The first time I noticed the importance of storytelling was on Twitter. I would see that some tweets would get more engagement than others and many of them had one thing in common; a story! In this article, I want to share with you what this change in mindset and strategy did for me and how you can replicate it when writing or speaking and get better results.
I think we all love a good story and we are drawn to them because they make us feel something. A well-written story can make us laugh, cry or even feel angry – but whatever the emotion, we are drawn into it because it makes us feel something real.
This is why stories work so well with social media marketing – they allow us to connect with real people who have real problems, ideas, and aspirations just like us – even if only for a few seconds at a time!
When I first started writing, I was mostly focused on the ‘how to’ part of things. I wanted to explain the steps to accomplish something as concisely as possible and this certainly has its place but there is something to be said about mixing it up a little. I noticed that some of the most engaging Tweets were personal and had a story behind the ‘how to’. This was the format I saw popular accounts using.
1.) A story about a difficulty they were having
2.) Things they tried to do to fix it
3.) What finally worked and how they did it
This format is a lot more personal than a simple step-by-step ‘how to’ explanation and it gets through to people because it helps them understand the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’.
Here are a few tips that will help you start telling better stories for your business:
1) Use a story format – For example, instead of just saying “we are hiring”, tell a story about how the person who is applying for the job was looking for something different but after meeting with our team they found exactly what they were looking for.
2) Keep it brief – Don’t make your story too long because nobody has time to read through something like that! Keep it short and sweet so people can read it quickly and get interested in what else you have to say about yourself/your company/product etc…
I hope this helps! Give storytelling a try and you may just be surprised with how your engagement goes up and your message gets through.
