Storytelling marketing is not a new concept, but it has attracted a lot of attention recently. Businesses have started to realize an authentic story with a genuine voice can give them a competitive edge unlike any marketing pitch in the books. Customers are getting smarter and the marketing needs to reflect that shift.
That’s why it’s never too early to start using storytelling marketing at your startup. The tools below could help you become a pro at attracting customers from around the world.
Storehouse
Today’s consumers often find media appealing, and you should consider it a necessity to have a target audience full of tech-savvy, gadget-loving people. An app called Storehouse helps you arrange videos and pictures in strategic ways to tell your story effectively. Winner of a TechCrunch mobile app award, Storehouse makes it easy for people to tell visual stories even if they are not professional designers.
PitchDeck from StoryHow
Perhaps you know your startup has an intriguing story to tell, but feel like extracting it is impossible. In this frustrating but common situation, PitchDeck from StoryHow could be useful.
It contains 60 playing cards divided into four types. Together, they encourage participants to develop broader perspectives by fulfilling defined roles, developing situations that create interesting stories, discovering the factors that drive those stories forward and finally making the stories meaningful and memorable. If you’re finding it tough to even start crafting your startup’s story, pick up the PitchDeck from StoryHow.
Kanbanize
Employees often tell a company’s story more effectively than costly advertisements, and they do so naturally in the course of their work. However, it can be tough for your startup to tell a story that resonates with customers if your workers aren’t aware of or involved in creating it. In fact, if your team members aren’t on board with storytelling marketing from the start, you’ll likely have trouble making any progress. After all, 33 percent of projects fail because of a lack of involvement from the entire project team.
Kanbanize could help your team get excited about telling your startup’s story by making them feel involved in shaping it. The software uses lean management concepts to help you assign tasks, manage the workflow and ultimately increase the company’s productivity. You might already have a great story to tell, but if your team lacks direction and people aren’t working together, customers won’t take the time to hear it.
Buzzsumo
Perhaps your startup caters to clients in many industries, and manufactures many products. That situation makes the company more versatile, but can also make it difficult to settle on the kind of story you want to tell. However, a product called Buzzsumo could facilitate this traditionally tricky task.
It allows you to input topics and see whether those subjects are generating a buzz within your target audience. You can even enter a specific website into Buzzsumo and learn how often people are talking about that domain and its content. In addition to learning about the number of backlinks associated with a query, you’ll see whether a topic is hot on social media. Because so many marketing stories end up going viral on social media, it makes sense to research ideas on Buzzsumo before diving into your story.
Steller
If your startup doesn’t have a tech team, you may be feeling overwhelmed wondering whether that shortcoming might prevent you from telling stories that connect with people who use technology daily. After downloading the Steller app, you’ll see that storytelling can be simple. No matter what, you’ll need to tell a good story, but there’s no need to let a lack of tech expertise prevent your startup from making progress. Steller has recently undergone some changes to make it even more user friendly.
The distribution method is nearly seamless, too. People can get engrossed in a story as easily as they’d turn the pages of a book. Plus, the smooth experience is replicated whether the person is using a mobile device or a computer.
When you feel confident to make and broadcast stories that matter, it’s more likely your audience will show its approval by supporting — and being interested in — your business.
Photo: Tim Gouw