4 Ways to Pull Great Stories out of Your Customers
Storytelling makes for amazing marketing because people don't realize they're being marketed to. They're pulled into the story. They develop an emotional attachment to your business and they stick around for the resolution.
Good storytelling cast your customers as the heroes of their stories. You want their success and triumphs to be told because you want potential customers to hear the stories and think they can do those things too.
When you cast your business as the wise sage who helps the hero achieve their goals, you become important to the solution. That way people who are considering buying from you understand the valuable role that you play even while you are highlighting the accomplishments of others.
But finding the stories isn't always easy. Sometimes you're fortunate enough to have a loyal customer who bathes you in compliments. More often than not, these stories are silent successes that aren't shared with you. You need to find a way to dig these up so that you can breathe life into them and share them with potential customers.
But how do you do that?
First, a call for stories is not enough. I've seen countless businesses inviting people to share their stories with them. And.... Crickets.
The problem with this approach is that people are busy, especially successful ones. If you want their story, you need to find a more creative approach than merely asking. Even people with good intentions and great stories who read your call for stories will often put your request on the back burner behind the more important ones affecting their daily business. You need to go out and get those stories.
