Build a long-term relationship with your target audience
Hard facts or difficult messages can be made accessible with storytelling. Do you do it the right way? Then your stories evoke positive emotions. Not only important for getting your message across, but people also remember your message better. That in turn contributes to building a long-term relationship with your target audience and strengthening your brand. So storytelling is a great tool for connecting your target audience to your brand in the long run.
“95% of our decisions are made based on emotion.”
Decision making is not rational
Harvard Business Review research shows that 95% of our decisions are based on our cognitive brain. The part in our brain where emotion predominates. So very important to keep in mind if you want to convince your target audience of your product or service. Hard facts alone are not enough; you have to show your target group what your product or service can do for them. You want to give meaning to your brand. Storytelling is the ideal way to arouse emotion in your target audience and indirectly convince them.
3 tips if you want to get started with storytelling
A good story is shareable and encourages your target audience to pass on your story of their own accord. There is almost no better way of marketing! But telling a good story is not that simple. In fact, you can even do it ‘wrong’ and push your audience away from you instead of binding them to you. Therefore, keep the following 3 things in mind if you want to start storytelling:
- Provide a authentic story that is close to your why. Otherwise, people won't believe you and it actually detracts. Meaningfulness is key today.
- Make yourself vulnerable, also dare to show the shortcomings of your organization. That makes you human. The ideal way to bind your target group to your brand.
- Avoid sales messages in your story. This directly detracts from your story. Trust that your stories evoke positive emotions in your target audience and that your target audience itself will draw the conclusion that it wants to be involved with your brand and use your products or services.
Want to know more about how to apply storytelling in your organization? Send me a message. I'd love to think with you!
