In the early 1960âs, a track and field coach out of Oregon had a ritual he lived by. At the start of every season, he could be found in the locker room, wrapping a measuring tape around the feet of every runner, jotting down measurements on a pad of paper. He believed that if he could remove one ounce from a shoe, based on the gate of a decent runner, he could shave a total of 55 pounds off an athleteâs stride over the course of a mile.
That coachâs name was Bill Bowerman. He would go on to train 51 All-Americans and 31 U.S. Olympians. He also started a company called Nike. Maybe youâve heard of it.
Ever since Bowerman was cooking rubber soles on his wifeâs waffle maker, the concept of Nike was fueled by one thing-belief. Why Bill Bowerman did what he did meant more to him than how or what he did it with. If he could have made his runners faster by altering their track uniform or creating a sunscreen that made them more aerodynamic, he would have done that instead. Thatâs because what Bill Bowerman cared most about was why he made shoes for his athletes. He believed in being the best, and that the difference in first or second place was always an ounce away.
To this day, Nike refers to senior executives as âcorporate storytellers.â What Nike understands better than almost anyone is that their stories should never be about business plans, statistics or financial factors. They are about beliefs, values and the human experience. More importantly, Nike understands that stories sell.
Stories that sell.
When I first heard Simon Sinekâs âStart with Why,â it forever changed not just the way I communicated as a marketer, but the way I communicated within the world, too.
I had always believed in the power of stories. How they connect people across the world more than any other medium, and that we as a people had known their value since our ancestors began smearing berries across cave walls on an island in Indonesia.
So why donât more companies apply stories to the way they market? As we take a look at the power of storytelling and the reactions it garners, youâll be scratching your head as to why stories arenât strewn through every campaign youâve created.
âPeople donât buy what you do, they buy why you do it.â
There is a reason that only a few names are universally recognizable out of the millions of businesses in the world. For example, Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, or Toms are all companies that are instantly identifiable in a way that provokes a specific feeling. That feeling is a result of marketing through storytelling, and starting with the why.
Itâs often said in marketing that people donât buy because they need something, they buy to be a part of something. There is a right and a wrong way to tap into this theory, and franklyâŠ
Most companies are doing it wrong.
When it comes to selling, most companies start with what they sell, then move on to explain how they sell it, and lastly will tell you why they sell it (if they even know why). This is why most companies inspire nothing more than a low value purchase. However, if you were to look at a company that turns the process inside out and starts with the why, youâll find companies whose brands have become movements, and whose products equate to a way of life.
But what about these stories provokes adoption, and more importantly, provokes adopters to become lifetime brand advocates?
Crafting the perfect story.
Stories work because people are interested in themselves more than anything else. Itâs why your name is your favorite word. When companies market through stories, they put the spotlight on the user or customer, instead of themselves. Letâs take a look at how to craft a great marketing story.
1. Remember your customer.
-Thereâs nothing worse than being stuck at a party with the guy who wants to tell you about every coloring contest his kid has ever won. Donât be that guy. Remember that while youâre telling a story, youâre still talking about the customer. This is true in every instance, even when writing your âAbout Usâ page. If youâre not relating every statement back to your customer, youâre losing their interest.
2. Your pencil should outlast your eraser.
-âIf I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.â This quote has been attributed to a lot of men in history, all of them brilliant. Make sure your story has a concise focus with a clear beginning, middle and end. Great storytelling is really about great editing, and knowing when to kill your darlings.
3. Make it relatable.
-Your story is useless if not relatable. Jeffery Zacks discovered this through a series of MRI brain scans on people reading a story or watching a movie. As the main characters encountered a situation, it activated parts of the subjectsâ brain that would have responded had they themselves been in the same predicament in real life. The takeaway? Your stories need to include the emotions you want your readers to feel.
4. Leave the sales pitch at the door.
-Better yet, donât even take it out of the car. Leave it in the backseat with the doors locked. Stories are about building trust, and nothing turns prospects and even current customers away faster than a sales pitch. Leave the gimmicks out and let the story sell for you.
5. Believe it to achieve it.
-If you donât believe your own story, no one else will. To write a great story, you have to start with the why, which means you have to know what the why is. Apple does this better than anyone. As Simon Sinek explains in âStart with Why,â if Apple wanted to be a mediocre computer company, they would have sold like this:
âWe make great computers.â (what)
âTheyâre beautifully designed, easy to use, and user friendly. (how)
âWanna buy one?â
Not really. Nothing about that pitch is inspiring, and it doesnât connect with any sort of belief system. Now, letâs look at how Apple actually sells their products. It looks like this:
âWith everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo; we believe in thinking differently.â (Why)
âThe way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly.â (How)
âWe just happen to make great computers, wanna buy one?â (What)
Knowing what you believe allows you to always start with why. Because, âpeople donât buy what you do, they buy why you do it.â
6. Take it One Step Further with Storydoing
To tell a truly great story, you have to be more than a storytelling company, you have to be a storydoing company. With this approach, customer stories donât just appear out of thin air. Rather, they are the result of a company that is fulfilling its brand promises.
Bonus: Not only will this inspire customers, but internal employees as well.
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If Youâre Reading This
You have a story. If you think that storytelling may work, but doesnât apply to your business, you are gravely mistaken. Just as there is a reason why you started your company, there is a story waiting to be told. From B2B to B2C, people are biologically driven to participate in stories they believe in. The question to ask yourself is, what will your story be?
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