What does an emotional story have to do with the rational word of business? Answer: behaviour.
To sell our products and services we need to impact behaviour, right? But most of our so-called rational decisions (behaviour) are actually driven by our emotions. By telling a story we communicate with our customers in a way that captures people’s imagination, connects with them at a deeply emotional level and is persuasive.
The vast majority of marketing is mundane, forgettable and totally unpersuasive. However, when an advert catches our imagination and seems to speak to us personally we are intrigued and want to get closer and learn more.
Mostly it is not the product that interests us but the message or story. For example Nike isn’t just selling sportswear it is selling a story of hard work, sweat and doing our best, no matter who we are – Just Do It!
Features and descriptions don’t sell a product or service, benefits do.
Describe those benefits in the form of a story and your customers will be persuaded by the deeper, emotional benefits of your products and services.
Take my Pilates classes for example. I can tell people that Pilates will make them more flexible. Yes, this is a benefit but most people won’t engage with this on an emotional level, it won’t mean much to them. So I prefer to tell the story of one of my more elderly clients, Peter, who came rushing up to me one morning so excited because he had managed to reach down and tie his own shoelaces, something his wife had been having to do for him for the last 5 years. It is easy to get a feeling of what this meant to Peter on an emotional level.
That’s why testimonials are so persuasive, because they tell stories.
More and more research is being done today on the brain and emotions.
People can’t make decisions without emotions being involved and stories ignite emotions in all of us. If we can use those stories to connect on a personal level with our customers they are more likely to be persuaded to engage, support, listen and buy from us.