​Every business has a story, including yours. That is why storytelling can be a valuable part of your overall marketing strategy. You can create a connection between your business and its current and potential customers by telling your story.

Here are four ways to use storytelling in your marketing:

1. Explain What You Do
The story of your business is centered around what it is you do. However, you need to explain this in a way that your audience can relate to and understand. This is especially important if you’re in a specialized field like law or finance.

When creating content for your website or social media, use language your audience would use to discuss your business. Avoid jargon or technical terms that your audience may not know. You should be able to explain what you do, no matter how complex, in simple language.

To get an idea of what kind of language to use, consider creating a buyer persona or fictional representation of your ideal customer. By understanding who you’re telling your story to, you can tailor your messaging to them. After all, they’re the main characters in your story.

Consider creating a narrative that involves a real or fictional customer using your product or service to explain better what you do. That way, your audience can imagine themselves in the story and may be more likely to use your product or service.

Let’s say that you’re a financial advisor whose ideal client is a senior transitioning into retirement. You could explain, in plain language, what steps this person needs to take to access and use their retirement savings by creating a story about a fictional client in a blog post.

2. Find and Explain Your Why
Why you do what you do is just as important as how you do it. Although you find what you do interesting, those consuming your content may not. While data is important, you want to make an emotional connection to what you do. To appeal to your audience’s emotions, use a conversational style of writing or speaking to show them why you do what you do.

Let’s say that you own a used car dealership. While you could share mechanical specifications about the vehicles you sell, readers may not be interested in that. If you share a story about how you helped a teenager or young adult purchase their first car, more people can relate to and be engaged with that story.

These emotional connections are important because they grab your audience’s attention in the crowded media marketplace. Remember that your competitors are also vying for your audience’s attention, so you need to stand out. Telling your story allows you to share something about your business that may help to set you apart from others in your field.

3. Decide How to Tell Your Story
In today’s marketing landscape, you can tell your story in a variety of ways. Along with more traditional stories told through blog posts and other longer pieces of content, you can create videos, social media posts, and more. You can even combine all of these formats as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Let’s say that you’re a fitness trainer. You could have a blog where you explain how to do certain exercises. You could also create videos of yourself or your clients doing those exercises to post to social media. That way, though the same, your content could be used to appeal to different audiences on different platforms.

4. Start the Next Chapter
Like your favorite novel, the story of your business has chapters. The next chapter that comes after a lead views your content is how they engage with you. By telling your story, you get to start that next chapter. Although it may be tempting to include a sales pitch as a call-to-action, your reader may feel like they’ve just been sold to.

The best way to provide a call-to-action within the context of your story is to frame it as the next step. Going back to the car buying example, a new driver may want to learn more about the car buying process after reading your blog about how you helped someone buy their first car. End that blog post by encouraging the reader to contact you to learn more about your dealership.

Ready to Tell Your Story?
Most people enjoy a great story. However, telling your story goes beyond what you share on your website or social media platforms. If you need help telling your story in a way that engages your audience, contact Links Web Design for a free consultation.

Links Web Design is a content m​​arketing agency in Bangor, ME, and Fruitland Park, FL.