For business leaders, marketers and sales executives in professional services firms who want dynamic growth for their organization and people, business storytelling is the foundation for all of your successful communications.
Why Study Story?
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Click the image to access Gottschall’s interview.
Story strategy is more important now than ever to connect with highly engaged consumers armed with the “always-on” global megaphone of the interweb
- Appreciate how the foundational elements of narrative captivate our minds
- Learn how to apply the Story Cycle process to your own growth as a leader and communicator
- Hone your brand story strategy to declare your position, promise, personality and purpose
- Create insightful audience personas to drive customer engagement
- Build internal consensus for your authentic mission as an organization
- Re-ignite your one true superpower – Storytelling – to nudge the world in any direction you choose (Please use it for good and not evil).
Why evolved marketers use storytelling now to connect with audiences
The wise B2B marketer has evolved from being a promoter of products to a publisher of meaningful content. Technology has changed the game, yet it is the ancient power of storytelling that connects us as human beings. Consider what the web has enabled in just the past decade:
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Click the image to access McKee’s interview.
The democratization of communications: With advances in digital and mobile technology, it is easier than ever for individuals to publish content online
- Global reach: We all can create and send our messages around the world resulting in a cacophony of competitive communications
- Noise: According to a 2011 study, on a typical day, we take in the equivalent of about 174 newspapers’ worth of information, five times as much as we did in 1986, and this study is four years old
- The attention economy: A Goldfish now has a greater attention span at 9 seconds than humans do, and brands are struggling to attract their fair share
- Consumer activists: People are vocal about brands and share their opinions through free online channels like Yelp, Facebook and Twitter
- The Millennial Mindset: Millennials serve as leading indicators on media consumption, advocacy, and social media usage habits among other generations, and are indirectly influencing buying decisions of an estimated $500 billion each year (Marketing to Millennials)
- Rise of the “prosumer”: The Millennial mindset is not about simply consuming, but being product and brand advocates who co-create with the companies they choose to associate with (Havas Prosumer Report)
- The participation economy: Consumers are no longer passive purchasers, and smart brands measure return on involvement over return on investment
- Employee engagement: Prosumer sentiment is moving in-house with employee retention being more about the purpose of the organization than the profitability of the position
Despite our technological capacity to shrink our world – and our attention spans – our brains remain hardwired for story exactly like our ancestors who prowled the Serengeti.
Over the past 100 years of advertising, we have relied on boring features and benefits messages, because we could. We owned our brand stories. No longer. We must engage our audiences by placing our customers at the center of our brand story.
For 30 years I have helped business and organizations experience epic growth through the power of story. See for yourself in the Results section. I’m available to guide you and your team to the same kind of success by getting your brand story straight.
I’m available for brand consulting, team workshop coaching, or as motivating speaker that will ignite the innate storytellers in your audience at your next event. You can also pick my brain via Skype or a telephone consult.
Click on the image to access the free storytelling tool.
Or, if you’d like to get started immediately, use our free online storytelling tool that takes you through the Story Cycle process. Start crafting and telling compelling stories right now.
What’s your story?
