Most people don’t care about the benefits of what your hotel offers unless you tell them why they should. The truth is we all love stories. Whether a friend is telling you about her trip to the Drakensberg, a grandma is sharing her childhood memories, or you are listening to a podcast. These are all stories, and we are obsessed with them. Our brain is a story addict.
There are thousands of only marketing tools out there, which is kind of silly. We can’t just be lazy anymore and keep repeating what everyone else is saying. A product or service is not enough — your brand needs to stand out. Quite often, decision-making is more emotional than logical, so telling a story can help distinguish your company from competitors and capture the buyers’ interest faster.
Who you are, what you do, and why I, as a customer, should care?
Stories help us to create unique content, and business leaders who know the power of great storytelling have an advantage over their competitors.
What does it mean for you? You also have a story to tell, no matter your business’s stage. If you’re starting, you can share your founding myth. Like, what led you to build a company, what barriers you had to overcome, and how are you going to save humanity:)
How to help customers understand your product value with the help of storytelling?
Technology and service providers should admit specific barriers that prevent them from creating a more empathetic connection with the potential users of their products. But for any problem, there’s always a solution. Let us take a look at three situations:
Problem: Limited focus on business value
Historically, most companies have focused on how they have worked on their product and their cool features. Or if it comes to service companies, they tend to list the number of services they provide. The truth is users don’t need this information. They often want to know “How your product or service can help them.”
Solution: PAS — Problem — Agitate — Solve
The PAS approach provides a structure that puts customers (and their situation) at the story’s beginning. First, you are laying down a point that the prospect is struggling with, shaking it up, and bringing this problem to the reader’s mind. You show how widespread an issue is. Here you can provide statistics or research studies.
From there, you describe how the situation might worsen without a fix. And then, you are going to offer your winning solution. You can include testimonials and reviews to convince the reader. The point of this formula is to make readers think, “That’s how I feel, and I’m sick of it.” You promise to show that your product/service is the cure.
Problem: Long lists of details and product features
You can explain some of the technical details of your app, platform, or service you provide. Most of the time, you will use benefits instead of features in your messaging. The easiest way to tell the difference between features and benefits is that features tend to be more technical, while benefits tell users what your product will do for them.
Solution: Features and benefits formula
Imagine you’re selling a robot vacuum. Its unique features are “self-drive” mode, spinning brushes to reach the tight corners, sensors, etc. All these are features because these are facts about robotic vacuums — it explains what they do. To define a benefit, ask yourself: “So what?”:
- Robot vacuums can help you dispose of dust.
- So what?
- Unlike traditional canister models, robot vacuums are autonomous and intelligent.
- So what?
- The vacuums are equipped with lasers, sensors, and even WI-FI.
- So what?
- Want to keep your floor clean without lifting a finger? Enjoy your coffee elsewhere while the robot vacuum cleans your house.
Problem: Lack of empathy with a customer situation
Don’t just become a faceless company that uses the exact words in their product descriptions or rewrites blog posts with similar keywords as their competitors. Don’t do this just for the sake of SEO. People want to buy from companies that they feel connected with. If your business has a vision that audiences can believe, you are more likely to succeed.
With the help of social media, people can now directly engage with brands by sharing their thoughts and feelings, leaving feedback, etc. They communicate with brands as though the brand is a person. It is an excellent source for businesses to obtain more information about potential buyers and use it to produce valuable content.
As Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.”
I will boldly suggest my version: “Give the reader at least one situation or challenge he or she can root for and explain how your product or service can help solve it.”
Solution: The founding myth
Your company has its own story — your founding myth. Think about the moment you came up with an idea for your product or service and the story behind it. What passion led the founder(s) to start the company? What barriers you had to overcome? Provide the context so your customers understand why you are worth their attention. Using such a storytelling technique can help the audience connect with you so they trust you, the human, and the brand.
On a final note
These are just a few examples of storytelling approaches. Remember that you are not always the hero of your stories. Your customers and potential customers are. And today, they are overwhelmed by the amount of information they receive, taking into account that most of the time, this information is irrelevant. So take your time to do proper research. Focus on your customers’ needs and convey this message in your copy. You will see the benefits of deeper connections between your brand and customers and increased engagement.