3 Tips on How to Improve Product Storytelling + Bonus Tip At the End
Storytelling is useful in all walks of life. However, in marketing and sales - it’s a must-have tool. The human attention span keeps withering away and as professional storytellers, we should use every chance we get to reach our target audience and show them why and how our commodities will change their lives.
The quality of products and services offered is necessary and non-negotiable, but (un)fortunately - not enough to dazzle. To make your offers more appealing to the potential buyer, you have to include some excellent product storytelling. There's no going around that fact. Humanizing your brand through poignant and creative web stories endears your audience to your message and further illustrates the value of our products/services in one charming swoop.
In our last storifies article, we covered a few basics of product storytelling, like the context, purpose, solution, and emotional side of your product’s story. Today, we’re going to dive even deeper and see what you can do to improve the tale of your merchandise. If you’re interested in all the ways you can capture attention with better product storytelling, keep on reading.
1) Know Yourself and Your Audience
Oftentimes it’s not about what you offer but why you offer these things and services in the first place. To tell your product's story well, you have to do your homework. Familiarize yourself with the inventory of your storified microstore, without missing any features and possibilities available. Don’t stop at the surface level but dig deep into your motivations behind every item or service offered, so you can find suitable ways to weave everything of emotional value into your content.
First research, then set your storytelling objective. Make sure you know your target audience. Keep an open dialogue with your customers. Being aware of their motivations, dreams, problems, hopes, and habits will help the success of your marketing strategy. When customers purchase a product, they are purchasing a part of your brand story, too - whether they are aware of it or not. Think about the perfect customer as you’re assembling the product’s narrative, predict the questions he/she may have, and answer them clearly and concisely. With that kind of approach and intel - your web stories will be irresistible.
2) Follow a Clear Story Structure and Stay Consistent
All storified guides on this subject will tell you the same thing - make sure your narrative has a clear & distinct beginning, middle, and end. At the start, you ought to explain the issue in need of solving. The middle of the action is the right time to show off your product in all its glory and to boast it’s problem-solving capabilities. In the end, show the success and emphasize the product’s benefits to the fullest extent.
Besides that, you should have a hero they can root for, the villain they can hate, as well as suspense, conflicts, and cliffhangers and all that good stuff! Keep things interesting and finish off with satisfying resolution whenever possible. All those details should come together in one cohesive narrative shared across all social platforms.
A structure like this makes your product story tempting to share and easy to follow, but more importantly, it helps you stay consistent and believable.
3) Keep Everything Simple and Sweet
Show your people how your product will benefit them - as directly and honestly possible. Complicating your tale with unnecessary information, big words, and unpredictable twists and turns won’t get you much in return. If you want your storified landing page to do its job properly and convert: make sure you’re speaking like a human, without pompous phrasing and fluffed-up industry talk that only people in your niche will understand.
Researching your customers and audience pays off big time in this regard, too. Down to earth, easy to understand language with a pinch of humor is the way to go most of the time. You have to find the right manner of talking to your audience while making sure you don't come off as robotic, boring, or overwhelming.
Measure the power of your product story - things are rarely perfect from the get-go. Testing and adjusting your wording while remaining true to your core message can prove to be challenging. You have to find ways to sound fresh and unique while following general SEO best practices, and adhering to true-and tested principles of online marketing.
BONUS TIP: Don’t You Ever Forget About Them Feels!
As we said many times before - stories and emotions inspire action, so they are invaluable parts of any marketing strategy. Desired outcomes will follow if you keep your eyes on the prize and never lose sight of your main goal. You’re here to improve your customers' lives, but you also want them to be excited at the possibility of purchasing your product.
Listing out the main features and prices won’t get them jubilant at the thought of doing any kind of business with you. Cold-hard facts won’t convince the potential customer that your company is the best place to get what their heart truly desires. Think about their emotional and buyer journey while you're telling the tale of your product.
Keeping all of these things in mind while trying to make it in today's market can be daunting. But do not despair! You can always ring up the StorifyMe to help you out in your time of confusion and need. We’ll gladly roll up our sleeves on a quest of creating the best product storytelling experience!