Suzy Consumer sees a portion of a marketing piece for your product. She catches just enough information to pique her interest. She looks you up online later and reads your entire website, becomes a Facebook fan and follows you on twitter. Suzy hasn’t yet even tried your product (it’s not available in her area), but she’s connected with you in several ways. A month later, she’s in your area and gets some friends together to look for your item. The location the group tries that night is out of stock. Thwarted! Their experience stops before it even begins. But Suzy doesn’t give up. In another city, the following night, the quest begins again. This time Suzy & crew are wiser. They call around first. Several more places are out, but they finally find a spot with some available. They arrive to find they can buy the last two items. Which they do. Success!
Can you create that kind of devotion and interest before a customer even tries your product? Is that even possible? It is. I know, because the quest was mine last week. I heard about Indiana Vodka on a brief TV piece in a hotel early in January, looked them up later, connected and decided the next time I was in Indiana on business, I’d check it out. Now, keep in mind, I’m not a big drinker. I usually drink Grey Goose if I’m drinking, so I’m already partial to vodka. But, I can typically count on one hand the number of times I have a drink in any six month period.
So, why would a very casual drinker go hunting down an item that’s only available 300 miles away before she’s even tried it? The Story. Heartland Distillers sold me their story before they sold me their product. And it was compelling enough to me to set me on the road to The Quest.
In What’s Your Story? Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People and Brands (which I’ll review for you later this month) authors Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker state that “understanding an audience, learning what stories they respond to, and then using those stories to “sell” your product or service is an effective positioning tool for any business.” I would argue that it’s more than simply effective. It’s the basic cornerstone of marketing. Understand your audience and tell them a compelling story about your product, brand or organization that will resonate with them. We will respond because stories are a shortcut straight to our hearts.
What’s your story? Is it powerful and persuasive to your audience? Will it inspire devotion? Does it move hearts and therefore create buyers? Every product and company needs and can create a compelling story. What’s yours? Are you telling it effectively?
P.S. More about Heartland’s story and why it’s effective in next Tuesday’s business post!
Link for Part 2: Business Storytelling
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