6 Ways To Tell Better stories in your content marketing

In these days of increasing noise - both online and offline - most people's attention spans are about like a sleepy goldfish. Even with and helpful information, it can be difficult to connect with your target audience and engage them. But there's a silver lining for all this nonsense, as it's made people thirsty for something very specific: a human connection.

One of the greatest ways to build a relationship to other people is through stories. If we weave stories in our posts, you transform the content shared into knowledge. It shows that we're doing our work for more than profit. we're committed to finding solutions to this issue and assisting our readers. It also creates context between each piece of content that we produce when we combine them to form a larger overall picture.

"If you want to attract people, you need to tell a genuine and interesting story. Stories are a great medium to share your thoughts, impress people and make the human connection." - Jeff Bullas

  Here are six ways to create better narratives in your content marketing:  

1. Your audience should be become the hero

This is the first and foremost rule to telling a story for your company. The hero is not you, your customer is. If you concentrate on yourself and what's interesting to you the stories you tell are perceived as "hype" and have negative effects. It's instead of building an emotional connection with your readers that they'll turn them off.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't tell tales about your life. Sharing your stories is essential. However, remember that the listeners experience your stories like they are living the stories. So make sure that the experience and message are the ones they want to hear.

  2. Understand where your audience is in "The buyer's journey"

There are hundreds of stories to tell, which will you choose? It is important to tell stories that will resonate with your audience and resonate with them in the present. The goal is to share a an experience that helps people feel encouraged to take the next step with your help.

The buyer's experience is an excellent provide a framework for understanding the mental state of our audience in deciding whether or not to buy from us. The buyer's journey includes three fundamental stages: Know that, like and trust. Let's examine each:

Learn: At this stage the audience you are targeting just has to realize that you exist at all. It is possible that they are not aware that they have problems that you can have to solve. The stories you tell here should paint a picture of the opportunity or problem that will draw their attention and interest immediately. The stories you tell should be brief (your readers won't have that much of a time to pay attention to your stories but) and provide either entertainment, emotional or actionable benefit.

  3. Don't reinvent the wheel - utilize frameworks

Many of us find that telling stories is not something we do from the inside. Yes, we "tell stories" but there's a strategy to telling a story that really connects with your audience. Without frameworks, you're creating a brand new story every time you tell a story. Frames allow us to take on fresh perspectives and take new routes of thought that allow our minds to break free from the common mental ruts we find ourselves in.

There are many different models available. My favorite method of telling stories that connect with your audience and inspire action is called The Crossroads formula. It is the Crossroads Formula breaks up the phases of the Buyer's Journey into relevant questions. It then ties them to the various phases in the Hero's Journey.

  4. Utilize visual storytelling

Do not limit yourself to only one type of medium for your story telling. When you're telling or writing your stories it's possible to include visuals to help to enhance the emotion or message you want to communicate.

Visuals are processed quicker by the brain and retained longer than textual information or spoken words. Visual perception is one of our most powerful senses and visual messages cut straight into our brains without us even realizing it. They are able to break up huge chunks of text, and help keep readers engaging. They can subtly communicate ideas and feelings in a way that other methods of communication cannot.

You don't need a Hollywood budget for film to be successful visually-driven storytelling. Take a look at Wait But Why? A blog by Tim Urban with millions of fans ... It would seem that the blog would have enough money to create stunning visuals. But this blog is filled with pencil drawings of stick figures that look like the work of an 11-year-old with paint software dating back to the year 1995...

Here are a few easy methods to include images to your content:

Screenshots accompanied by annotations: There is no need to spend a lot of money on design here, a screenshot along with some quick notes can increase the value of the ideas you present to your visitors by showing concrete examples to back up your essay.

Charts and graphs -All you need to tell a good story is the line. Diagrams and charts allow you to take the data and create an image-based story that reflects the shifting and falling of it. Check out how Kurt Vonnegut (my favorite author) transforms classic stories into graphs that are simple.

Memes  Memes Memes are fantastic since they can take ideas as well as characters and then apply them to a new setting of our content. Based on the mere-exposure result the majority of people choose the ideas or images they are already familiar with rather than those that they haven't yet encountered.

Quote imagesThis is a quick and efficient way of adding some visuals to your content. Any time you add an opinion from an influencer in support of your idea create the form of a quote. It makes the person quoted look like a rockstar too (which makes them more likely to share your content)

  5. Set big goals

It's not enough to look back at the past for tales, but you can also create your own stories by setting large goals for your business.

Stories-driven goals, commonly referred to as goals based on stories, also known as BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) represent the impact you wish to have on the world by your work. It's the future that you create day by day through the work you're doing.

There are several important advantages to having an BHAG

• It is a great way to discuss your company -A major goal can be an effective tool that can spark conversations and interest when discussing your company.
• It is a way to create something larger than your own ego It creates something bigger than you. With a big goal you show that you're doing the work you do in a way that is more than profit, you're serving an even greater cause. This allows you to enroll your audience in your vision and play a part in improving the world by working together.
• It creates more meaning for you and your team - A BHAG doesn't only impact your clients, but it also impacts your team. Your team will get inspired by your mission which boosts motivation and loyalty.

To create a BHAG, you need a measurable goal with a connection to your story. If it's measurable you can share the progress you've made and make it tangible. This should force the person to go beyond their comfort zone. Your goal-setting process should create a little worry and you'll be wondering "how will I accomplish this?" This pushes your limits and spurs you to act.

For further information on how you can create the BHAG, check out: Storytelling Secret Weapons - How To Create A BHAG

  6. Create a "secret recipe"

When you were young and your grandma, mother or some other significant person who was in your life cooked the most delicious dish you enjoyed. Let's call it "grandma's lasagna". The lasagna you ate at grandma's house was enough that it made impossible to eat anyone who else's lasagna. It's true, grandmother didn't do anything distinctive to her lasagna due to the emotion-based connection you shared with her, all the different lasagnas seemed boring...

You can create the "grandma's lasagna" effect with your business by creating a "proprietary process". The term "proprietary process" is a way to tell a story about how you achieve a specific result.

Imagine Brian Dean's Skyscraper Technique - There's nothing too distinctive about the components of this strategy however the phrase "Skyscraper" is now common use by SEO marketing professionals.

Here are a few key components of a custom process:

1. Create it in three steps.3 steps is best because it's easier to keep in mind and understand.
2. Let people know that you're not atypical:It should point to the fact that you're human also and shared the challenges and struggles of your audience.
3. You're different:Though you can relate with your client, you've also done your homework or discovered something which makes you uniquely suited to solve the problem.
4. Show you care toonnect your work with your own personal story or a metaphor that shows how much you value the solution to this specific issue.

This is another way I walk my clients through the "The Scalable Storytelling Process":

• Discover - We look for fascinating aspects of your tale.
• Define - We get crystal clear about how we would like that story to be shared.
• Delegate - We create a creative team you can receive assistance in telling your story.

To find more examples and further information regarding proprietary processes, refer to: Storytelling Secret Weapons - A proprietary process.

  Make your story more engaging for the audience by telling better stories  

Stories can have a significant impact on the engagement and effectiveness of your content marketing plan. It can inspire new ideas of how to develop your strategy and give new meaning to your the purpose of your marketing that can inspire the creator to come up with more. Be confident and open about being transparent and vulnerable, it can help you create that human connections that your customers are looking for.

Beginning with the basics of your story and keep a careful watch on how your audience responds to your story. Additionally, you should practice and test your story in normal conversations If it piques people's attention, you can incorporate it in your content.

     How do you tell stories in your content? Let me know in the remarks!  

Kyle Gray helps entrepreneurs create powerful storylines for their businesses that drive sales, growth, and engagement. He has collaborated with numerous startups as well as small-sized businesses to develop efficient strategies for marketing through content. The Book The Story Engine outlines his process for making content marketing and brand storytelling easy and successful.