Products don’t sell themselves. No matter how effective, cutting-edge, innovative, or exciting a new product or service is, a company is unlikely to see great success with it unless it’s marketed properly. Some business owners may wonder why that’s the case. After all, if a product delivers superior results and costs less than similar alternatives, why should it need to be marketed at all? The problem with that way of thinking is, it discounts the emotional aspect of business transactions. Humans don’t always make decisions based on logic or sound reasoning; just as often, we’re motivated by some emotional response or connection. That’s why storytelling is crucial to any marketing strategy.
Sell the Possibilities — Not the Product
Think about a soda commercial for a moment: how much of it addresses the qualities of the product in question? Does anyone in the commercial talk about how great Pepsi tastes? Or how thirst-quenching Coca-Cola is? No. Instead, the focal points of an average soda commercial are other things. Beach parties. Sand volleyball. Happy couples in exotic locales. The whole world singing together in perfect harmony. All things implicitly promised by the purchase of the given soda. The point is, great marketing focuses on what you can do with a product — what can be accomplished — as opposed to what the product actually is.
B2B Storytelling
B2B companies face a tougher task in regard to marketing themselves than their B2C counterparts. After all, B2B purchases are by their nature less emotionally driven than B2C ones. However, that doesn’t mean B2B marketing content has to be stale and strictly matter-of-fact. Indeed, progressive companies find ways to display the true value of a product beyond its label or description. At the end of the day, what you’re selling matters a lot less than how you’re selling it. Whether you’re marketing cellview slides or soda pop, the precepts of sound content creation remain the same.
How to Tell Better Stories
Most companies spend lots of time and energy writing blogs, producing video content, creating eBooks and case studies, and maintaining a strong social-media presence. Unfortunately, not every business takes their content creation seriously. If you want your business to produce work that resonates with your audience, then you need to bring in employees who can provide that service. Psychology majors, ex-journalists, and professionals in English and language fields all boast tremendous communication skills and know how to package complex ideas in cogent ways. The best way to increase your potential from a marketing standpoint is to trust talented individuals to communicate effectively with your customer base. Do that, and you’ll like see an increase in your conversion rates and sales numbers — no matter your industry!
