Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Want to have more customers, opt-ins on your website and clicks on your “Buy Now” button? Do what Hollywood does -- use stories to sell your products and services.

This makes sense: At some point, you've probably gone to a meeting featuring a PowerPoint presentation with charts and graphs . . . and wanted to poke your eyes out with a pencil. The reason: Stories, not data, are what inspire people. Stories, not bullet points, create customer loyalty, build social media platforms and increase sales. Stories create an emotional bond between your business and your customers.

And today's technology helps us tell those stories in the many different ways it's given us to offer our message to millions of potential customers -- instantly.

Yet, many businesses are losing customers because their methods of reaching them are outdated. Want to get people to buy your product? Then get them to listen. Here are three essential stories you need on your website to do just that:...

Storytelling shows awareness of how the brand is perceived in the market, knowledge of the technology behind the product and how it is differentiated, and the relationship with the customer experience.

Stories also allow you to express an opinion. Opinions matter, even if they’re controversial, because they help the marketing convey a sense of urgency about the story. Without an opinion, there’s very little passion. Both clients and employees will see right through this. And clients relish opinion, it challenges them to think.

And lastly, it’s about taking those stories and using them to connect the various departments within the organization itself and with clients. This allows marketing to connect better with pre-sales and sales efforts to deliver a more consistent and concise message. That message feeds back into the product roadmap, allowing for consistent improvement and adaptation to market needs....