by Brian McKay
We all love a good story. We tell them every day. When we recite real incidents, we give them narratives. We even add plot arcs to our daily life by heading out to work. Even the media we consume is full of stories. Narratives are comforting. They’re a familiar and trusted way to frame our lives, and we can’t get enough of them.
A while ago, we spoke about finding your tone of voice in business. Now that you’ve found it, it’s time to use it to tell your story. It should come as no surprise after the above that this is a fantastic way to get customers onboard. By framing your company narrative, you can put customers at ease. Your story will also help to build loyalty. We tell our friends stories, after all.
If you’re wondering what your business narrative is, don’t panic. This couldn’t be more obvious. All you need to do is take the story of your origins and twist it to suit the necessary narrative arcs. People love to hear where businesses start. Adding family members and colleagues as characters is also sure to work well. So, that’s your story, but how are you supposed to tell it?
The about me section of your website
You know by now that every business should have a website. Consider, though, that this is a fantastic sounding board for your story. While you don’t want to bore people with a family saga, the right amount of detail here could win you more customers than you know. You could then simplify things with something like a year-by-year timeline. Either way, you want people weeping into their sleeves and clicking buy on your products.
Your office decor
Office decor is essential for all manner of reasons. If you’re introducing customers to your office space, this becomes another chance to tell your story. If you’ve ever eaten in a Nando’s restaurant, you’ll have some idea of what we mean here. This restaurant chain has taken the world by storm. In part, that's because of the heartwarming origin story they paint onto their restaurant walls. You could apply the same idea to your office decor. If you want to stick in the minds of passersby as well, you could even invest in custom graphics for windows which tell your story to everyone walking past. The more people who see your heartwarming tale, the more chance you have of a securing a place in the hearts of many.
Your marketing campaigns
Few things have a broader reach than your marketing campaigns, so it’s worth extending your story here, too. That way, this will be the first interaction new customers have with you. And, you can bet that’ll work wonders for the leads your attempts here create. Something as simple as telling the story of your team could work here. Or, you could create an animated ad about your business origins. Either way, pull at those heartstrings and get those sales coming your way.