Podcast

Vivek Shankar

#493: How to Unlock Customer Insights That Make Your Stories Sell

#493: How to Unlock Customer Insights That Make Your Stories Sell

In July 2009, Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker launched the Significant Objects project to objectively measure the effect of narrative on an object’s subjective value.

They purchased 100 tchotchkes and knickknacks in thrift stores like Goodwill, for an average of $1.25 apiece.

Then they hired creative writers to attach a fictional story to each object and sold the items at auction on eBay.

For example, they purchased this acrylic-encased globe for $1.49. Guess what it sold for because of its story? $197.50!

They made meaning and money out of the mundane.

Glenn and Walker invested a total of #128.74 for the first collection of baubles, sold that collection for a combined $3,612.51, and created an ROI of 2,800 percent.

They said,

“Stories are such a powerful driver of emotional value that their effect on any given object’s subjective value can actually be measured objectively.”

We all recently witnessed this same storytelling phenomenon on a grand scale when absurdist Italian artist Maurizio Catalan bought a 25 cent banana from a Manhattan Street vendor, taped it to a white wall with masking tape, called his conceptual art, “Comedian,” and sold it to cryptocurrency entrepreneur  Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for the piece.

I think the joke might be on Sun who apparently has more Bitcoin than brains.

Catalan, on the other hand, created a roughly $6.2 million dollar ROI by reframing this mindless artwork with a story.

But what it really illustrates is that we are truly a planet of storytelling apes.

So what stories are you telling to evolve your commoditized product or service offering into an appealing treat?

Today, you learn how to craft your stories from a B2B content marketing expert, Vivek Shankar, who will help you turn customer pain points into growth strategies through the stories you tell.

Vivek is a Fractional Content Marketing Strategist, who explores why few companies have a handle on what their story is and how to communicate it in an audience-appropriate way. Conducting audience research by asking the right questions is how you solve this issue.

He has worked with unicorns like Ramp, established companies like Versapay, and fast-growing startups like Numeric. He lives in Lisbon and says he’s ambivalent about the Oxford comma.

What’s In It For You:

  • B2B marketing often lacks emotional engagement, focusing too much on logic.
  • Asking the right questions is foundational for content strategy.
  • Effective storytelling in B2B can take many forms, not just traditional narratives.
  • How to turn boring B2B content into engaging stories.
  • The ABT framework simplifies messaging for better impact.

Chapters:

  • 00:00 Introduction to Vivek Shankar and His Journey
  • 03:04 The Role of Marketing in Business Success
  • 06:04 Understanding B2B Marketing and Emotional Engagement
  • 09:07 Unlocking Customer Insights through Effective Questions
  • 12:05 The Importance of Storytelling in B2B Marketing
  • 15:10 Case Study: AI in Accounting and Customer Perception
  • 25:35 Transforming Perceptions Through Storytelling
  • 26:59 The Aha Moment: Understanding Client Needs
  • 30:39 Emotional Storytelling: Overcoming Anti-Stories
  • 31:21 Iterative Research: Adapting to Client Feedback
  • 34:41 The Power of the ABT Framework
  • 46:11 Essential Questions for Effective Content Strategy

Links:

Popular Related Episodes You’ll Love:

Your Storytelling Resources:

 

 

Connect with me:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkhowell/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BusinessOfStory

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ssjBuBiQjG9PHRgq4Fu6A

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkHowell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkhowell/

Website: https://businessofstory.com/abt/

#StoryOn

Listen To More Episodes