Not a lot of people realise that weaving a story into your business copy packs a lot of marketing power. It differentiates you in today’s increasingly cluttered web space and allows your target audience to feel more connected with you.
Stories are a great way to capture your reader’s attention and is a staple part of every successful startup. Big brands like Apple and PayPal’s founding stories have significantly played a part in making their later success much more endearing and palatable to the media and masses.
This just goes to show that having a good story is like the proverbial icing to a cake. It does the heavy work of making your startup brand presentable and enticing to others.
Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to be a big business or a media darling to incorporate a story into your copy. So what does it take to weave a compelling story to your business startup? Read on below to know more.
Divide your story into four arcs
In literature, a good story is always comprised of four aspects: introduction, conflict, climax, resolution. Similarly, you have to have these parts in your story or it’ll feel like your narrative is missing a key point for your readers.
In the introduction, you have to be able to present the problem. You could say for instance, “For months he has often struggled with setting up and maintaining payroll for his company. He tried outsourcing the job but it made matters worse when he can’t find the right fit for his small business.”
You then present a conflict that puts a thrilling spin to the problem you just introduced. To continue the previous part, “A few months in, things took a dive and a few of his people quit because of it—compelling him to re-assess the best possible solution to take.”
The next best step, of course, is to tell how you fixed the problem. To continue, you could say “He realized that if you can’t find what you need then you can just always create it. He then took the leap to design his own payroll services for his type of business.”
The climax is where you then incorporate your newfound mission because of what you went through. “His own payroll services has since expanded to servicing other small businesses and Tim has since made it his mission to make payroll services for small businesses to be a smooth, seamless process.”
Why good stories are good for your brand
A good story will make your brand memorable, which is crucial in today’s competitive market. Gone are the days when you can just add a hodge-podge of information on your site, call it a day, and hope it sells your business.
To make sure your business stands out, you have to go beyond just conveying information about your products or services. Although including all the technical information about your business can be handy, it takes more than mere features to ensure that your startup’s website successfully positions your product or service in your audience’s mind.
How to make sure your brand story resonates with your customers
There are a number of ways to make sure that your website pages are something people actually want to read. Here are a few:
1. Know your audience – Knowing your audience means taking the time out to learn what information they like to read and what interests them. You can then use this as a springboard to determine what kind of story to include. It’s not enough to be engaging alone but to also be relevant.
2. Have a plan – When crafting your story, have a plan and put it in context. Without a real plot, your story is just a string of words pieced together.
3. Be creative – When it comes to weaving stories into your web copy, you have to allow yourself to be creative. Add extra details and evoke emotions. This will ensure that your story is something that’s interesting for your target audience.
4. Simplify – Brand stories don’t have to be complicated. Remember you’re not writing a novel. It should have all the parts of a good plot but not appear as a tangled drama plot. After all, you’re still writing for business.
5. Be genuine – Last but not the least, make sure you’re story is a genuine one. You want to lay the foundation for an authentic way of connecting with your audience. The last thing you want is for your business to blow up and for your customers to find out that they’ve been duped into believing a false story about your brand. This will only serve to undermine all the things you’ve built up for your business.
The best formula when it comes to your brand story
The above tips are just standard guidelines when it comes to writing a good story for your business. But the best formula of all is to have a story that’s truly yours! Once you find it, it will surely separate your business from the pack!
