Storytelling has been an integral part of human growth since the evolution of mankind.  Whether it was about carving wall paintings or passing on the lessons of valour across generations, we have stories for almost everything. Stories were the medium to educate, instruct, and get skilled.

Humans love to hear stories. Stories not only help in building personality but also shapes the overall character of an individual.

The question here is “Do businesses need storytelling?”. The answer is simple, Yes! Storytelling is crucial for any business. Let us have a look at why business needs to tell stories?

Why Business need Storytelling?

People love stories and often want to hear same old stories repeatedly. They do so because some stories are well connected with their sentiments. There are also times when some of the decisions they make are more or less influenced by these stories. Sometimes, these decisions have an unexpected outcome. But to prove their point, people always support their decision with random facts and figures.  In last people always tend to make choices which are more emotional than logical.

Why Business need Storytelling

Businesses use storytelling to inform their audience and influence decision making.  Stories are also utilized as a weapon to make emotional connections and improve the brand recall value. It also answer important questions about businesses and their products.

According to research, the most successful advertisements are the one that tell a compelling story. Advertisements with good stories trigger the right emotions by impacting the human psychology. They also act as a mantra to inspire and motivate. So, businesses use stories to link consumers’ emotion with their marketing schemes and encourage them to opt for their product.

 Some tips for good storytelling

Know your audience: This is the first and most important step. Through proper research and analysis, a business can determine the type of story it should say. Knowing the audience also helps in presenting the story in a way that improves overall customer experience.

Strategy: Developing a storytelling strategy is essential for a business. It helps in optimizing the user engagement. Business can do this by answering the following questions:

  • Who is my typical listener?
  • What will be the objective of the story?
  • What will be the core message of the story?
  • What tools & platform should I use?

Be creative: Rather than only hurling with facts and figures, businesses should tell stories that are more related to audience and can make emotional connection. They can check out all the supporting data later or ask for clarification if they need it.

Focus on benefits: Business stories should be more focused on the benefits of the audience, rather than self-promotion. Every listener wants to know, “What’s in there for them?” and stories should answer that question.

Be Authentic: Businesses should tell stories in a way that the audience can relate to. Stories should not feel like salesy, but more like a story where audience can feel comfortable and related.

Talk about challenges:  It’s ideal to have a story that focuses on the unique challenges and propose a probable solution.

Use the rule of three: 3 is a magic number and everything which comes in three are naturally more interesting, enjoyable, and effective. Business should use this technique to make their story more effective.

Storytelling Tips

In a nutshell

Business storytelling is an important part of Business Growth. Stories can spark any discussion. It helps businesses to handle challenges and turn them into something people can comprehend and pursue. Stories assist businesses to connect with their audience emotionally. This also inspires the audience to put themselves into stories and relate to the situation. Thus, stories are what leads a business towards progress.