur to expand their network is by going beyond listing the features of one’s product or service and actually sharing the tale behind how they positively impacted the clients’ lives. Even better, you could invite your audience to share their own stories pertaining to a brand or service (not necessarily yours) in that niche. This will help forge a sense of community that goes beyond mere commercial considerations. Another thing that you could do is to share stories pertaining to your collaborations with other solopreneurs and businesses. This will help your brand connect with an ever larger audience.

Differentiate Your Brand

You can use storytelling to effectively craft a narrative around your brand that is less about selling your wares and more about connecting emotionally with your clients. Let them know what your mission and core values are with regard to your brand so that they can get emotionally invested in it. Creating an emotional resonance allows you to craft a compelling brand story that differentiates your brand from the competition.

Ensure that your storytelling happens across platforms-social media posts, long form blogs, videos, podcasts, case studies, e-books and emails. What is important is that the messaging be uniform and consistent across the platforms enabling you to firm up your brand identity.

Call-to-action

You should leave scope for inviting a call to action from the consumers of your stories. Story driven content marketing in the shape of blog posts, videos, podcasts and social media content allows you to advocate for your brand and product or service without sounding the least bit salesy.

Storytelling is more than sharing an interesting tale for a solopreneur. It is, in fact, strategic asset to be leveraged for building relationships and expanding your network in an organic manner. It helps you distinguish your brand in a highly cluttered marketplace in a very authentic and, therefore, impactful way. Solopreneurs can use storytelling to find growth and success all on their own by growing and cultivating a loyal group of followers who become instrumental in their scaling up substantially.