Now that we’re certain of the value of story selling, the pressing question that remains is how to tell and then sell stories on the web. We don’t think the existence of the story is in question as every product’s or service’s value can be expressed as a story. The difficulty is in framing that story for the people you know need to hear it. Take some time to remind yourself of that story. It’s very basic, but often eludes marketers who are sometimes too close to their products or services to see the story clearly. Once you’re clear on the story, there are two things to focus on next:
- 1. Writing the Story
- 2. Making sure your website supports that story
Story selling requires good writing– maybe even great writing. We believe in four key principles to create and sell the ideal story for your business:
- 1. Create Personas: Knowing your story is important, but knowing who needs to hear your story is even more critical. By getting a better understanding of your audience, you will be able to frame your story more particularly to them.
- 2. Plan Your Content Strategy: Once you know your story and how to frame it for the audience who needs to hear it, you need to figure out a practical method for telling it on the web. Keep in mind your story isn’t only going to be told once, it needs to be told repeatedly in various ways. Your strategy should involve identifying the different kinds of content you will use to tell your story.
- 3. Account for Your Engagement Style: It’s safe to assume that writing, or any other creative content, will be a significant challenge. One way to make it easier on you is to identify the ways in which you are naturally inclined to engage with your story at the outset, and use those methods to develop your ideas before jumping in to writing.
- 4. Pay Attention to Details: All kinds of things can distract readers and keep them from fully engaging with your content. They may be unable to track with your ideas. But if your personas are accurate, it’s probably details of execution that hang them up the most. Look critically at the way you format your articles, making sure they facilitate scanning, printing and include the right calls-to-action through which a reader can continue their engagement with you.
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