Marketing Monday: The 5-Step Marketing Story Formula


 As I discussed in yesterday’s Strategy Sunday, this week’s focus is going to be on stories. Having an effective story for the product or service or brand you are promoting is an important part of being able to help people remember who you are and connect to what you have to offer.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, I highly recommend that you go back to my Better Blog Toolkit post and get your free copy of FairyTaleMarketing. It will explain the science behind this.

Why the Story Matters

In writing, we have a saying, “Show, don’t tell.” Stories are a way of showing prospects what they can expect from the brand, the product, or the service. There are two kinds of stories you want to have ready: Your own story and the story of those who have experience in working with you.

The Personal Connection Story

The story about why you are working with the brand and promoting it, or why you developed a product or service, is an important story. As I mentioned yesterday, though, this story should be authentic and genuine as it is going to represent you. Any attempt to mislead or exaggerate will undermine and erode the trust you are attempting to establish with the person who is listening to or reading that story.

The Testimonial Story

The second story to be mindful about collecting are testimonial stories about experiences other people had with the brand, the product, or the service. These are even more powerful than your own story since most people trust other people’s reviews of products more than they trust the company’s own statements. It’s called third-party verification and it is a powerful tool for getting past people’s barriers to giving your brand/product/service a try.

The 5-Step Marketing STORY Formula

1 Share an experience

As I pointed out in yesterday's post, this should be an authentic experience that you had or you're going to find you destroy the trust you're trying to build by sabotaging your credibility when the truth comes to light.

2. Talk about the transformation that resulted

People are looking for transformations in their lives and when you can paint a picture of what's possible for them through your story, they are more likely to listen in and be interested in what you have to say.

3.  Open up about any challenges encountered in achieving that transformation

Opening up about challenges won't scare off prospects. It sets proper expectations and shows them how you overcame those challenges so they aren't caught unaware of the possibilities. Your willingness to be vulnerable here will be seen by them as a key indicator that you are trustworthy. So open up and don't hesitate to be honest. It also prevents things from feeling "too-good-to-be-true."

4.  Reveal the revelations received on the journey to transformation

You likely learned some things along the way to overcoming those challenges. Share what they were in your story and you'll impress your listener. You'll also be setting yourself up as someone to go to if they encounter challenges along the way.

5.  Your recommendation for the next steps to take based on your experience.

Without a recommendation for next steps, all you've done is tell them a story about an experience that happened to you. You haven't helped them connect the dots between that experience and what they are experiencing right now. Your recommendation takes your story and makes it relevant to their life.

Try out the Marketing Story Formula

We want to be part of your success. Show us what you’ve got and let us help you develop your marketing story. Try out the story marketing formula in the comments section below and let us work with you to help you make it the best it can be.

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Location: Lewisville, TX, USA

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