Stories hold power. They capture and captivate us.
It's in our DNA. We are genetically coded to respond to a good story. Cave men, Vikings, Hollywood scriptwriters, novelists: they all share a common trait. They were—or are—good storytellers.
If a story is written well enough, we are invested in the outcome. We want to know what happens next. How the main character will solve their problem.
Telling stories in your marketing copy is no different. You want to appeal to your readers' curiosity. You want to bond with them. And you do that by getting emotional buy-in, by appealing to the senses, by having a unique voice.
That is what will set your website, brochure, blog or newsletter apart from all the other mediocre stuff your customers are assaulted with on a daily basis.
6 Tips for Grabbing Your Customer with a Well-told Story
- Be an 'interesting' character. In all of history, there has never been a person exactly like you. Can you boil down the essence of your personality in a few sentences? Me, I'm slightly neurotic (in a good way). I love to laugh more than anything else in the world. And I like to think of mundane things in new ways. That's my personality. Let your personality shine through in your writing, even if it's a little quirky. It's what people are craving to see.
- Use your own voice—not someone else's. Write the way you talk—but without all the um's. If you can't remember what your true voice sounds like, try tape recording yourself. Your goal should be that if someone doesn't see your name attached to a piece you wrote, they will still know it's you.
- Sprinkle in a few metaphors. They will create vivid images in your readers' minds by helping them remember your message longer and creating a greater emotional response. An example: my post from a while back called Keeping the Teenager, Gave the Baby Away.
- Hit as many senses as you can. While it's true that one of our most powerful senses is the visual one (60 percent of us remember information better when we can picture it), don't forget auditory (words depicting sounds) and tactile. If you use words that appeal to these three major thinking and learning styles, you'll hit each reader with their way of taking in information. Your readers will be much more likely to remember your content.
- Show your imperfect self. This is a great device for building empathy. Tell a story about a mistake you made and what you learned from it. Or maybe you tried something new that you thought you would suck at and you actually enjoyed it. Like the time I blogged about how this introverted writer conquered her fear of hosting a live networking event. Your readers will be supportive because they can relate to what you went through.
- Make them laugh. Humor unites us—as long as it isn't the cruel, offensive kind. If you can make your readers laugh, they will listen more to what you have to say. I've quoted him before, but John Cleese of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers said it best: "If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas." For more on using humor, see this separate post, How to Be Funny: Why Humor Sells.
Where do stories fit in your marketing? Can you think of ways to use them?
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Posted by: Bregojacinto | 08/02/2011 at 02:53 PM