Marketing and communicating your purpose

BRAND STORYTELLING: HOW TO COMMUNICATE YOUR PURPOSE

CONSCIOUS ENTREPRENEURS

© Rikki Ayers, Be Rad Media

http://www.beradmedia.com


WHY STORYTELLING:

▸ People can relate to stories.

▸ They differentiate us from all the other people doing similar work to us.

▸ If you can develop a great story, the rest of your marketing becomes so much easier.




A GOOD STORY HAS:

▸ Characters.

▸ A plot with a beginning & and an end.

▸ Covers the 5 Ws & H (who, what, why, where, when, how).

▸ Emotional appeal.

Brand Story: Narrative about your business or organization that has emotional appeal.




“Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

- Native American Proverb

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”

– Seth Godin




WHO:

▸ Are you a personal brand or a corporate/collective brand?

▸ What’s your story? What experiences led you to want to do this work?

▸ What are your values?

▸ What was your turning point?

▸ What is your personality. How do you talk, act, etc. How will that reflect on the work you do?




WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE:

▸ Whose problems are you working to solve?

▸ What’s their story?

▸ Why do they have this problem?

▸ What would it mean for them to have a solution?

▸ What is their life like day-to-day?

▸ Develop profiles for each customer/client/tribe member. Be as detailed as possible.




WHAT:

▸ What does your business or organization do?

▸ What’s your process. Is it unique?

▸ Boil it down until you can describe what you do in one succinct sentence.

▸ Example: I write concise, thoughtful, and compelling digital copy for small business owners that want to make a difference.

▸ Example: [charity:water] A non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.




WHY:

▸ Why are you doing this?

▸ Why is it important?

▸ Why do you want to do this for 3, 5, 10 years?

▸ Why are you the best person to do this?

▸ Why informs your vision statement. Get “Start with Why” on Amazon


https://goo.gl/FrFrGA



WHERE & WHEN:

▸ Where does this story take place?

▸ What country, province, city, community?

▸ What channels will the story be told on?

▸ Social media, blog, television?

▸ When: logistics, such as launch dates, phases, etc.




HOW:

▸ Your mission statement: how are you changing the world?

▸ How are you going to help day-by-day, and in the long term?

▸ What’s unique or different? What ideas have you combined (and where did they come from?)

▸ Example: I write concise and compelling digital copy for small business owners that want to make a difference. I do this by working through a discovery process with the client, researching, and determining the best strategy or copy style for the client’s communication channels.




EMOTIONAL APPEAL:

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” - Dale Carnegie

▸ When you write your story, or your organization’s story, use facts sparingly, but appeal to emotions as much as possible.

▸ Focus on benefits. How will the outcome make your audience feel?

▸ Use your audience’s language. Relate to them.

▸ Be human. Show your human side. Be emotional.




generosity.org: checks all the boxes

Great example of storytelling© Rikki Ayers, Be Rad Media

https://vimeo.com/101359011

http://generosity.org



HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY▸ Digital media is your opportunity to combine your story with that of

your audience.

▸ Website

▸ Blog

▸ Email

▸ Social media (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc.)

▸ Newsletters

▸ Podcasts




START WITH YOUR WEBSITE▸ The biggest problem with most websites is that they’re not customer-

focused.

▸ The biggest problem with many nonprofit websites is that they don’t offer an obvious way to engage or get involved beyond donating money.

▸ Use imagery and words on your website to tell your story, relate to and engage with your audience, and give people something to do.

▸ Think like the audience & show how what you do benefits them!




THE PERFECT ABOUT PAGE▸ The About page is often in the top 3 of most visited pages.

▸ Tell your story in this order:

▸ Benefit-driven headline

▸ Start with how you help your audience achieve said benefits.

▸ Explain how you’re qualified to help them achieve said benefits.

▸ Share your back story as it relates to your work and your audience.

▸ Include a call-to-action (subscribe, follow on social, etc.)

▸ BONUS: Include a high-quality photo of you/your team




BLOGS, NEWSLETTERS, EMAIL, PODCASTS▸ Provide more information for those who want to learn more.

▸ Increase traffic to your website.

▸ Email subscribers are your most captive audience.

▸ Podcasts: your own radio show! Great if you have time and access to interesting stories.




SOCIAL MEDIA: WHAT SUITS YOUR AUDIENCE?

▸ Most people are on Facebook, but Facebook is the hardest channel to gain organic reach (unpaid). Facebook Groups are gold if you can build one.

▸ Instagram: High-quality photography or graphics with lots of hashtags. No live links.

▸ Twitter: Makes it easy to connect with others, but broadcast messaging doesn’t work because it’s way too noisy.

▸ Pinterest: Great for retail, but can also be used creatively to promote other kinds of organizations. Need great visuals.

▸ Snapchat: Appeals mostly to younger people. Use as an engagement tool, but not necessarily a conversion tool.

▸ Youtube: Recording and editing videos is time-consuming, but people love videos.

▸ LinkedIn: Great for professional connections, but tends to be a lot of marketers sharing content.




WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?▸ No matter what you do, you need to show up and be consistent. Don’t

stretch yourself too thin!

▸ Every month or 90 days write out a communications and marketing plan. What do you want to achieve?

▸ Break your plan into bite-sized tasks and put them in a calendar or project management software like Asana or Trello. Give yourself realistic deadlines!

▸ At the end of each period, reflect and check your analytics. Celebrate your achievements!



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Marketing and communicating your purpose