Business Storytelling: How to Increase Customer Engagement
Do
you want to find an effective way to drive customer engagement? If the answer
is yes, your solution is business storytelling. Storytelling helps you present
important information in an engaging and compelling form. Research shows that
information delivered as stories can be 22 times more memorable than facts. Stories have a stronger
impact on people which is what encourages them to engage.
The power that stories hold has motivated resourceful marketers to use them for
achieving different goals. So, are you ready to give the art of storytelling a
try? Check out the following tips on how it can help you increase customer
engagement.
Get to Know Your
Audience
The
storytelling won't help you with improving your results if you don't analyze
the behaviour of your audience first. Knowing to whom you are telling the story
is crucial.
It's
not the same if your target audience consists of parents or teenagers. The
characteristics of your audience will determine the language, tone, and style
you need to use for storytelling.
Use
Google Analytics to gather data about your target audience.
Getting
to know just the basic demographics won’t be enough. You also need to know
their values, beliefs, habits, preferences, and emotions. For that mission, use
social media and their purchasing patterns to discover more about what makes
them tick.
Be User-Centric
Instead
of focusing on your brand, products, or service, let the audience know what
matters to you the most – your customers. Users prefer brands that put the
customer in the first place.
Let
your stories revolve around the idea of how you can improve your customers'
lives. Focus on them, their needs, and wishes.
Feel
free to talk about your brand or products just position yourself as a customer
and think about what they would like to hear.
Show Originality
and Diversity
The
aim is to stand out, right? That is why you need to be authentic. Try to tell
different stories but add your own style to each one of them. Let the audience
recognize that it is your writing. Evoke that feeling of familiarity in them to
motivate them to engage.
Some
examples of stories you can tell are:
●
Why did choose the products or service you are offering.
●
Employee stories: their passions, what motivates them to do what they
do, work experiences.
●
How you give your best to help your customers.
●
Customer testimonial stories
Feel
free to include relatable real-life examples. Customers will recognize your
openness and honesty will reward you with the same attitude.
Share Your Story
on About us Page
When
a customer wants to know more about your business they will head straight to
About us page. This is your chance to instantly win them over with a compelling
story.
Use
this opportunity to connect with your audience. Talk about:
●
What made you start your business
●
The challenges you needed to overcome
●
What motivates you to endure in this line of business
●
Your values, beliefs, and goals
●
People who stood by your side and showed you support
Sharing
your personal experience will humanize your business and let the audience know
who stands behind that brand name. Once they get to know you a little better
through this story, they will feel more confident to engage with your brand.
Use Blog as Your
Storytelling Base
Constantly
driving engagement won't be possible with a one-time story. You want to have a
place where you can consistently publish stories. That is when the blog steps
onto the scene.
Having
a company blog on your website will drive organic traffic to your website,
provide users with relevant information, and increase your engagement rate.
“The
blog is the perfect place for storytelling. Get innovative and wrap relevant
information into a story. For example, if you plan to launch a new product,
create a humorous or thought-provoking story about how the idea first came into
your mind,” says Marie Fincher, Head of Content at TrustMyPaper.
You
can also share relatable stories about common challenges in your niche or
inspirational self-improvement stories.
Apply
Storytelling to Emails
Emails
don't have to be generic and boring. With storytelling, you can make them
entertaining and engaging.
For
example, instead of using the typical welcome email, you can send the user’s an
email that will tell them more about yourself. Of course, it shouldn’t be too
lengthy. Just let them know who you are and that you appreciate their
subscription.
This
approach personalizes your email marketing. Moreover, 74% of marketers claim that personalization of emails
improves customer engagement rates.
Tell Stories on
Social Media
There
is no better place for boosting engagement than social media. The more casual
environment that social media networks provide, make the users more confident
in engaging with brands. For that reason, use your storytelling technique on
social media.
Publish
fun images in the form of stories, short videos that will entertain the users,
or whatever you find to be interesting to your audience. Use social media as a
chance to respond and like users’ comments to boost the engagement even more.
Social
media is also a great source of user-generated content. Search for brand
mentions and if you come across a customer story, share it on your page.
Try out a Variety
of Platforms
Once
you’ve covered your platforms, it is time to think bigger. Spread your
influence across different channels. What you can engage in is:
●
Guest blogging for industry publications
●
Recording podcasts
●
Writing an e-book
●
Using public blogging platforms
●
Collaborating with someone from your industry on social media (share
your story on their profile and vice versa)
Increasing
your online presence will positively affect your engagement rate. The variety
of platforms where you can use storytelling will give you a chance to attract
new customers.
Include Visuals
Visuals
increase people’s willingness to read content by 80% and content with relevant images gets
94% more views. The statistic clearly shows how
important visuals are.
Enhance
your stories with corresponding images. This will make the content look less
dull and will retain the users’ attention.
You
can also use videos to tell your stories. Considering the rising popularity of
video content, you will satisfy your users' wishes through such engaging
content.
Business
storytelling helps you present your brand as a trustworthy, credible, and
relatable business. The emotions that stories evoke in users, make them feel
more comfortable to engage with your brand. Now that you know the
above-mentioned tips, you have the key insight into the best ways of using
storytelling for driving customer engagement.
Marques Coleman
Professional
writer and editor. He has established long-term cooperation with Studicus and BestEssayEducation, where he
works as a copywriter. Motivated by his ever-growing passion for knowledge, Marques has taken
several courses in marketing and digital marketing. Currently, he is also
working as an editor at WowGrade and GrabMyEssay.
Related articles:
Business Storytelling: How to Increase Customer Engagement
Reviewed by Mili Ponce
on
Friday, March 20, 2020
Rating:
Reviewed by Mili Ponce
on
Friday, March 20, 2020
Rating:
Mili Ponce
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