If you want to influence your audience's decision making, I believe the trick is to find ways in which you can offer relatable information that will spark the interest and imagination of the decision maker that you’re talking to.
It must be hard to be a CxO of a business today – top of every marketing hit list and subjected to endless emails, ads and calls trying to “form a relationship”. What is wrong with many of these communications is that they are aimed at the job title rather than the individual. We can get so fixated on what might drive a CEO, COO, CMO or CTO (enough acronyms for you?) that we forget they’re people with their own private world. Marketing campaigns that are solely based on features and benefits may get you added to long list of potential suppliers, but it’s not going to make you stand out. If you want to pique someone’s interest before they’ve even drawn up their requirements, and want to influence their decision making, I believe the trick is to find ways in which you can offer relatable information that will spark the interest and imagination of the decision maker that you’re talking to.
We can get so fixated on what might drive a CEO, COO, CMO or CTO (enough acronyms for you?) that we forget they’re people with their own private world. Marketing campaigns that are solely based on features and benefits may get you added to long list of potential suppliers, but it’s not going to make you stand out. .
To do this, you need to tell a story. Here’s why:
Stories are part of our DNA
Everyone will have had stories read to them as a child, and very few people will not enjoy movies, box sets or books as adults. Stories are familiar, comforting, enjoyable.
Stories draw people in
A story told well will make the reader want to know more. Why have a clumsy call-to-action when you could have a very satisfying hook?
Stories are unique
If you asked all 853 passengers on an Airbus A380 to tell you about their flight, you’d get 853 different answers. We all have our own unique way of experiencing and sharing our stories; being able to capture and deliver yours will be what convinces people you are different from your competition.
Stories are human
One of the biggest criticisms levelled at the technology industry is a tendency to use jargon at every possible opportunity. If you can speak to your customer or prospect as a person in your marketing communications, you have a far greater opportunity of connecting with them at an individual level.
I’m not suggesting that you begin your marketing emails with ‘Once upon a time….’, but I am suggesting that you re-think how you talk to your customers and prospects.
Not as easy as A-B-C
I’m not suggesting that you begin your marketing emails with ‘Once upon a time….’, but I am suggesting that you re-think how you talk to your customers and prospects. There is a fine line to be drawn between familiarity and creepiness; being earnest and being sickly sweet; being authentic and being annoying. You want something that sounds like you, and is professional. Something that offers value but isn’t hiding that you want to make a sale. Something that doesn’t make the reader feel like they’ve wasted their time. Microsoft’s approach to the Surface and Windows 10 is a good example of this, their ads carry great stories that demonstrate the value to the customer in an entertaining and engaging way.
At Incredibleresults we’re working hard to making storytelling part of our approach, which is why we’re investing time and effort in creating content like these blogs. Each one is designed to offer you a little something of value, and a little flavour of who we are. If you like it, please share it. If the advice we’ve shared works, let us know. And if you’d like a little help from us to scope out your own unique story, get in touch.