Storytelling Technique; Serving Content Prospects Can Flow With.

Before you become that content producer serving an apologetic email newsletter in a bid to use the storytelling technique or give your audience a personal touch, you should take a deep breath and read along.

In a fast-paced generation like ours, your target audience is a student preparing for their inter-semester exams and has a whole lot of modules to read up on, or is a nursing mother who needs help with taking care of her kids, doing the laundry and making dinner. Whatever demographics your audience falls into, they have problems that need solutions and your storytelling technique must be one that uses a variety of elements to give them the revolution they seek.

What A Great Story Looks Like!

Anybody can tell a story but only a well-told story can elicit the type of action your business needs- be it purchase, leads generation or just creation of awareness. A great story is one that takes the reader on a trip and can hold their attention from start to finish. As a content writer, you must have taken out time to research and dig for stories about your company and the solutions you provide.

This isn’t a grammar class but are your tenses, right?

One of the major areas in which people get it wrong is grammar and punctuation. As much as I try to speak about this quietly, I still find myself raising my voice because the quantity of poorly written content on the internet is on the rise. You need to double-check to ensure that your ‘go’ doesn’t mean ‘went’ and ‘fell’ doesn’t mean ‘fall’.  While you create content, you should put yourself in the readers’ position at every step of the way. You need to ask yourself questions like, ‘Would this affect the interest of my audience?’ ‘Would this idea turn them off?’ ‘Is this information relevant?’ ‘Am I being logical, clear and precise?’ ‘Do my values align with that of my customers?’, these are questions you shouldn’t run from.

Basic Elements of Every Story.

Plot

What is a story without a storyline? The plot is a causal sequence of events, the ‘why’ for the things that happen in the story. In fact it is the agreement between why, what, when, where, who, and how; let’s just say that the plot drives the reader while they relax in the backseat enjoying their ride. It shows how events unfold and what direction it heads towards. In business storytelling, your plot could include, a description of your typical audience, their problems, your solutions, their testimonies, your victories, and challenges. If you have a boring plot then no one will be interested in discovering the other elements or storytelling technique used in your content. Many people see content marketing as just a marketing strategy, they fail to realize that it is much more than that since your plot has been structured to transform your clients’ or prospects’ way of life.

Character

The character in your story indicates the point of view you intend to tell your story from. Don’t get yourself or the reader confused. Let them know if you are trying to share your personal story, theirs or that of someone else who has once encountered the same problem; this could be referred to as the first, second or third-person point of view. You could twist things a bit as I did in my article, ‘the need for elements of visual appeal in web content creation’ where I narrated a story with the third-person point of view before focusing on ‘you’ (second person).

Resolution

Unlike creative writing where it ends happily, sadly or in suspense, here your reader needs fulfillment, a solution to their problem, an assurance that your brand understands their pain point and is available to help them. They haven’t come this far to be ridiculed or seen as a joke so your conclusion must not make them feel that way.

Never give the excuse of being confused or not having a story to tell, stories are everywhere even in the most unlikely places so be more attentive and use the right storytelling technique. Without context, your story remains vague and you leave readers floating, so start writing more specific stories rather than generic ones to stand out among your competitors.