Stop Telling The Same Old Story

Stories? Yes. A relationship? No.

If you follow marketing at all, you hear a lot about brand stories.

How it’s important to share your stories.

How people are going to hear those stories, and want a relationship with your brand.

I don’t believe it– not that last part anyway.

And neither do Les Binet and Sarah Carter of the London creative communication agency adam&eveDDB.

In their book, how not to plan: 66 ways to screw it up, they write:

By and large people don’t want to “actively engage” or have “strong relationships” with brands… and they don’t need to
(in order) for marketing to be successful.

(You don’t need to) actually “communicate” much at all… brand loyalty is largely an irrelevance.

Does that mean stories are a waste of time?

No. Stories are important for the same reason that marketing and advertising and communication are important: they’re how you get attention, create a good impression, and get people to remember you.

Let other people tell your story

Testimonials

If someone told you their service was top-notch, that you could trust them to do a great job, you’d take it with a grain of salt, right?

But what if a third party, a satisfied customer, told you the same thing about a service provider? It would inspire a lot more trust.

That’s why testimonials are a great way to tell your story. I feature mine as a separate menu item, and I include one at the end of every post. My clients tell these “stories” a lot more convincingly than I ever could.

Testimonials can take different forms.

Check out this Land Rover video. It’s like a mini-documentary (3.5 minutes). It’s also a work of art that highlights the power of letting others tell your story.

Obviously most of us can’t take a film crew to the Himalayas, but that’s not the point. What’s important: be open to different ways of telling your story.

Word of mouth

Marketing expert Jay Baer says that word of mouth marketing is the most effective and cost-effective way to generate customers and grow any business.

There’s nothing better than having people tell other people how great you are.

But here’s the thing: nobody will talk about you if you’re no different than your competitors. You need a way to stand out.

Jay says the best way to do that is to provide something your customers wouldn’t normally expect.

Same is lame. People are wired to discuss different and ignore average. If you want your customers to tell their friends about your business, you need to give them something interesting to discuss.

Jay calls these unexpected customer experiences “talk triggers.” They’re what generate free word of mouth advertising for your brand.

The tricky part is coming up with an experience that you can give every customer on an ongoing basis that will get them talking about you, and telling their friends.

What can you do to delight and surprise every customer so they’ll go out and tell that story for you?

Jay talks about what one oral surgeon does in this video, and gives four other examples in this post.

Here a story, there a story

I don’t have a “story strategy.” I don’t say to myself: It’s time to tell a story, or I need to stick a story in such-and-such a spot.

Some brands tell their story (company history) on their About Page. Those stories are usually pretty boring.

The story of how Mark Armstrong, famous illustrator, got where he is today is a messy one. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to plow through it.

But every assignment’s a story for me. When I learn something new, that’s a story. If I disagree with some bit of “accepted wisdom,” that’s a story.

I tell these bite-sized stories in blog posts. Some examples:

Hero saves the day: I learned a new image-editing program overnight in order to complete an assignment.

Do the right thing: my keeping a client informed resulted in
some pivotal feedback.

Little big man: an old photo of me as a puny Little Leaguer sparked some thoughts on marketing.

Staying power: I learned a client was still using a “recruiting poster” I’d done for them back in 2014.

Loser bounces back: I lost a contest but wound up with a great promotional video.

I’m selective about the stories I tell. I tell stories that show my expertise, and I try to make them entertaining. A dull, plodding delivery can ruin even the best story.

It’s how you tell it

Communications consultant Sarah Elkins, likes to say your stories don’t define you, how you tell them will. She’s even written a book about it.

I tried to say something similar in a comprehensive post about humor.

Humor plays a big part in telling stories and creating content. It’s a frame of mind.

It’s not telling jokes or being a comedian. Humor is putting people at ease, helping them relax and feel welcome. It’s being willing to poke a little fun at yourself.

We all know someone who’s a good storyteller. They hold your attention and make you glad to be there. They make you want to hear more.

They’re providing what Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing calls infotainment.

The story’s important, absolutely– but it’s mostly how we tell it.

Some tips from Mary Wear

Mary Wear is one of the UK’s most accomplished copywriters. She’s been involved in many successful campaigns.

In my post about humor, I wrote that, for me, the best definition of humor comes from the late Clive James:

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”

Mary is also a Clive James fan, and she cheerfully nicked his definition to say this about copywriting:

“Copywriting is persuasion dancing. So if it doesn’t dance, go back and do it again until it does.”

Here are some other tips from Mary:

1. There’s always a fresh way to tell an old story. To retell it in ways that make us laugh, wonder and think.

2. Know your target audience. Empathize with them, identify with them. Because at some level, the reader needs to like the writer.

3. Everyone enjoys creativity. You don’t have to logic people into a corner, you can charm them into wanting to come out and play.

Summary

1. People love stories, but they don’t want a relationship with your brand.

2. Get other people to tell your stories. Think: testimonials, word of mouth.

3. Stories “happen” to us every day: successes, challenges, insights. Tell those stories to build your brand.

4. Use humor. Remember: it’s not telling jokes or making people LOL. It’s telling stories in a way that holds people’s attention and makes them glad to be in your company.

5. “The reader needs to like the writer (content creator).” Be likable. Humor– keeping things light, relaxed, cheerful– makes you likable.

6. “You don’t have to logic people into a corner.” Be charming. We tell stories because you can’t win people over with cold, hard facts.

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About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, editorial, branding, social media, and content marketing. My images are different, like your brand needs to be.

You can view my portfolio, and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Questions? Send me an email.

Follow @mrstrongarm