In the last Storytelling Program blog post, we talked a lot about you. It was all about WHY you do what you do. This is super-important in developing your business story. But the other equally important side of this equation is your audience.
So, in this blog post, we’re going to look at how to bring customer focus into your brand storytelling…
Who is your audience?
Ok, so maybe the person in the above picture looks nothing like your target audience. And that’s fine. But what you need to do is figure out what your ideal customer looks like, what they love, what they hate and what they want.
Until you know your audience – that is, your various customer or client personas – your story can’t possibly speak to them. How can they relate to a business that doesn’t understand their story and include it in their own?
So, use a buyer persona tool to paint a detailed picture of exactly who it is you’re trying to connect with (and ultimately sell to). If you have several different target audiences, separate them into personas and use one sheet for each.
Feel free to do this process as many times as you need – knowing your audience is the foundation of all good storytelling!
What’s their story?
Storytelling is the “human technology for making people care”, said storyteller extraordinaire Tom Dawkins, Co-Founder of StartSomeGood. And making people care is the first step in encouraging them to act.
So what does your audience care about?
To make the most of your business story, it needs to be relevant and inspiring for your ideal audience, client or customer. Think of them as the hero of your story!
Your business story and your customer’s story should intertwine like lovers. Without each other they don’t make sense. By weaving your customer’s story into your business story, you start to bring them on that journey with you.
Use our buyer persona tool to build the foundations of your customer’s story – maybe even write it up in a story format afterwards. It might make it easier to weave into your business story.
Top tips for a business story with customer focus
So, the three most important things to identify when weaving your customer story into your business story are:
- How do you want to make them feel? What emotions do you intend to invoke in your ideal audience? Do you want them to feel solidarity with you? Do you want them to feel entertained and lighter-hearted? Maybe it’s a feeling of trust you want to create.
- What do you want them to take away + remember? What is your core message? What learning do you want your audience to take away? What do you want to teach them?
- What action do you want them to take? What is your call-to-action? Do you want them to take part in something, share something, or buy something? You’ve got to make it really easy for your audience to take that action. And don’t just include your CTA at the end, because let’s face it – some people might not make it to the end.
As a final note, when you get around to crafting your story, don’t forget to consider including subtle cues and subliminal messaging – through branding, style and tone of voice, for example – to strengthen that relatability with your audience.
If you loved this blog post, we think you’ll love this episode of the Be The Drop podcast where we talk to The Garden Agency’s Jodie Metaxiotis. Jodie shares her years of wisdom to help you communicate a consistent story to your customers.
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