Based from Seth Godin’s All Marketers Tell Stories & Donald Miller’s Building a Story Brand.

“ In an internet world, opportunity for marketers has nothing to do with re-creating mass marketing and creating commercials that can’t be skipped. Instead marketers can use the many dimensions of our media culture to tell more complex stories faster and more effectively than they ever could have using television commercials.” - Seth Godin

When we think of marketing and advertising we might still think of commercials, large signs, and lies. Thankfully that’s not the direction marketing is taking. Consumers want truth and authenticity. They want to believe that by purchasing a product they are not only making their lives better but they’re also supporting a great company that’s doing great things. Consumers don’t want companies to tell them they need something, they want them to foster a need or want that currently exists within them.

We all tell ourselves a story. How we view the world around ourselves is part of our story.

“Stories let us lie to ourselves. And those lies satisfy our desires. It’s the story, not the good or the service you actually sell, that pleases the consumer.” -Seth Godin

BUT, you can’t just sit down and make up a story that you want you clients to believe just because you want them to. It’s tempting to state your features, benefits and proof. They don’t want to see your proof, and the more you push it the more you become suspect. But if a client figures it out on their own, they are more likely to believe it.

“…if we position our products and services as anything but and aid in helping people survive, thrive, be accepted, find love, achieve an inspirational identity, or bond with a tribe that will defend them physically and socially, good luck selling anything to anybody.” - Donald Miller

These are examples of the stories people are telling themselves. We are all constantly trying to find a group of people that make us feel secure and understood. A tribe. By being apart of a tribe or a few tribes, it takes care of almost all of our humanly needs: love, connection, protection, and identity. So when you’re telling a story to your clients you’ll need to decide which tribes your people identity with.

How you can use Storytelling to sell your service or product.

“The key is to make your company’s message about something that helps the customer survive and to do so in such a way that they can understand it without burning too many calories. - Donald Miller

When we make our clients search through mess and noise to find out how we can help them to survive and thrive, we make them work too hard for us. When we hear too much noise, we just tune it out. That’s what your clients will do when they land on your social media or website and it’s full of facts, promises, features and proof. You only need a story. A story is the easiest way for one to get information quickly and productively.

Your story should always have these elements:

A recognizable character (someone who is about to benefit from your product or service).
A Problem (what problem do they encounter that you have the solution to)?
A Solution (your product or service).
What life looks like after using your product or service

“When we do this, we become the people who help them overcome their challenges and achieve the life they want to live.” - Donald Miller

Featured