Here at The Agency, we believe that effective storytelling is critical to supporting your business plan. As a founder or entrepreneur, you have to be able to tell your story to the right people, in a way that makes them understand. Effective storytelling is about more than just explaining what your business does and why, it is about fostering connections with your audience.
Know your audience
To create an effective story you have to think about who your audience is, why they should care, and what is in it for them. Figuring out who your audience is involves a lot of background research in demographics and segmentation. Driving down to the nitty gritty details of who your audience is will ensure that you are communicating to the people that want to hear from you.
Understanding their ‘why’
Once you have your audience, you can start to understand and create the why. There are millions of companies in the world so you need to show why your product or service is unique or innovative. Having an understanding of your audience will help you see why they choose your product or service and make you able to communicate what they want to hear to them. How can you be of value to them? In these days of information overload, there has to be something special about your brand to connect with the audience, this is where storytelling comes into play.
Sharing a story with your audience will keep you in their minds and make you stick out. This story helps to support your business plan by ensuring that you are talking about the right things to the right people.
Keeping it simple
All businesses have a story, the problem is knowing how to tell that story. You do not need some outlandish background to make your story impactful, you just need to tell it in a way that the audience connects with – a simple story is better than no story at all. There is likely more to your story than you think, that is why brainstorming ideas, not only with your team but with your stakeholders, can be a great way to craft your story.
Ultimately, the goal of having a story is to support your business plan by being able to explain the who and why of your organization. It is a key aspect of business communication to have a few high-level people who can tell that story in any given situation, similar to an elevator pitch, you need to have a short description ready so that you are always prepared to talk about your business.
Our fearless Managing Director & Founder, Arleigh, hosts a storytelling workshop which helps brands craft the perfect story to support their business plan. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you create your story.
