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Pamela Mann is a leading UK manufacturer of fashion hosiery supplying high street and online retail shops with the latest fashion tights, stockings, socks and leggings. We wanted to promote our website to a wider audience and customer base. After working with Chris our website now has a much higher online profile for both our wholesale and retail businesses and we are happy to recommend.
Engage Your Website Visitors Through The Power Of Storytelling
It’s been clear for many years now that storytelling holds the key to engaging and inspiring copy. Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool, but taking full advantage of it can be tricky.
Contrary to popular belief, the stories you share do not have to be consistently awe-inspiring. Nor do they need to be remarkable in any way - they simply need to convey some kind of message and meaning.
As with most things, knowing where to start with storytelling can be the hardest part of the process. Precisely where the following tips and tactics could help - simple yet effective starting points to harness the power of storytelling:
1. Personal Experience
Stories are always more impactful when they reflect the personal experience of those telling them. When you draw from your own experience, your writing instantly becomes more impactful and relatable. Telling stories about other people and their experiences is fine, but a personal story always carries a stronger message. Again, even if the subject matter is not entirely earth-shattering in nature.
2. Solve Problems
This is where you demonstrate your understanding of and appreciation for something of importance to your target audience. Having experienced the same problem and found a way to solve it, you’re now in a position to impart your wisdom on others. From a business perspective, this could (of course) mean using personal stories to show people how your products or services are the clear answer to their problem.
3. Keep it Concise
This is where things get tricky, as the appeal of long-form content is limited to a fairly niche demographic. For most everyday consumers, keeping things concise and succinct is the way to go. Though of course, while ensuring you do not miss out any important details. Summarise your stories and the personal experiences you wish to share, giving your audience a bite-sized account of the key points.
4. Show Yourself
Stories are always more impactful when you can actually see the storyteller. Consequently, storytelling by way of video content can be exponentially more appealing than a standard written account. Your tone of voice, inflection, facial expressions, posture, body language and so on will all play a major role in determining how your story is interpreted. None of which can be conveyed with any real impact on paper.
5. Keep it Casual
When telling stories, they should be worded as if you were speaking out loud to someone you know. Irrespective of whether telling a story to an influential executive or a complete stranger, this is not the time for jargon, buzzwords or formal language. Keep the wording of your stories casual, natural and conversational. All of which will make them significantly more believable and relatable.
6. Always Invite Commentary
Last up, a story shared as a one-way communication is basically a lecture. By contrast, a story where readers are encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions is the basis of a conversation. The latter of which is always more engaging for the reader, who knows that their thoughts and opinions matter. However controversial or personal the story may be, let them know you’d be delighted to hear what they have to say in return.